22 replies to this topic

[fearfeasog]

hi, Mark here. just wanted to say hello. Just rented a G/C anglo 30 button (Concertina Connection's "Rochelle" model)to see if i can do anything with the thing. i've never held, much less played a concertina before so we'll see how this goes. i have Mick Bramich's Irish Concertina tutor, plus the one that comes with the instrument. specifically interested in joining the sessions around here as more than just a bodhrán player.

by the way--how do you all practice? especially beginners...interested to hear what works for you, keeps you motivated. i thought i'd just go half hour-45 min daily, taking days off if i need to.

anyway, hello and hope to be telling you how good i'm getting soon!

[Dirge]

i thought i'd just go half hour-45 min daily, taking days off if i need to.

Half an hour is fine to start but I don't agree with the second bit. No days off, never. Get yourself into the thinking that where someone offers you a day out you worry about when you're going to fit your practice in.

Otherwise a day off becomes a couple of days and so on. Equally if you don't practice actually on the clock, half an hour will slide to 20mins, then a couple of tunes will be all you make time for and so on. What effort you have put in will be wasted.

Hallo, by the way!

[chungerford]

My radical plan... 10 minutes per day.

Shock! Horror! Some may say.

I've found ten minutes may last up to 45 or more! But Trying to plan the allocation of 45 minutes or an hour may often seem like too much of an impact on the schedule - and then not happen.

Keep the box handy! A few minutes often will be more productive than a few marathon sessions.

Cheers,
Carl

[Anglo-Irishman]

Hi Mark!

At the risk of boring you, I agree with the previous posters. Practise daily if you want to get anywhere!

Beginner or advanced makes no difference - we're all learners, whatever level we're at.

Whether you plan for 30 minutes and watch the clock to make sure you do the full half hour, or plan for 10 minutes and don't manage to drag yourself away from the concertina until 20 minutes later, depends on your mental state. There may be a place for both methods. If you think you're not getting anywhere, and playing feels like hard work, you may have to force yourself to keep your nose to the grindstone. And if you've got a lot of other things to do, telling yourself (and others) that it'll only take 10 minutes will make it easier to find a time slot. You'll probably overrun the time, but that's the whole point of the exercise, isn't it?

And if you really only have 10 minutes to spare, or even just 5 minutes - get the squeezebox out and play a couple of scales or something. Never let a day pass without at least moving the bellows and pressing a couple of buttons.

It helps if you have the concertina handy at all times. It should be kept in its case, but the case should not be locked away in some cupboard in some remote corner of the house.

Cheers,
John

[michael sam wild]

Unless you mean days off work so you can play. That's fine if you can afford it or the boss doesn't mind

I I would agree with Dirge. Set some definite time and be undisturbed. As you sound keen on Irish music 30 minutes with Mick's book and keep a diary and don't be scared to annotate the book inpencil. It's yours. Keep the concertina and your books to hand and easy to get out and stick at it, it builds up quickly. Also practice scales with different combinations of buttons and bellows.


Listen to loads of good players on various instruments. I listen to loats of the older players to go back to the source, Mrs Crotty, Tom McCarthy, Tom Carey etc. I'd recommend smooth and slower modern players at first like Mary MacNamara and Dympna O'Sullivan. I love Noel Hill's playing but it both inspired and put me off for a long time as too complicated. Stick to G at first. The Bramich book will introduce you to cross row playing. You could also get Frank Edgely's book to introduce the method along the G row and listen to his CD. John Williams DVD is good to.


Bertram Levy's original tutor and Cd is goood to introduce you to playing in C.



Use The Session site to find out about players , CDs and tune history...YouTube is great as is the Irish Traditional Music web based tutorial system and some players on this network offer Skype lessonsl Comhaltas site has some great videos
Good luck and enjoy it!

[fearfeasog]

Hey thanks alot everyone! Michael double thanks for the resources--the more the merrier. Anglo-irishman John, totally agree about the state-of-mind thing.

"1/2 hour" a day it shall be--no days off, individual session duration flexible.

you're all awesome, thanks!

Mark

Edited by fearfeasog, 29 June 2012 - 01:16 PM.

[Constant Screamer]

Just throwing in my full agreement with the idea of keeping the box handy. Sometimes magic happens in those quick "grab and play" moments. It'll build confidence and keep that piece of your mind that's a concertina player active.

[fearfeasog]

Worry not--I won't do this every day, but i wanted to say that today's 30 minutes became an hour. and i learned bunches. still only playing "London Bridge" and the like, but hey, it's only day 2!

see you all around.

[michael sam wild]

Nice work. Do you play by ear, or read or both. Don't forget to tap your feet in time . it's worth going out for a walk or jog and finding tunes that fit to the rhythm. so many tunes are dance tujes, it helps to do some simple dancing to the tunes and also learn to lilt or diddle or whistle tunes . Tunes with words go in easier and you can recall them better. Bobby Shafto is a nice one .

[fearfeasog]

I'm trying a book or two. I can read music albeit slowly, but part of my goal is to learn to sightread more quickly. It'll come slowly but surely. That said I DO have a tune or two in my head that i cannot resist having a go at while i practice. It's like a language, in my mind-you have to try speaking it properly every now and again. Also I'll do recordings once in a while for perspective.

