Hi all,

Looks like I've come down with a case of the 'Concertina blues". I love playing my concertina, but I'm finding it harder and harder to get motivated to play.

In my former life as harp player I was very fortunate to have lots of contact with other harp players, running a harping circle, teaching harp, and playing on a regular basis with my muso friends.

Life has moved on, I've been back in paid employment nearly four years, and have moved on from the harp to the concertina. My muso friends have moved away or moved on to other things.

I've joined a beginners slow session which I go to once a twice a month (work allowing). I hope to eventually improve my playing skills and repetoire to join other sessions around town, but until then my playing is now on my own at home.

I still very much enjoy playing, but really miss the fun and interaction of playing with other muos. I have tried (and am still trying) to find other beginners who are interested in getting together on a semi-regular basis to play.

I know this too will pass, but right now playing along with CDs and the internet are just not cutting it anymore. How do you all cope with the musical isolation of playing on your own?

Morgana

[PS At least I have this wonderful concertina community - a big thank you to everyone ]

I can relate to this feeling, due to some of my own experience. But, the outcome of it all, for me, is that I decided I kind of prefer my isolation, now.

What was difficult was getting over my sense of disillusionment, years ago. (Um....I'm not trying to sound old & wise....and, I have no idea of how old, or talented, you may be!)

I had a fairly happy amount of social 'muso' interaction all during my younger years in high school, though we were amateur and just a religious type of thing. I had some great friendships with a few people, male and female, all because we worked creatively together, practiced for hours every week and put on some performances. One guy in particular was always more like a brother to me. I never thought any of that would end, as long as I was doing some music.

I later got married to a musician and got to kind of hang around on the fringes of their (the band's) stuff, but, never really had much to do with them....they were under a set recording contract and all that, and I wasn't really part of them. (They eventually dissolved.) I didn't really care that I wasn't in their band....I was kind of put off by their 'professionalism.' I was the kind of semi-nurdy type who would scribble inspired lyrics into a little notebook beside my bed in the middle of the night,and in then work out the chords on a bad guitar and only hear it as good; and this particular group of 'professionals' seemed to just be all cold business, to me. (Guess that's why I'm married to an artist, now!)

(What is this...storytime? Anyway.....)

When I got divorced somewhere around the two-year marriage mark, it was almost as if I got some ridiculous muso consolation prize....everyone (...okay, so, a few people) wanted to cheer me up and I ended up in this musical that I didn't even really want to be in. I literally got a part in this (amateur/semi-pro) show before I even knew that I had auditioned...but, that's another story.

Actually, the 'consolation prizes' started before that....and I could kind of sense it and didn't like it. Maybe for most musicians I met music was just a big ego trip, but, wasn't there anything else to it? Some sincerity...just a little?

The point is, I eventually realized that I was getting everything that I 'wanted' and I was really hating it. (And...it showed!)

I even eventually told my 'brother' friend to not bother to call me or send me anything ever again, since I don't want any more 'cheering up.' (He got married and his wife said I was a fifth wheel, so contact with me must be under the 'charity work' category, etc....oh well, no loss, really.)

I AM VERY HAPPY THAT I CAN PLAY ALONE, AND I HAVE TWO PARAKEETS THAT I CAN GO PLAY FOR.

About once a year, at least, I'll venture out and find some other concertina players, to say hello.

Still open for nice illusions, maybe....

Morgana, you should have come to the National Folk Festival in Canberra at Easter.
Lots of inspiration on hand there....
Maybe next year.
Regards
Malcolm

For me, music is definitely a social act. I tell my high school students music is something you make for yourself and others, not something you buy in a store. (I'm not sure they understand what I mean.) I have gone through long spells without others to share with. Sure, it slows down the learning curve, but I already overachieve all day long at something else, so I take my music as it comes and goes. Once I reached the intermediate level (whatever that is) on concertina about three years ago, I started doing nursing home concerts, like many others. There they will applaud anything you do, no matter how good or bad (that is how music worked before the phonograph anyway!). It (and other volunteer gigs) motivated me to learn more music in one of those slow learning times.

Another therapy for this is keeping an old instrument going while you also do concertina. For me it is (so-called French) horn. After 30 years on brass I can play that well enough to hack almost any ensemble. So I'll play that in some community or university group and find all my practice time goes to concertina. Right I now I'm living (probably temporarily) in one of the most musically active parts of the U.S., so I'm taking advantage of all the jams I can. It is giving me lots of ideas for ways get groups together when I am next in an isolated area.

