Jump to content

Maccann Duet Advice


VIN

Recommended Posts

As a novice i'm hoping that someone may offer a little advice on the way forward with my maccann duet, one of the things i'm unsure of is weather i should try and play the whole of the melody on the right hand side leaving the left side free for any chords etc or should i mix left and right if its easy er to play the melody that way and try to fit anything else around it, or do i try to do both depending on the tune that i'm trying to learn. i dont want to get into bad habits if i can help it. i'm am sorry if this sounds like a silly question to some but as i said i am novice, thank you in advance for any input, Vin.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don’t play Maccann, but another duet, Hayden. I usually play melody on the right, accompaniment on the left unless I run out of range on one side or the other. Sometimes for a final chord I may play bass note + fifth on the left and melody note + third (lower octave) on the right.

 

Of course, this is just habit I’ve kept to over 30 years of playing, not passed on dogma or wisdom. It has served me well, but other solutions may be just as valid, if not more so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dont' worry about bad habits ... as long as they work for you! Personally I always play the tune on the right, together with as many extra notes as I feel like dropping in, while the left plays the chords, bass runs etc. Of course, with the right hand end only going down to middle-C it's occasionally necessary to drop in a note on the left, but I don't like doing it as it tends to get in the way of what the left hand is doing. In the case of song accompaniment, I will often play an octave higher to avoid this.

 

Others may disagree ... there used to be a contributor on here called Dirge who reckoned to play any note on either end, whichever was most convenient.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes that's right.... what has happened to Dirge ? Many of us enjoyed his posts and musical offerings. About 5 years ago I swapped the most beautiful sounding MacCann Aeola to him and he's never posted a recording on it yet ! Think he got P'd off with certain people, which is a great shame.

 

The above mentioned 'beautiful' Aeola's right hand keyboard went down to G (or perhaps F) below middle C and that was a bonus when keeping all the melody on the right hand.... as well as extending the left/right crossover.

 

It does appear logical to keep the separation of melody on the right and accompaniment on the left and for the most part it can be a rule but I see some sense in trying to integrate the two hands for complex melodies if there is enough 'cross over' range on the instrument.

 

Why not try listening to Alexander Prince's recordings... see if you can figure out what his default method was.

 

Good luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes that's right.... what has happened to Dirge ?

According to his member page:

 

I've decided (Jan '14) to back away from all this, or perhaps it backed away from me, but if you have a serious duet question feel free to pm me, and I'll reply when I notice it!

 

Apparently he’s been back a few times since, posting a year ago and snooping around six months ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...