Anglo-Irishman

I've found this to work for me. One aspect of it is that if you write one syllable per note, then when you've "recited" your lyric in your head, you've played all the notes in the tune. Another aspect is expression. if you build up your fake lyrics with statements, questions, emphatic replies, explanations and exclamations, you can let the phrasing, dynamics and tempo follow them. I suppose, when you folks talk about ITM you mean Irish jigs, reels, etc. Not much room for dynamics or tempo there! However, my idea of Irish instrumental music is Carolan compositions and the often beautiful tunes to well-known songs. When I play an instrumental version of a song, of course the lyrics are already there, making my playing tender, boisterous, sad or happy, as the case may be. With one Carolan piece, I experimented with a "fake" lyric. It's for "Eleanor Plunkett" - it's not great poetry, but it keeps me from just playing one note after the other: It's a lovely day today! (Positive assertion by voice 1) Do you think so? (Critical question from voice 2) Yes, I think so; it's a really lovely day. (Emphatic re-assertion by voice 1) If it weren't such a lovely day, there'd be clouds in the sky, (Long argument from voice 1 ...) And the little raindrops would keep on falling, (... argument continued ...) And I'd be so sad. (... culmination of argument) It's a really lovely day! (Final re-statementof positive assertion by voice 1) Works for me! As I said, not great poetry - but hey, some of the trad. lyrics to beautiful tunes are not that great either!😎 Cheers, John

I've been cycling since my primary-school days, and playing the concertina since my student days. I've never had pains anywhere from the concertina, and the only pains I get from cycling are in the ... part of my anatomy that has nothing to do with music. (I haven't found the perfect saddle yet!) In short, I've never found cycling to affect concertina (or banjo or mandolin) playing, or vice versa. But hey, I'm only 77 - maybe I'll get problems in my old age!😎 Cheers, John

We might be onto something here ... 😉 John

I suppose something like a set of small pipes - the ones with a bag and a bellows ..

As I see it, the concertina is a German one. The handstraps are parallel to the adjacent sides of the hexagon, not perpendicular to them, as in English-made Anglos. Cheers, John

Just a piece of info that might help you to get the Anglo into perspective with other instruments: Before I got my first Anglo, I'd had childhood piano lessons, and had been taught to play the mouth organ (AKA harmonica) by my Dad. When I bought the Anglo, together with the Tutor, which called it the "Anglo-Chromatic Concertina", I decided to relearn all that piano stuff with the sequence of sharps and flats in the various keys. But when I'd had the concertina for a couple of days, I realised that this was nonsense. All I had to do was think of the mouth organ, and equate bellows press and draw with harmonica blow and suck - and I was playing familiar tunes on the Anglo in no time at all! If you come to think about it, standard staff notation is specifically tabulature for the piano/organ keyboard. Cheers, John

Hmm ... I don't know how easy it would have been in those days to reverse the image on a celluloid film. And anyway, although the mirror image of a right-handed violinist and a right-handed violin would look as if both were left-handed, the mirror image of the grand piano would look distinctly odd! Cheers, John

"... gone are the friends from the cotton fields away; gone from the Earth to a better land I know; I hear theit gentle voices calling ..." Kurt , through this forum, helped me to get enjoyment out of my Crane. He will be missed. May he rest in peace. John

I totally agree! My procedure for working up an arrangement (on any of my instruments) is to reach the point where I can play the melody and the accompaniment together. When I start singing, I simplify the instrumental part - for example by leaving out the melody, which is now taken by my voice. In short: the accompaniment to a song should be a simplified version of your full instrumental version. ... unless, of course, you're accompanying someone else's singing, in which case you can play the "difficult" version. But try not to up-stage the singer! Cheers, John

Or, to follow James Thurber's wine connoisseur: "It's a naive Italian hybrid without any breeding, but I think you'll be amused by its presumption." 😁 Cheers, John

My experience is complementary to Geoff's. I ordered a replacemant bellows with Concertina Connection when they were still in the Netherlands, and was requested to specify whether it was for an Anglo or an English. I specified Anglo. The bellows they made for me were stout and wonderfully crisp - no "slop" between push and pull. Just what you need to make the forced bellows changes of the Anglo so quick that they don't interrupt the flow of the music. Cheers, John

There's a theory that, if you're musical, it doesn't really matter what instrument you play. A good start is an instrument that your Mum or Dad plays, because it's available, and there's someone in the house who can tell you how to "operate" it. Or an instrument that some deceased relative bequeaths to you. Or one you find in a pawn shop, or get very cheap online, etc. etc. That's how I started - my Dad played fiddle and mandolin; the fiddle was sacrosanct; so he showed me how to play the mandolin. How does an Irishman come into possession of a wonderful Stridente Neapolitan mandolin? My Dad found it in a Dublin pawn shop, where he had gone to sell his melodion because his then fiancee had said "Either that melodion or me!" Dad saw the mandolin and swapped instead of selling. He always enjoyed playing the mandolin. My beginnings in concertina were different. We didn't have one at home, but I'd always wanted one (for sea songs, etc.) When I had the funds, al I could find in Belfast was an East German 20-button, so I became an Anglo player. I now have my second upgrade in Anglos - a Crabb - and it's my main squeeze. I've tried Bandoneon (bought in a West Berlin junk shop the 1980s for 60 DM, which would be €30 nowadays) and Crane duet (which cost serious money from a reputable dealer), but the Anglo has remained my free-reed means of expression. So I say, if you can lay your hands on a playable concertina of any variety, take it up. The farther you progress, the more the potential repertoires will converge. At some point, you'll want a better instrument, but at least you'll know which type it should be! Cheers, John

Hi, Steve, I have no problems with my concertinas at the moment, but it's nice to know there's someone close by who can help in an emergency. Since Wim Wakker left the Netherlands for America, there hasn't been a dedicated concertina repairer on the Continent. Good luck with your endeavour! Cheers, John

I would say, "Yes!" Weight just has to be held up, but mass has to be braked and accelerated at every change of bellows direction. The faster you're playing, the more energy you need to do that. What I remember from physics at school is, "Work is done when a force moves its point of application in the direction of the force." So holding up a concertina is not work, but pulling and pushing the bellows is! Cheers, John

@HansQ, Ther are more instruments out there than anglos and ECs, you know! For example, there are guitars, mandolins and 5-string banjos. All plucked stringed instruments, all well accepted as folk-music instruments. I play them all, to a certain extent. But my favourite (non-free-reed) instrument is the banjo. Why? Because it's good at doing the things I need done! It will never have the full bass of a guitar, nor the singing tremolo of the mandolin - but it's ideal as an accompaniment to my voice, because of its frequency range, and it can play harmonised solos far better than the mandolin, and more easily than the guitar. By the way, if I have a song that just calls for a nice guitar accompaniment, I pick up my guitar. And if I'm in a group situation where a strong melody line is called for, I'll take my mandolin. Perhaps you might be best served if you played both Anglo and EC. You could concentrate on the one that gives you the most benefit, but use the other for the weak spots in the repertoire of your main squeeze. Just a suggestion!😉 Cheers, John