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Playing My 18-Button Stagi, Need 2-Part Songs That Fit


bellowbelle

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I've picked up my mini EC lately....so cute....the 18-button Stagi. Today I discovered that the song

Wildwood Flower (folk song) fits nicely, played in the key of F, and I can easily add a harmony to it.

 

What else could I play, with an added harmony? Any ideas?

 

Doesn't have to be a folk song.... I've been playing a cha cha thing on my piano accordion, in fact, and that's got me hooked, though I just don't think a cha cha will work out on the mini EC, ha ha....

 

I love that the mini Stagi is so nice and loud, for being such a small thing.

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What is the total range of your instrument? I am guessing something less than 2 octaves.

 

Check out whatever tunebooks you currently have for tunes with a high to low note range less than 2 octaves. Also check songbooks. there are a lot of songs with a relatively small high note to low note range. If one end of the range is outside the range of your instrument, consider transposing to another key.

 

good luck in your search.

 

regards,

 

John

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"Wildwood Flower" has a range of one octave plus a major 3rd. My guess is that your instrument has a range of an octave plus a 4th, like a tabor pipe (I know you can get more notes out of a tabor pipe, but it hurts). 18 buttons would cover that range chromatically.

 

An octave plus a 4th is enough range to play any Morris tune and most 32-bar fiddle tunes (contradance, Playford, etc). So you should be able to play pretty much any traditional tune you can think of. If the tune uses the full range of the instrument you might have to compromise the harmony line at the top or bottom, but it ought to be workable. If the tune only uses an octave in range (Rufty Tufty, Happy Birthday, Bingo, Skye Boat Song come to mind, there are many others) then that leaves room for a more completely worked-out harmony.

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This Stagi mini has ALMOST 2 diatonic (not chromatic) octaves in the key of C. It has C-D-E-F-G-A-B-c-d-e-f-g-a-b plus F#, Bb, c# and f#. So I have almost 2 diatonic octaves in C.

 

The other possible keys to play in are F, G, and D, though each of those is much more limited (and also only of the diatonic scale).

 

The key of F goes: F to the a above the higher f (octave plus 2 -- 10 notes)

G is the same -- G to the b above the higher g (octave plus 2 -- 10 notes)

D has a bit more -- D to the a above the higher d (octave plus 4 -- 12 notes)

 

 

It's true that almost anything -- of traditional tunes, Morris, etc -- can be played on this, without missing a note...depending on the key, I guess. In a group, too, it's possible to modify the tune to a harmony.

 

Some 2-part things, though, on a full-sized concertina, seem to fall into place -- but they lose the lower notes of the harmony especially, if tried on the mini EC. To get all the notes, harmony, that I want in Wildwood Flower (for example), I have to play it in the key of F. The lower notes disappear in the key of C, for that one.

 

Anyway....I noticed at first how limited the 18-button is, but as I look further for good tunes to play on it, I'm noticing that there's a vast amount that will work out.

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