Posted 07 December 2004 - 11:43 AM
Thanks, Ken, for doing this. A few comments.
TUTORS:
I think a new and complete review of the tutors is called for. Since no one person is familiar with them all, perhaps some solicited reviews from members could be cobbled together. I personally would like to see a table of contents, where such exist, and critical comments for each tutor. The Anglo list should minimally include the tutors by Edgley, Levy, Bramich x 2, Watson, the Alan Day and John Williams tapes and the Vallely CD. A pointer to Simon Wells, too. The English list should include table and contents and critical comments of the out-of-print-but-occasionally-available-on-ebay tutors by Butler and Carlin, which are both excellent, the Atlas book and Pauline de Snoo tutor, which I’ve never seen reviews of, and the Dick Miles books.
What people need is a good idea of what skills they will learn with each book, or whether it’s just tunes. I think the table of contents is nearly essential for this, and a few judicious critical comments can add a lot.
ENGLISH vs. ANGLO:
This is a particular interest of mine. Your article is of course just the tip of the iceberg. I would like to see a lot more input from those who play both systems. Michael Reid and Tom Lawrence started on English and have switched, or at least play a lot of Anglo. What drove those decisions? What about others who have gone the other direction.
I’m always a little surprised when an Anglo player says the side-switching of an English scale is off-putting. Maybe I would have found it so, too, if I had not practiced pulled-only scales on the Anglo before beginning English. This has been particularly helpful for rapid scalar passages on the Anglo; it made a huge difference for me in a passage in the strathspey “Neil Gow’s Wife” transforming it from a trouble spot to a strength. Do these Anglo players play these rapid passages with bellows reversals?
I started on Anglo and still play both systems. The crux for me was that I would hear in my mind some things I wanted to play on the Anglo, usually sustained bass notes or fills, but could not play because of a mismatch in bellows direction. (Believe me, I substituted alternate notes whenever possible). I have found it easier to play what I hear on the fly with the English, although not always.
My preferences for the Anglo include the following: (1) I like the musical feel brought about by the more frequent bellows reversals. In fact, I reverse on the English more than many would recommend. (2) For what and how I play, I like lower notes than the tenor English. I would need a tenor-treble for my taste. I also find it fairly easy to take the melody and move it up an octave on the Anglo. The chromatic notes on the English can constrain its range, although clearly you can choose a model that suits your taste. (3) I do find the Anglo more “intuitive” to play, especially by ear, which seems strange since its keyboard was designed by committee. I also find it more pleasing to play in an organic sense, by which I mean it’s satisfying in a physical sense like kneading bread. The bellows reversals seem like more a part of the tune, rather than just a phrase demarcator.
I find it easier to add accompaniment to the melody on the English, although not always. This is not everyone’s experience. I certainly find it easier to play tunes outside folk traditions. Let’s not even talk about jazz on the Anglo (although I can think of at least 1 tune that seems to lie better there).
These are my personal experiences. An Alan Day, John Nixon, or Pietro Valente gets more out their boxes than I could get out of either system with 14 fingers, so I would not suggest my impressions are universal. I play both, enjoy both, and will continue to do so about equally (at least until my duet arrives).
