For the last week I have spent a lot of time listening to the John Williams recording of "The Bright Hollow Fog" as I really wanted to learn to play it by ear.

This afternoon I was in the middle of something on my computer, with the tune playing in the background when I was gripped by an overwhelming impulse to play along with the tune right there and then! So I grabbed my trusty Norman Anglo (which lives in it's case beside my desk for just such occassions) and away I went.

The amazing thing was, I found that not only could I play the tune, but my fingers instinctively used alternative fingering so that the transition between notes was smooth! I was gob-smacked!

[Wow those lessons with Martha are really paying off! ]

This magic doesn't happen very often - but boy when it does I just have to tell my friends! [Thanks for listening ]

Cheers
Morgana

Morgana,
This will happen in future more often (I guess). You have entered the next (concertina) heaven and are well on your way to the concertina-nirwana !
Congratulations!!

Henk

Way to go Morgana!

Fantastic Morgana,
Al

Super, Morgana,

I am holding out my fingers waiting for the tunes to jump into them.

Hm, maybe I should hold my fingers up to catch the tunes instead of down.

I'll try that.

Keep up the good work, Morgana, and I hope the lessons are still spiffy.

Helen

I've made several attempts to learn music from recordings . I always find that I learn faster by ear than by using sheet music. The music also seems to be stored better mentally as well. I don't forget those pieces as quickly as the tunes I've learned from printed music. Some of the new slow-down software makes it much easier as well.

I find a similar thing happens too.......sometimes.

The tune inside my head comes out through my fingers quite easily, no problems figuring out choices of buttons or anything. It really just flows quite nicely.

THEN..............my little brain kicks right in where it hurts and asks me if I know what I am playing........I of course reply to myself and think about it whilst still playing.

I realise that I of course don't actually *know* the tune playing in my head on repeat mode..........and so of course you probably guess the rest

The tune starts to splutter and question itself and finally dies an agonising death.

This is on tunes that I haven't actively learned.........tunes that I do learn I tend to work through different fingering and bellows changes, etc to get the best for the tune.

So what the heck happens when it just all flows naturally as if the tune was a learned one anyway. And why the blazes does my brain not just leave me alone until I ask it to be of some use.......when then it just fails me

I like being on auto pilot, it is much more fun.

Sharron

awaiting the leap into the fingers with permission of the brain.

Obviously, it has a mind of its own!

It's precisely when you stop thinking that you are freed to begin doing.

I speak from limited experience with "Rakes of Mallow."

That's great news, Morgana. I hope it happens often for you! And me. And everyone!

ldp

I have had this happen occassionally (very). I am not an very experienced concertina player (I hate the word concertinist!), but one day I ended up playing The Rocky Road to Dublin after about 5 minutes of trying (which is V. quick for me). I had not even played this on a melodeon, though I had been whistling it a lot. The more amazing thing is that I found I was playing it in F (on a G/C), which I had never done before either.

Mind you, it was quite rough round the edges, and I think working out the chords will keep me busy for a few more years yet!!


Clive.

Me too !!, Congratulations Morgana. Yes that's fun !

After playing around on my Concertina for about two years now, I amking the experience you are telling here.

Each day easier to catch the tunes by listening recordings !

And as you say different fingerings, come eeasy, relatibvely !

I am learning actuallay on four differnt tunes I got by a friend abuot 18 months ago, he plñayed on the English system Coincertina, quite fast and fluently, Than I learend to play those tunes over the row, pushing and pyulling all the time, but never I could achieve the necesary speed and the real character.

Now I use all three rows and I got it !

I hope I can record them and bring them to the Tunes & Sopngs Forum in a next future, but I must ask for allowance to the friend and composer of thos tunes.

Would be very interesting to disccus the nig numbetrs of fingerings possible and to explain to those who still have not found the way.

Hope I can share it with you all soon.

Regards
Joachim

Kids : steady and constant effort and dedications leads to cuccess !, I hve been told as boy and now I can see iti is really ture ç

Joachim