MARK STONE: The Bodhran

Mark Stone

The Bodhran

© 2005 Mark Stone/Barking Dog Music (634479114847)

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On this CD, Mark has recorded the basic rudiments of Irish dance music for students to play along with & some of his favorite traditional songs/performances for the general audience. Featuring renowned Irish musicians James Kelly and Paul McGrattan.

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Mark Stone, one of Irish Music's most renowned players of the bodhran, has performed and taught with many of today's top Irish musicians across the United States and in Canada.

Mark began his professional music career at the age of fifteen playing keyboards in local dance bands and doing studio work. He later focused his attention solely on Irish music playing ceili piano. His knowledge of chord movement and structure has been transferred to the bodhrán, resulting in a unique blend of rhythm and tones that has established Mark as a top player in this country. He has a reputation as an accompanist with a subtle touch that can bring about a sense of power when the tune warrants it.

As a teacher, Mark has taught workshops and master classes across the continent. He has taught for many years at the Augusta Heritage Center's "Irish Week" in Elkins, WV, The Swannanoa Gathering's "Celtic Week" in Asheville, NC, and The Mississippi River Celtic Music Festival's "Tionol" in St. Louis along with classes in Nova Scotia, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, and Dallas. Mark teaches both beginning and intermediate/advanced classes specializing in techniques involving the use of both hands to fully explore all of the intricacies of a tune with the ultimate goal of "playing" the tune along with the lead instruments.

Mark Stone got his start in Irish music with the All-Ireland winning band, St. James's Gate. He is best known for his work with the renowned Irish fiddler, James Kelly and guitarist Zan McLeod. Mark's recording credits include James Kelly's critically-acclaimed solo fiddle album for Capelhouse Records and with the group Ceoltiori on their award-winning Women of Ireland CD for Maggie's Music Records. When at home, Mark performs with the band Poor Man's Fortune from Austin (poormansfortune.com). Mark recently produced "The Curlews" for Irish hammer dulcimer player Cliff Moses (www.cliffmoses.com).



"If you must play the bodhrán, play it this way!"
-Billy McComiskey introducing Mark Stone in Los Angeles

"Players such as America's Mark Stone have added to the bodhrán's luster, owing to their sensitive and often unconventional approaches."
-Myron Bretholz for MusicHound Folk, The Essential Album Guide

reviews

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  • Excellent
    author: David K

    Simple. Effective. My playing improves every time I practice with it. With no formal training, I've still managed to be welcomed on stage with several different bands, but this has brought loads to my playing!

  • Geat stuff!
    author: steve-o-reno

    This CD is a super set of practice rhythms for the novice bodhran player as well as the advanced student. It's a tremendous tool for getting your chops up to speed, a lot of fun and Mark gives the proceeds to charity. You can't beat that deal!

  • author: Doug Murray

    I have just returned from a Celt Fest on Vancouver Island. The instructor was Dan Bist. Very good, very good course. Mark's The Bodhran was an excellant addition to the course I just took and I would recommend it to anyone trying to learn this thing. If you have access to Dan Bist's material I would recommend it as well.

  • Good to play along with
    author: Mal E

    Marks CD is after all designed for training. In my case I got it because I am learning irish fiddle. I got the CD on the off chance that it would prove more enjoyable to play along with than a metronome and it is excellent for that. I also found I liked the tracks where Mark sings and has some accompanment.

  • Worth it!
    author: Drew Lang

    Nice CD - good tracks to practice along with and fun tunes. There's only one tempo to each practice rhythm, so something like the variable tempo Tascam CD Trainer would be nice to have (I'm sure there is software out there that would be able to change tempo as well.) Having seen Mark play live several times, I would hope he would continue this tutorial further by making it into a DVD with discussion about his technique. Great Job, Mark!

  • author: Paul Marshall

    The Cd is a useful addition to the bodhran player's collection providing a backing track that can be used to support your own practise and the learning of the standard celtic musical forms. It also supplies a couple of songs that a bodhran player can learn for playing at sessions, all good stuff. The price $15 is not at all prohibitive and the CD represents good value for money. Part of the proceeds of the CD are donated to a charity which adds to the overall feelgood factor. Thanks to Mark for sending me the CD for review, I'm happy to have received it and happy to recommend it as an addition to the learner and developing bodhran player's learning material.

  • author: Rob Forkner, bodhran maker and player

    I think that the greatest utility of this CD is for those who are coming up in the music and are unsure how to play a certain time signature on the drum. Certainly the tunes are hugely important, but for beginners I think its also important to hear the drum playing by itself. Mark lays it all out in the liner, showing the sticking pattern etc. Once the player has that, the player can listen and play along with Mark's example. The playing in the examples is very straightforward and repetitive and perfect for learning and practice. Afterwords, the player can then apply what they've learned to any of the tunes on the CD and/or tunes on other CDs. Its a very good, simple, applied CD that I think needs to be in the hands of just about any beginner/intermediate player that there is. That and its actually pretty cheap. The word is- get one for yourself or get a few to use as teaching aids if you are teaching classes. Its a great little tutorial to have in the bag. Plus Mark is one of the best players I know of, and is in my opinion, the best "American style" player of the drum that there is.

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