How did I get into this?

As you can see from my profile I am presently employed as a Peripatetic Music Tutor working as a self employed basis for the Ulster Scots Agency. Now how did this come about - well I ponder that question every day!

I have been actively involved with the fife and the lambeg drum tradition since the middle of the 1990's, I am not born into the tradition - by that I mean my family are not fife of drummers. I was very interested in the tradition and enjoyed listening to the music. I wanted to learn to play the lambeg drum but despite asking various people - no one would teach me, most did not know how to teach, others would not teach me because they did not have the time - they said!

So how do you learn to play one of the most iconic musical instruments in Ulster? Most people associated with the Lambeg Drumming Tradition are Orangemen who are members of various Orange Lodges and unless you join a particular Orange Lodge, you won't be taught to play the Drum, simple as that. Unknown to me at this time although it became more evident as the years progressed there were many people in my position, who wanted to learn to play these instruments, but they did want to join an Orange Lodge to learn how to play them?

I am an Orangeman of 28 years standing and can fully understand the quandary people were in, so with the help of 3-4 other like minded men – back in 1999, we formed Conlig Drumming Club - Conlig is a village situated between Newtownards and Bangor and had a tradition of Lambeg Drumming back in the 40's and 50's - an all too familiar story of a once thriving tradition. We found a man Robert Paden and his friend Trevor Shaw who agreed to teach us the rudiments of lambeg drumming.

As the years progressed we introduced the fife to accompany the drumming at our Club, hence the club grew into a thriving group, musicians and other interested people came along to enhance their knowledge and interest in the Ulster Scots / Fife & Lambeg Drum tradition – they were great times.

Conlig Drumming Club had been asked to assist the Ulster Scots Agency in a number of Educational projects that they were developing, Summer Schools were first and our club agreed to help. These were very successful and enjoyable- sadly our members did not have the time to take the project further - but I remained very keen to develop what I saw as a wonderful opportunity to bring the fife and lambeg drum tradition to the next generation.

There is obviously a lot more to it than that, nevertheless that is a brief synopsis for now.

More in the next post!

HMA