This isn't an answer, rather it is the news that others deal with this too, and it goes in cycles.

I find learning new tunes helps me keep playing instruments whatever they may be.

I can only write here on this subject about how it works for me but it is getting together with other musicians either in sessions, forming a group,or working towards a performance ,that keeps up the enthusiasm.Looking for new tunes to introduce,getting new tunes from the other musicians to work on,playing in public as a group,even as Ken suggested for charity.Making a CD.Working as a solo performer for a special evening.This is where the excitement stems from.You are lucky Morgana if you have sessions you could attend and meet other musicians and form such a group.Some people who I have communicated with on this site would love a musician within fifty miles from where they are.The answer I think must be with some of the group of musicians you are playing with or at the other sessions you are not attending.You do not have to be a wonderfull solo performer for a session but if you worked on one number to play when you got there, surely this is a starting point.Work of course does get in the way of these plans but perhaps a variation of venue may help.
Take care
Al

Living in the wilds of Michigan I too find motivation while in isolation a problem. One thing I do is make a point of going to local folk clubs. I live in the stix but still am with easy travel distance of four different folk club who have several open mike sessions each month.

I make a list of songs I'm working on and make up a personnal schedule with the dates I am going to perform each piece at an open mike session at one of the clubs.

Remember, you don't have to be perfect to get up and play in an open mike session. Open mike sessions are so dominated by guitar players playing the same songs that a concertina player is very much appreciated as a change of pace.

It's amazing how knowing you have to play something on a certain date will give you motivation. After a few sessions you will find your enthusiasm will increase too.

The isolation can be a hamper on things; it's one of the results of burying myself in a pretty remote rural area, but that's OK. I find that without a challenge of the sort mentioned by others here, I don't tend to progress; I spend a lot of time on tunes that I already know, instead of striking out into new stuff I own the only concertina that I have ever seen, outside of photographs and etc., here and on the net. The local folkie session around here is heavily weighted to country and western songs. I end up playing more harmonica than 'tina, not such a bad thing but it's not getting me much of a workout on this new instrument. The worst is that my sense of tempo, never very good to begin with, suffers from a lack of other players to holler at me when I wander, which is often. So I keep playing along with recorded stuff, try to stay alert for songs that I can figure out by myself, and make myself practice 20 minutes a day, whether I'm into it or not. I really don't have much ambition to play as a performer (though I don't avoid it) but I do want to get to the point where I can realize the tune in my head on the concertina and have it sound good.
With some luck I'll stumble onto another person with similar tastes in music who is near enough to be handy. Then maybe things will change. In the mean time I follow my ear.

It seems to me, Robert, that you should try to contact the folks in Portland. Looks like about an hour's drive each way. There are a few, and they hang out with other musicians, and they play a fine variety of music (not just Irish; not just English; and not just both ). I found them friendly.

There have also been a few instruments from the Portland area on eBay recently, suggesting prior generations of players. Have you tried advertising for others in your area? You might be pleasantly surprised.

I'll be nice, and not suggest that you switch to English or duet.

The difficulty in giving advice for something like this is that what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another. (E.g., somebody said they have trouble getting to new tunes, but repeat old ones. I tend to spend so much time trying out new tunes that I rarely spend enough time with one to learn it.) Still, I'll try.



I think you're saying that you need a combination of musical and social stimulus. I'll suggest that you stop trying to hide yourself amongst the beginners. Get out to the real sessions, even if you don't play. Even if you're not participating, you should absorb some of the spirit of people playing together, and the feel of the music being alive... varying ever so slightly each time through, rather than being precisely identical each time. This might depress you, but I'm hoping that it will inspire you, instead.

Get to know some of these people. Make friends with them... as people, not just as musicians. You may even find someone who will want to help you "get up to speed" on a tune or two, but don't make that the purpose in getting to know them. Just appreciating the music is a good opening, since it's clearly something you'll have in common, but that's unlikely to be the whole of it.

But there are also things a "beginner" can do in a regular session while still learning, and without interfering. This might give you the sense of participation and accomplishment that you seem to need. The two rules of thumb are 1) harmony is OK, and 2) don't try to play every note.

.. 1) Harmony: There are some "Irish" musicians who will be "shocked" by a running harmony line (they must despise The Chieftains ), but that's not what I mean, since I can hardly expect you to start off playing like that. But an occasional note that harmonizes is fine. Irish anglo players tend to throw in the odd extra note -- not always an octave, -- uilleann pipers use their regulators, and most of the notes in the chords played by guitars and bouzoukis are "harmony". They also don't follow the melody note for note.

