Absolute Beginner Needs Advice!

[Theo]

 

with a 21 button, if such a thing existed.

 

Never seen one, but Lachenal did make a few 22 button anglos.

[Azalin]

These two quotes from the thread are just what I've been wanting to hear to give me the confidence to go for the 20 buttoned C/G Anglo… cheers, John

 

Good luck with your 20 buttons concertina hunting! Please once you find one let me know here or by PM what you got and how much you paid, if you don't mind. I'm really curious about the market for 20 buttons...

[HansiRowe]

Will do Azalin… cheers, John

[MatthewVanitas]

 

These two quotes from the thread are just what I've been wanting to hear to give me the confidence to go for the 20 buttoned C/G Anglo… cheers, John

 

Good luck with your 20 buttons concertina hunting! Please once you find one let me know here or by PM what you got and how much you paid, if you don't mind. I'm really curious about the market for 20 buttons...

 

 

Azalin, have you contacted Greg Jowaisas down in the US? He's the fellow I got my 20b from, and he had a pretty cool selection, as well as some 22/24/26b Anglos that were pricier than 20b but notably less than 30b, and presumably 95% sufficient for Irish trad.

 

I don't know if it'd be cost-effective for John to order from Greg, but Greg does have afaik a solid understanding of customs/import issues for various countries, and at least in some cases vintage concertinas can qualify for reduced customs fees in some circumstances. Failing that, for John I'd reckon there must be a good scattering of 20b Anglos floating around, given its past relative popualrity and the relatively niche (or so I would assume) popularity of Bush concertina these days.

[HansiRowe]

Thanks for that Matthew… I just looked up Greg and sent him a message through his FaceBook page. I think that I'm probably going to have to find a concertina from either the US or the UK, so I'm interested to hear from Greg about the costs involved, etc. I'll keep you posted about his response… cheers, John

[Tradewinds Ted]

John, if you are willing to have to have something shipped from the UK, then there are several good contacts for vintage instruments. Here are three I've dealt with, or at least spoken to:

 

Chris Algar of Barleycorn concertina, or www.concertina.co.uk is well known and has good prices and good variety. He also sells on ebay.co.uk as cocoa111, and happens to have a 26b Lachenal which is still on auction at the moment. (note - it seems there are always at least a few anglo concertinas on ebay in the UK. some at very low prices, but nearly all appear to need a lot of work - so it is very good to know who the seller is in this case.)

 

Theo Gibb of www.theboxplace.co.uk also is good to deal with, and has a variety of instruments

 

www.themusicroom-inline.co.uk is another well known shop which has a number of instruments, including a Crabb 20b and a Lachenal 20b at the moment, as well as a Jones 26b.

 

All of these will cost somewhat more than the Rochelle, but you might find something that interests you more.

[geoff lowes]

Hi , In 2006 I bought for $A500 a Lachenal 20 button which had at some time been well restored. I have never regretted my purchase.if you are worried about ''limitations" of 20b please listen to players such as Wm Kimber etc to hear what is possible. Style of music depends on the player not the instrument. Moving to a 30 button at some later time will present no difficulties. The work put into restoration makes SA5 to 600 for a restored antique 20B concertina an absolute bargain, they are listed at around $A 1000 at 'Hobgoblin'music stores ,which is probably a fair value.Two years ago I was able to buy a very good 30B Lachenal , I like both concertinas equally and they each get regular use. I have no intention of parting with my 20B , it sounds good,looks good,feels good and by golly it is good. Hope my opinions are of of some use, Best wishes. Geoff.

[HansiRowe]

Thanks Ted & Geoff for all the information… I have been contacting some of the people that you, and other members, have recommended and some progress has been made! I've also found out that there is quite a lively folk scene here in WA and I now have a short list of players and one or two highly recommended repairers here in Australia.

 

Greg Jowaisas in the US has been very helpful and may have something suitable for me, I'm just waiting to see if some photos of his available instruments are available. Chis Algar at Barleycorn has also been most helpful and may have something for me… Malcolm Clapp here in Australia has also given me a lot of information to think about… so things are starting to move in the right direction.

 

I'm just amazed and very thankful at the amount of help, advice, and information that I have received… it's wonderful and reassuring to hear that many (or maybe most!) experienced players have taken these same first steps, and I'm so happy to have joined this community of knowledgeable players and like-minded concertina lovers.

 

Thanks again… cheers, John

[HansiRowe]

Hi Guys

 

Just to let you know that I have finally found a lovely, old Lachenal Anglo, 20 buttoned, C/G Concertina in good condition at Barleycorn in the UK. It cost £400 + £50 to send. Chris was just about to put it on eBay, so my timing was perfect. Chris thinks that it's from the1880s… I now have an agonising wait while it's shipped from the UK to Australia… Anyway, here are 3 photos that Chris took, one is a little blurred but you can see that it's a little beauty!

[HansiRowe]

I forgot to mention that it's Rosewood with steel reeds and new(ish) valves & pads… I'm like a proud new parent!

[alex_holden]

Lovely fretwork. Look forward to hearing a recording of you playing it!

[Azalin]

Beautiful!

[HansiRowe]

Thanks Alex & Azalin… while I'm waiting for it to arrive can I just ask what, in everyone's opinion, is the best 20 button Anglo beginners' instruction manual on the market? I know that there are lots of YouTube videos showing all manner of lessons and ways for beginners to take those first steps, but I think it would be very beneficial to actually have something in print to work from, especially for daily exercises and scales, etc. Can anyone recommend something that's still in print.. or that's down-loadable?

