Lorie Tracey

LDT You inspired me. I found the tune on "musicnotes". My Dad had his own BIG BAND. I grew up listen to this great swing music for years. Now I know why children who listen to Irish traditional tunes can play so well. Once I had the notes in front of me the tune just spilled out. I did change the key to D, my husband recognized it immediately in that key. (he should know he was a young teen when this song was originally popular). Thanks again for posting, it has open up a whole new side for me. To play for the sure fun of it. If I can figure out how to post using my I pad and music cloud as you did maybe I will send you a version. Lorie

Zeke, I have not taken the time to read all the replies, I just saw that you have an Edgley and that you are experiencing trouble with the air button. IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT. I participated in the midwest concertina camp with Noel Hill for the first time at Erlanger (sp) Kentucky. I think that it is sort of a tradition on the first night, Sunday, everyone socializes and have the opportunity to play other instruments. Many times this opens eyes about the performance of their concertina. I was one of those fortunate players that realized the heavy callous on my right thumb, directly over the spot that I performed the air button IS NOT NORMAL. I asked the question of my new acquaintance, Mr. Hill. He took my instrument and tried it out. He laughed as he said that I must need to use my feet to get it to move. Of course he was just having fun with me. Within just a few minutes he took the right side off, took out the spring for the air button, adjusted it and replace it. Vwala ! He performed a miracle for me. Now my beloved Edgley performed almost just like the Dipper I had just tried out. I was thrilled. It took several days for me to get used to the new performance it afforded me because I was not now having to work so hard to play. Others witnessed this same miracle. In fact my new friend, Mr. Hill said to me, don't let anyone tell you that the air button was your fault. Shades of Robin Williams and Matt Damion, in GOOD WILL HUNTING, "Its not your fault". Tears almost brimmed my eyes as I was now free to for give the abuse I had inflicted on my thumb theses past many months. LOL LOL. Forgive yourself and fix the **** spring, it will play excellent once you do.

David I enjoyed your explanation on ornamentation, I printed it out so I can disseminate slowly and save for future reference. Thanks for your continued efforts, they are appreciated.

I was nice talking to you and sharing our snow stories. Good luck with sell. I am still wishing that it was a C/G.

Thanks David, I am rushing off to work, so I will see about the post of the music later tonight when I return. Have a great day. May be we can do a SKIPE lesson on this tune at some time.

Hello, I really enjoyed reading the thread. I will have to read it again much closer in regards to playing the "A" either before or after the "D". I left the chart at work which allowed me to follow along quite well. Of course I only to a quick peek or two during my break. I also attended Noel's camp. I was the "stellar" raw beginner. hehe. I learned very much and am now progressing very nicely at home. In fact I am working on a tune currently called "The Glenbeigh" in 110 Irish concertina Tunes on page 60, # 94 CD 2, Track 39. This tune has a lot of the d to a with also G3 to B. (I ran our to the care and got the music and the chart that I remembered to grab as I raced out of work). My concern is that I have been playing the G3, #26 and then the B2#14, because I did not want to "chop". But now as I sit in front of the computer and reread the tread it seems as though it may be permissible to play the B2 #21, which does give the tune a bounce in a very important place. The second measure goes: G-26, then a B2? then a doted D3 -15 followed by a quarter B2? But here is the next rub, the next measure goes: C3, -14 E3 -15 then an A right now I can play either the A2 -13 or the A2 -10. then the B2 - 21, followed by a dotted C3 -14 doted quarter then an a eighth. This is pretty much the patterns in question. I know that the A immediately before the A# must be the A2 13. I think at least for me it would be impossible to play the A210 before the A#. I sure would like some help before I really learn the fingering any further. Hope this is not to confusing.

Hello Just a bit unrelated but I have a question. Last night I found a tune book that I printed out. It was at a site for "Traditional Irish" tunes. some of the titles were familiar, but many of the titles just said "Gan Ainm" can any one share some light on this? I think I found it at the CEOLAS Music Archive. Most of the tunes are, at this point are bit advanced but I certainly like a challenge.

Good Morning Greg Our Session group "The Falling Rock Jammers" did a short concert for the Munising Bay Art Festival yesterday, mostly blue grass tunes and a couple of Traditional Irish tunes. Now that I have that out of the way I was wondering how best to prepare for camp. What should my focus of practice be? I have a couple of tunes that I have been trying to perfect for the last several months with some limited success, which are much more of a challenge. I am very eager for camp and want to feel that I am doing something that will better prepare myself for .......? I attempted to attach a picture of the group. The concertina player is the one with the yellow shoes. BTW we each received 15 dollars for our efforts, am I now a professional. Thanks Lorie /Users/stephentracey/Pictures/Aperture Library.aplibrary/Previews/2011/06/26/20110626-000934/VKOIY8jUSGK%pUSqpwAzMQ/DSC03278.jpg

Greg When I spoke with Linda today she stated that the group was small. I wonder if it may be attributed to the concurrent camp being taught by Edel Fox in Ontario that same week?

