A couple students have requested a video of this basic Irish bouzouki picking pattern to back Irish reels, so here it is. I play in GDAD tuning, but this can be used for ADAD, as well as a three course instrument tuned DAD.

Irish Bouzouki Picking Pattern for Irish Reels

Your basic picking pattern will skip the G course and start on the first (lowest in pitch) D course of strings. Rhythmically, the pattern will consist of a quarter note starting on this D course (down pick direction), followed by an eighth note on the A course (down pick direction), ending with another eighth note on the high D course (up direction). This gives a D DU picking pattern.

Hans Speek’s bouzouki pages also have some great information on right hand techniques.