 

Cheers, John

[MatthewVanitas]

As mentioned above, Gary Coover's new book of Civil War Concertina, which has accompanying videos online, this this favorite of mine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCPG9hItLTU

 

Then of course there's the online Playing the Anglo Concertina in Bush Music Style.

 

 

For Irish, back when I was messing with Anglo I looked around for similar resources, and wasn't finding as much as I like. My vague impression is that 20b Irish players are people that already play Irish on another instrument, or are kind of self-taught. I can try to dig around, because I might have some older posts on Cnet where I compile links to earlier dicussions about 20b concertina. At some point I'd made a list somewhere of famous 20b Irish players, most notably Kitty Hayes. Between Cnet and the ITM forum The Session, there are a scattering of good threads at least discussing 20b Irish, "along the rows", etc. I believe County Clare being the center of what remains of that tradition. Dan Worrall did some research and interviews/recording on the topic in Clare, the Irish German Concertina Project, resulting in a recent album of pre-Hill style playing.

 

Even though I don't play Anglo now, I do have friends I've gotten into playing 20b, and I for one would certainly enjoy seeing more books or online tutorials showing folks how to play Irish on 20b. In the meantime, I'd imagine just picking some tunes that don't have a C# in them, and just feeling them out by note "along the row" would at least get you started.

 

So pleased to see you've found yourself a good solution at attainable price, and are drawn by the minimalism of the smaller Anglos.

[nancymaewi]

I own a 30 button C/G Rochelle. I got it new from Button Box. It is a beautiful instrument. yes, it's a big large, but the sound is fantastic and the button action is great. I play Irish tunes as well as standards. I am learning chords too. You can't go wrong with the price. Then if you want to upgrade, they will buy it back at the original price if you want to upgrade to another model in their selection. (The Rochelle people...but Button Box has the same policy). They sell Stagi's too...but they do some fine tuning of them (sort of like a professional set up with a guitar or violin). I love my Rochelle, I don't see me getting rid of it.

 

Check out some of the You Tubes with people playing the Rochelle. You will love it!

Good luck...let us know what you get!!

[nancymaewi]

Oh, I didn't wait till this page loaded all the way...I see you got a concertina! Have fun with it! it looks like a beautiful instrument. I have heard good things about the s_{tore too! Have fun!}

[Terry McGee]

Thanks Alex & Azalin… while I'm waiting for it to arrive can I just ask what, in everyone's opinion, is the best 20 button Anglo beginners' instruction manual on the market? I know that there are lots of YouTube videos showing all manner of lessons and ways for beginners to take those first steps, but I think it would be very beneficial to actually have something in print to work from, especially for daily exercises and scales, etc. Can anyone recommend something that's still in print.. or that's down-loadable?

 

Cheers, John

 

Hi John, from Malua Bay, quite the opposite side of the continent. I've been to Safety Bay though, which is quite a coincidence, given the number of bays!

 

Can I put in a word for the Irish Academy of Traditional Music on-line lessons. I found it very helpful to get me going, particularly to avoid silly errors that I might need to unlearn later. They give you a few free lessons to get you started, so consider taking them, and then going on if you find it suits you.

 

I did find though that trying to play along with another concertina sound was very aggravating - make a mistake and the room quickly fills up with jangling inharmonics. So I also downloaded their .abc file of each tune, set the abc reader to piano and played along with that. (Choosing piano because it's usually the most realistic of MIDI voices, and completely different to and harmonious with concertina.) To make it more fun, I added the chords to the .abc files. Being able to set the abc reader to Deathly Slow at first, slowly cranking it up to Upper Limit of Agility encourages you to stay within your capacity as you build it.

 

Oh, I also added in the grace notes to the .abc files, to remind me to learn them into the tunes. Interestingly I found I then started introducing them where I wanted them, which seems a good sign - I wasn't letting them brainwash me. I quite enjoy having a dirty brain.

 

Terry

[HansiRowe]

Thanks so much Matthew, Nancy, & Terry… thanks for the links Matthew, yes, those Civil War tunes are delightful, I love them and hope to be able to play them myself one day! There's certainly no shortage of film clips of people playing wonderful things, but very few actually showing how to play them… like "put this finger here, and that one there, and now squeeze!" Oh, I'm such a beginner...

 

The Irish Academy of Traditional Music does look interesting and I will certainly check them out more thoroughly once my concertina arrives. I certainly want to start right at the beginning and build up slowly, especially to avoid those bad habits that can so easily creep in, so they might be the way to go.

 

Thanks Nancy for the info concerning the Rochelle… I came so close to ordering one, I liked the look of it (at first) and it sounds nice too but, I just happened to watch a video of one being played and I couldn't believe how big it is, I hadn't realised before. I just love the old 'squeeze-boxes' and that love of the history connected to each one, the character that each instrument has, well… all that won over in the end, but thank you for taking the time to write to me, I appreciate that.

 

I can't believe that you've been to Safety Bay Terry… especially given the size of Australia! Thanks for all your comments. I'm not really sure what an "abc file" is or an "abc reader", can you explain what they are as they do sound interesting? In particular, I like the "dirty brain" part, never heard that expression before!

 

I'm still looking for a good book on how to play, in particular the 20 buttoned anglo… and not necessarily Irish, maybe some Scottish, English, etc. I haven't really found anything yet but I'll keep looking. I saw one interesting book but the music was laid out in tabs rather than normal notation, which might have made things easier but I really want to start off how I mean to carry on.

 

Anyway, thanks again for all of your comments and advice… as always it's all very much appreciated! Cheers, John