I'll look up Bobby Shafto thanks!

[Mike Franch]

If things go well, you won't be able to skip a day. You won't want to!

After you get a few tunes under your belt, you'll want to be aware of the distinction between playing for fun and practice (although I find practice fun). Sometimes, on a nice evening, I'll sit on my front porch and play a few tunes and just noodle around exploring the instrument. It builds my familiarity with the instrument, but I don't consider it practice. Practice needs to be purposeful, e.g., in my case right now, I'm working on evenness of tempo, not speeding up or slowing down but keeping on the beat.

It wasn't so long ago that I was thrilled to be able to play simple children's songs! I still go back to them sometimes.

Also, keep an appropriate ratio of practicing and being on C.net!

[fearfeasog]

If things go well, you won't be able to skip a day. You won't want to!

After you get a few tunes under your belt, you'll want to be aware of the distinction between playing for fun and practice (although I find practice fun). Sometimes, on a nice evening, I'll sit on my front porch and play a few tunes and just noodle around exploring the instrument. It builds my familiarity with the instrument, but I don't consider it practice. Practice needs to be purposeful, e.g., in my case right now, I'm working on evenness of tempo, not speeding up or slowing down but keeping on the beat.

It wasn't so long ago that I was thrilled to be able to play simple children's songs! I still go back to them sometimes.

Also, keep an appropriate ratio of practicing and being on C.net!

Hear, hear!

[fearfeasog]

so far, haven't missed a day! not quite sure what drills to put myself through yet--there's one i like that's sortof a "two steps forward, one step back" scale --

CDCDEDEFEFGFGAGABABCBCDC and back again. in G and C

-- it's definitely a challenge to make it smooth. start slow and try to go faster gradually. plus regular scales.

also trying to work on my sight reading/button (note) finding by playing the little ditties they have in the book. they fold in dotted note practice and the like, which as a drummer i have no issues with so far. it's the notes themselves i need work on. I need to start saying the names of the notes as i play them, i think--i keep forgetting!

anyone have any suggestions?



Mark

[Mikefule]

I find it helps to have a selection of tunes I can play well, tunes I'm improving, and tunes I'm learning - and a couple of tunes I'm interested in and might try to pick out.

That way, the practice session changes pace depending on how tired or enthusiastic I'm feeling. Bad day at work, play lots of the stuff I know well, and a few that I'm improving. If I feel energetic, I warm up on some favourites then work on the stuff I'm learning for a few minutes, then reward myself with some favourites again.

A couple of short sessions a day is better than one very long session. Daily is better than every couple of days.

[fearfeasog]

Good advice Mikefule, thanks!

[Johanna]

also trying to work on my sight reading/button (note) finding by playing the little ditties they have in the book. they fold in dotted note practice and the like, which as a drummer i have no issues with so far. it's the notes themselves i need work on. I need to start saying the names of the notes as i play them, i think--i keep forgetting!

anyone have any suggestions?

In my personal opinion, sight-reading is overrated. When you've truly mastered a tune, it will be in your aural memory and your muscle memory. At that point, you won't need the dots in front of you, and keeping them there will only serve to distract you from what's really important, which is the sounds that you're producing.

Printed music is great for showing you the bare bones of how a tune is supposed to go in the first place, especially if you don't have a recording of it (or even if you do). As long as you can read music slowly, you can pick through the tune and get a basic feel for it, then strive to rid yourself of the printed music as quickly as possible.

Listening skills are far more important than music-reading skills, because there are aspects of music that the printed page can convey only imperfectly, if at all: phrasing, attacks, accents, dynamics, slight changes in tempo, etc. Whether I'm listening to someone else's playing (and trying to imitate it) or my own, I find that it's much easier to focus on those nuances when I don't think of the tune in terms of the dots on the page, but instead am fully focused on the sounds.

Sight-reading skills are optional: There's no reason you can't be a good or even great musician without being able to read music at all. Listening skills are mandatory.

[John Wild]

so far, haven't missed a day! not quite sure what drills to put myself through yet--there's one i like that's sortof a "two steps forward, one step back" scale --

CDCDEDEFEFGFGAGABABCBCDC and back again. in G and C

-- it's definitely a challenge to make it smooth. start slow and try to go faster gradually. plus regular scales.

anyone have any suggestions?



Mark

that looks like an exercise in playing triplets with each triplet one note higher than the one before:

CDC DED EFE FGF GAG ABA BCB CDC
The middle note in each triplet is one note higher up the scale than the 1st & 3rd notes.

try the same exercise where the middle note is one note lower.

try also playing ascending triplets in this pattern:

CDE DEF EFG FGA GAB ABC BCD CDE
and descending triplets in the reverse pattern coming down the scale.

hope that makes sense.

best wishes

John Wild

[fearfeasog]

johanna I agree 100% i'm using sight reading to get the tunes for the most part, but also I have always wanted to be a bit better at it anyway. i have always played by ear via listening - and watching is handy too!

john thanks for the drill suggestions! they make perfect sense. that last one looks difficult!