Harry Martin Heritage Arts Studio Classes

Bodhran (Irish Drum)

There will be an 8-week session of BEGINNER Bodhran classes and a 5-week session of advanced bodhran classes with Kyle Forsthoff offered in April, 2024.

Kyle ForsthoffBlackstone River Theatre will offer an 8-week session of classes in BEGINNER Bodhran on Sundays, April 7 to May 26, from 9-10 a.m. The fee for the 8-week session is $160.00 and prepayment is necessary.

Blackstone River Theatre will offer a 5-week session of classes in Advanced Bodhran on Sundays, April 14 and 28, May 12 and 26, and June 9, from 10-11:30 a.m. The fee for the 5-week session is $150.00 and prepayment is necessary. 

These classes are geared towards adults and teens; the advanced level requires 16-24 previous classes or similar experience. A minimum of 4 students is needed to hold class with a maximum of 8 students.  Students must have their own bodhran and tipper.

The bodhran is a small handheld Irish frame drum consisting of a goatskin playing surface stretched over a wooden frame. The drum can be struck with the hand, “finger style,” but most Celtic percussionists strike the drum with a double-headed knobbed stick known as a tipper. This Bodhran class will cover the most common rhythms used in Irish traditional music – reels, jigs, hornpipes, polkas, etc – as well as a variety of ways to adapt them with ornamentation, tonal variation, and syncopation. The goal is to create versatile and sensitive players who are able to accompany in whatever style they prefer, be it traditional or more modern.

Kyle Forsthoff has been studying and playing Irish percussion for over ten years. He performs with Fellswater and has also shared the stage with artists including The Vox Hunters, Lindsay Straw, Torrin Ryan, and Joey Abarta. Forsthoff competed in the Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann in Sligo, Ireland in 2015 and also attended the 2014 Craiceann Bodhran Summerschool in Inis Oirr, Co. Galway.