Good Evening to all I just returned from an extended visit with family 450 miles away. I was able to keep track of all the posts but was unable to post replies. Again thank you to all that responded it really helped me get through the acute attack of COAD. I did play a bit while I was gone. I enjoyed playing Midnight on the Water along with family and friends and JODY'S CD. What fun. I have decided to stay focused on the Anglo. I just registered for the MID WEST Noel Hill Camp in KY today. Hope to see some of you there. Thanks again. Lorie Tracey

Hello Greg I just registered today. I am really looking forward to meeting so many people with a love for the Anglo. Lorie Tracey

Soooo, how many concertinas do you own? Lorie

AUUUUUGH So much temptations.

Hello I have a short but varied history with concertinas. July of last year I began my odyssey with with an Elise concertina. Four weeks later I realized how limiting this instrument was and decided to purchase a McCann Duet. It was a lovely Wheatstone with a very nice voice. Unfortunately the more I played, and the faster I played the less responsive and problematic the instrument became. I literally was opening it up on an almost nightly basis in order to try to fix stuck keys. Thru tears, I eventually sent the instrument back to the seller. Discouraged with the historical side of concertinas I ordered an Edgley which I received in med February. It is a lovely concertina, a bit louder than the Wheatstone. I have finally arrived to the point where I know longer have to think about the push or the pull of each note and am now learning about cross row playing and chords. My question is this: There is a very nice looking 1927 Wheatstone Duet now being offered on Ebay. My palms are sweating, and need a hanky for the excess saliva forming at the corners of my mouth. Is this a case of first love.... my mind will not let go of the thrill I experienced with the original Wheatstone. Even though it gave me so much grief and heart ache I miss the sound and the playing style. Am I nuts for even considering playing both an Anglo and a Duet? Has any one else seen this Concertina on Ebay? I have three days to either decided to jump into the fray, or grab the Edgley, play non stop and forget my first love.

Actually, it's in A minor, which is the relative minor of C major. I.e., they share the same key signature (no sharps or flats). Ouch! That's the tune all right, but it sounds like a midi file, and it's so boringly "square" and lacking in dynamics that I'm surprised anyone would want to play it after listening to that version. However, I know that it's great tune if played with a bit more "spirit". By the way, you didn't mention which instrument you play, and your link is to a flute-related web site. But searching through your past posts (not difficult; you could compete with Cal Coolidge), it looks like you tried two different duets but now have a beautiful Edgley anglo. Congratulations! With that knowledge in hand, I'd still want to have some idea of your fingering when you play the "bare" tune before I would suggest specific ornaments or other "embellishments". Do you play the tune mainly in the C row, mainly in the G row, or fundamentally cross-row? Nice, though I think they make it sound more like a jig than a march. (There have been many discussions here about Irish music and the fact that many contemporary performances of the tunes seem to be losing their connection to the dance. Here's one where I feel it's gone the other way... the tune has been turned into a dance, losing its original spirit as a march.) . Of course, you can't sound like the whole group, but I think it might be worthwhile to try imitating some of the Uilleann pipe ornamentation. The Chieftains version feels to me more like a march, but I still feel it's a bit too fast. Just how many kilometers do you think an army could cover at that pace, even without carrying swords, shields, daggers, etc., before becoming too tired to effectively do battle? . In this case I feel that it's being played too slow, more like a funeral march than a march to battle. But I think the important thing to pay attention to here is the use of chords and harmonies as "embellishments", rather than cuts, rolls, trills, etc. You might find something you'd like to experiment with. And "finally", playing Brian Boru's March.I personally don't like his interpretation at all. So why am I including it? Because You may like it, even though I don't, and/or there might be some specific embellishments you would like to copy. When learning, you should be aware of and remember things you like, so you can repeat them in the future. But you should also be aware of and remember things you don't like, so that you can avoid them in the future. I must admit, that I am not as versed on identifying my keys beyond the basics, I have always promised myself to sit down and memorize them but keep putting it off. Also I would like to respectively request a bit more explanation....... How does Cal Coolidge and I compete?