.. 2) Not every note: Sit and listen to the tune. Maybe it's even one you "know", which could help. Find a few notes that you can identify as they fly past. Play those notes -- and only those notes -- at the right time(s). You will not be interfering. You will be adding a little extra emphasis -- both dynamic and tonal -- to those notes. Vary their loudness and length to get what you feel is a nice effect. Then think about finding and adding a few more notes. After a while, you may even find yourself playing the whole tune, but there's nothing wrong with playing long parts of a tune and dropping out on other parts. I do that all the time.

.. 1+2) Chords: Expanding on what was said in (1) above, if you can learn a chord or few and play them at appropriate points -- not continuously through the piece like most guitarists will do, -- that can add "flavor" without interfering. Start with one chord per tune -- D for a D tune; G for a G tune, -- then try adding a second chord -- A or D, -- etc. (If the guitarists are playing fancy with 9th chords and the like, just don't play on those parts; they'll always come back to the tonic and fifth at various points, and that's where you can "chime" in).

You could even start out simpler than that, playing only the D of the D chord, G of the G chord, etc. That way you can work with (e.g.) three "chords", without having to worry about shifting several fingers at once. Use D, A, and G on D tunes, G, D, and C on G tunes, etc. You could even experiment with using the same notes in different octaves at different times. Using other notes in the same chords takes you back to the "harmony" section.

And when it comes to chords -- or "chords", -- much Irish music goes really well with "open chords", i.e., open fifths, without the musical "third" which defines the chord as either major or minor. E.g., an "open" D would be just D and A, without either F or F#. These can sound really nice on the concertina, and in some tunes they can be held for a lovely drone effect. E.g., in the first part of Road to Lisdoonvarna (the jig) an open E (E-B ) and open D (D-A) are a nice alternative to the Em and D (major) chords, or a nice augmentation to the full chords on the guitar. And if the guitarist throws in a G or A chord -- as many do, -- you can either drop out for those parts, or try D-G (or G-d) and E-A (or A-e) against them.

But even if you don't join in right away, do try at least attending these non-"beginner" sessions, and see if they can reduce your feeling of isolation.

Thank you to Jim (and everyone else) for your support and good ideas... I really appreciate it

With thanks,
Morgana

Just to say that on the few occasions when I have felt myself becoming despondant about my playing and/or lack of progress if has been followed by some sort of quantum leap of ability or a new musical influence making me try another sort of music. So it may be that you are ready to try out something different on the concertina, or it may be that you will suddenly be able to play something that you thought "out of reach".
I have a theory that for me it was a time when I was subconciously learning to do some things in a different way and that playing the same old things was actually conflicting with the change and making me feel disaffected.
I cannot say if it is a cause or an effect, but it just happened.

Robin Madge

Morgana, this was a very good thread.

I especially enjoyed Jim L's advice and Robin Madge's observations.

Thanks,

Helen

I'll vouch for this. A few years back Anne and I ventured into the Radway sessions at Sidmouth Folk Festival. Talk about going in at the top! Of course, we couldn't play for toffee, but the music and tunes we heard (perhaps 80% for the first time) and the welcome we had from the regulars was amazingly motivating.

Chris

I have the amazing luck that my girlfriend also plays music. She is actually a classic violin player, so the combination with me as a percussionist didn't seem straightforward. But we found the solution in Irish, Scottish, English, Klezmer ... folk music. I developed my gitar chord playing skills further, and she learned the tunes.

The fun thing is that we often take our instruments to city and just play for a while on the street. You have immense fun, you can play errors because you don't know your spectators, you earn even money! Honestly, it defenitely is great fun. I recommend it to you all.

By now I am learning to play the concertina for folk accompaniment (Just ordered Bill Miles' new book), to be able to switch with the guitar. Let's see how that sounds!


Greetings,
Toon

Yup, I'm doing the street busking thing this summer, too.

Boy, nothing like planning to play in public to really boost the motivation!

Indeed! And the nice thing about it is that you can play what you want, the people that doesn't like it just walk by, others stay.

Toon

As I am always out playing, I never have enough time to play new stuff at home but know how you feel. I find that a workshop or going to see a guest always spurs me on to playing more at home by trying new techniques (and often undoing how I have always done it and starting afresh).