Playing In "other" Keys On A C/g

[Ritchie_Kay]

Very often, when listening to professionals playing concertinas, you find that they are playing the tunes in a "non-standard" key - by which I mean a different key to that shown on printed music for that tune. For instance G minor rather than A minor or Cmaj rather than Dmaj.

I understand that the reason for this is that the professionals are playing on an instrument other than a C/G - i.e. in a F/Bb in my example above. Therefore to play it with the same fingering that they are using, I would need to transpose the tune.

My question is: seeing as you can play in Gmin (for example) quite happily on a C/G and the reason the professionals are playing in that key is, quite often, because it simply sounds better, do all those concertina players who do not have a F/Bb or G/D concertina prefer to transpose into the more "standard" (I'm trying to use the word standard carefully) keys (i.e. Gmaj, Dmaj and related minors) or play the tune the way it sounds even though the professionals are not using a C/G and therefore your technique will have to deviate from theirs?

[Pete Dickey]

I own a 39Key and a 40Key.

 

As someone said quite recently to me:- "all the notes are there, its just a matter of finding them and pressing them in the right order"

 

Wish it was as easy as that.

[Ritchie_Kay]

I read somewhere on another thread that Mary Macnamara plays a lot along the rows on the Crow. I read on her web-site that the "East Clare" tradition plays a lot in Cmaj & Fmaj and this is probably to do with the instruments that they used.

I assumed that this meant that there was a lot of playing on two-row F/Bb instruments which I assume are the same as a C/G but one tone lower. So when I read that M.M. plays a lot on the Crow I interpret this to mean the middle row on a F/Bb where C would be fingered the same a one might finger G on a C/G - i.e. just using the F# (E) on the lower row. Is this correct??

 

Now, when I listen to some of her tunes they are played a tone lower than the sheet music that I find on the web for that tune - i.e. Cmaj rather than Dmaj or Gmin rather than Amin. I could play these tunes a tone higher as they are commonly notated but they often sound better in the lower tone.

 

What I am trying to ascertain is whether there are many people playing Irish music on a C/G concertina who are play a tone lower to match the M.M. sound, for instance, rather than transposing these tunes up a tone.

 

Ritchie

[geoffwright]

Personally, I learn a tune and play it in various keys to find out what suits me. There is no reason why you shouldn't play it in more than one key and this is the best way to practise alternative fingering.

I have learned loads about (the aptly named) cross-fingering by listening to Marys CDs and working out what she does (most of the tunes have been posted on the Tuneatron).

I got curious about some of the tracks on Blackberry Blossom and asked her what boxes she used. She very helpfully provided the following list, just to shed some light on your question.

 

D/G concertina - Tracks 1 and 13

Bflat/F concertina Tracks 2, 4, 6, 8 and 11.

C/G concertina Track 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14 and 15.