Advice On Starting Up - Cambridgeshire

[RosieJM]

Hello

 

I'm new here, and have joined because my wife would love to take up the Concertina and so I am looking into how I can support her with a concertina based pressie for our upcoming anniversary. She has only had a play on other peoples instruments so far (though she used to play the double bass so is musical to some extent!) and I was hoping to either get her own concertina (no idea where to start with that!!), or possibly book a series of lessons. I wonder which of these would be the most sensible first step, and whether any body has any advice regarding where I should go for either of these things in this area? I'd be happy to travel quite a way to buy the right thing, but would need something fairly local for lessons. Does anyone know of someone who might be willing to give lessons, I am really struggling to find anybody on line?

 

A bit about us, since I'm new here, we live on a narrow boat in Earith, I'm studying for a Social Anthropology PhD at Cambridge, my wife is an environmental education specialist currently working for Teach First, we are into horses, travel, and both love folk music

 

Thanks for any advice you might have,

 

Rosie

[JimLucas]

I'm new here, and have joined because my wife would love to take up the Concertina and so I am looking into how I can support her with a concertina based pressie for our upcoming anniversary. She has only had a play on other peoples instruments so far (though she used to play the double bass so is musical to some extent!) and I was hoping to either get her own concertina (no idea where to start with that!!), or possibly book a series of lessons. I wonder which of these would be the most sensible first step, and whether any body has any advice regarding where I should go for either of these things in this area? I'd be happy to travel quite a way to buy the right thing, but would need something fairly local for lessons. Does anyone know of someone who might be willing to give lessons, I am really struggling to find anybody on line?

 

A bit about us, since I'm new here, we live on a narrow boat in Earith, I'm studying for a Social Anthropology PhD at Cambridge, my wife is an environmental education specialist currently working for Teach First, we are into horses, travel, and both love folk music

 

Thanks for any advice you might have,

First bit of advice: Don't buy her an instrument. If she is going to play it, then she should be the one to choose it. A nice card with a promise to take her shopping and subsidise the purchase is the best way to avoid making a well-meaning but ignorant mistake, since it sounds as if she knows more about concertinas than you do. (Further advice here will also help, and you should involve her in that, too. With luck, you might even find a knowledgeable individual willing to go with you to give on the spot advice regarding individual instruments.)

 

You say that she has at least been able to try some other folks' instruments. Do you know what kind they've been: English, anglo, or duet?

 

Oops! Rain has stopped here, so I need to go do some garden work before it starts up again. To be continued , but in the meantime, I'm sure others will add their own helpful advice.

[Geoff Wooff]

Concertinas at Witney 25th to 27th September..... a weekend devoted to the concertina... not a million miles away from you . Information on the web. Probably one or more concertina dealers in attendance as well as classes and convivality. I'm sure there will be people only too willing to demonstrate, or allows a try on their instruments .

 

 

Worth a thought ?

Edited September 4, 2015 by Geoff Wooff

[Tradewinds Ted]

I second Jim's advice not to buy an instrument as a surprise, and also the need to identify which system of concertina is desired.

 

Many people who play Anglo (like me) just can't get on with the hand position and alternating sides on the English, and many who play English just can't get on with the bisonoric and diatonic nature of the Anglo, which supplies likely harmonies in the home keys, but makes other harmonies more challenging. And even the Duet has three distinctly different arrangements - Crane, McCann, and Hayden. A few people are comfortable with more than one, but more often a person will find that one system really just feels right, and the other systems just never do. It isn't that one system is a better choice than another, but rather more likely that one system is a better fit for the person.

 

And even if you do know what system is desired, then the feel, sound and response of a particular instrument is a very personal choice. Not just true of concertina. My wife wanted to keep up her guitar practice during a house-hunting trip prior to our move here. The son of a colleague kindly loaned her his, but she found that the set-up was so different (and frankly the instrument was of such poor quality) that she found it unpleasant to play, and decided it was better to forgo the practice.

 

So back to what you CAN offer: Well, that Whitney weekend would likely be great fun.

As for local lessons, I couldn't say, but I would be astonished if there wasn't a local folk club or session near you in Cambridgeshire, and that can be a great help to learning, and lots of fun. Cheaper than lessons, or a powerful supplement to them!

Edited September 4, 2015 by Tradewinds Ted

[chas]

Some local concertina groups are listed here:

http://www.concertina.org/regional-groups-with-regular-meetings/

 

including East Anglia, which isn't all that far. I wonder if "Squeeze east" still happens. The last one on their site is last year.

[RosieJM]

Wow, I am so grateful for all the advice, this is really kind and very helpful. I will check out the links. Really good advice about not buying an instrument, I can see what you mean, I really could get it wrong. Thanks for your help, I'll keep you up to date with what I find out, and I might even tell her about this group after the anniversary (she cant join until then or she will know what I am up to!) so you might get to 'meet' her then too! Thanks, Rosie

[AndrewCollins]

Our SqueezEast group meet up approx monthly in Mattishall, Norfolk ( Thu evenings or Sun afternoons usually to suit ) ... by all means PM me if you'd like to know the dates & details ( we haven't actually got any more dates planned in yet though ! ).

 

The SqueezEast day in Stamford is annual - in June ... again date not yet planned for 2016.

 

And in a similar vein to the Witney weekend is WCCP's Kilve weekend for beginners in October ( see http://thewccp.org/Residential_Weekends.php).

 

Andrew

[Paul_Hardy]

It is Chiltinas this Sunday afternoon (6th) - 2pm to 6pm in the church hall in Maulden - MK45 2AU. There will be both English and Anglo players there and some beginners. It would be a good place to try out both styles of instrument. I will be there from Comberton near Cambridge.

 

If you do want to learn about English concertinas, then I'm a relatively local resource (See http://www.pghardy.net/) to Earith, and I do know various anglo players nearby if you feel the need to go to the dark side!

 

Regards,

 

 

[gcoover]

Although hard to find, she might even be interested in a bass or contrabass concertina - they have a pretty awesome sound!

 

But yes, go to lots of concertina gatherings and see which system suits before committing a lot of cash. Perhaps a homemade concertina-shaped gift card would be the way to go?

 

Gary

[Mikefule]

I agree, let her choose the instrument. Even two of the same make and model may feel different. Also, there are fundamental differences in the way that Anglo, English and duet concertinas work and what they are most suited to.