brandon

Thanks Chas and Sarah! I think late is great...for me anyway, a month is just long enough to get started learning and working out a new tune.

Here's a belated entry. I did most of the practice for this in August at least: Valse du Vent by Florence Prinvidic, who plays and teaches diatonic accordion in Breton, France. Sound quality is not the greatest. https://soundcloud.com/burro_tuerco/valse-du-vent

Don, I looked through the threads I recalled on the topics of 'harmony' and 'accompaniment' to the extent that I had patience for and I can't find the post I'm thinking of either. I'm beginning to doubt the particulars of what (I think) I remember. However, I did note that you were an active participant in the discussions I read. Anyway, somehow I came away with the general notion of varying intervals, chords, and parts thereof to patch together something to fill out the melody - with the chords listed on the lead sheet as a beginning point. I know there is all sorts of room for this process to evolve and improve, which is part of the fun!

Thanks! The dots (melody line and chords) are found at Bernard Loffet's website, along with many other tunes and information on his line of diatonic accordions: http://diato.org The lower register harmony bits are just sort of added in based on what I can manage with my fingers and what seems to sound okay. Somewhere in a previous thread I found a simple (and very helpful) tip on harmony from Jim Lucas - explore sixths, drones, and arpeggios of appropriate chords. I know there is a lot more to harmony than this, but it was enough to get me started and is about what I can handle at this point.

So, this doesn't fall under the category of most creative selection, but it's what my novice repertoire allows for…I was originally going to put this under the French Waltz and Mazurka thread; it should fit here also. Valse a Mary, written by Bernard Loffet. Played here on a Geordie. https://soundcloud.com/burro_tuerco/valse-a-mary

Thanks Wolf for both the comment and the help with the link. I edited my previous post to reflect the correct link.

Belated first post to TOTM! After practicing the tune for 2 months and deleting countless takes, I finally had to settle on a track. I really love some of the different versions of this tune. My so-called harmony has more to do with where my fingers were consistently willing to land at any given moment than anything else. Played on a Morse Geordie. https://soundcloud.c...rco/emmas-waltz

Good to know! I'd love to make to the slow jam someday...I've never yet been North of McCall, but it's on my to-do list. Good luck with the sale.

Looks great. I just signed up also

Does this mean you're giving up concertina playing altogether? You're the only other Idahoan I know of that even knows what a concertina is, much less plays one...

I for one think this is great Wolf. Have you heard of Augustus Pablo (Horace Swaby)? You can find his music on Youtube - reggae/dub featuring his melodica playing. I've always thought his tunes would also lend themselves to the concertina. What you've done, however, is more complex and impressive.

I know next to nothing on the topic. Over on Melnet, I found several references. One interesting hypothesis is that Polska came about in the early 19th century as a response to the waltz; it ended up as a sort of mash-up including elements of waltz, polka and older traditional fiddle tunes. I don't know how true this is, but it's fun to think about. Here is a sample of the dance that goes along with the tunes: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200456855410488 Tallship, that vocal/string quartet is amazing...

Some you may already have seen this; another example of the tune played by a Scandanavian group and featuring an anglo concertina. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=-_zBhMslWV0 I'd rather be posting my own version, but this will have to do for the moment...

I noticed this morning that the site is back up and running. Thanks Michel! I encourage anyone here to take a look around and bookmark the page. I particularly enjoy is the number of arrangements for 2+ instruments and the variety of genres - yes, there is tango, but there are several other genres also. http://www.tangosite.com/concertina/pub/ec-site

BTW Don, nice investigative work.

Wow. I really never expected an answer to the question and here it is! I thought it was such a long shot. Michel, I'm delighted that your website is still around and that you are recovering. I recall a wealth of interesting information and music on the site and look forward to seeing it up an running again in the future. Brandon

Thanks again Don and Wolf. I have tried plugging in the exact url that I had bookmarked(http://www.tangosite.com/concertina/pub/ec-site). As far as I can tell, this portion of the website was not archived. I'm sure many of those tunes are scattered around in various collections, but there were many that seem hard to find in the noncommercial realm (like tunes arranged for more than one instrument). Oh well.

Thanks Don. The address I posted was just the homepage, which appears to be archived at the Wayback Machine along with some of the tango links, but unfortunately the links to tunes and tune collections (lots of great looking stuff) appear to be gone forever…at least based on my weak investigative skills. Thanks again.

Tangosite.com was a noncommercial website that I had previously bookmarked because it had a large library of very interesting music appropriate for concertina. The site is now defunct. From what I can tell, it was created by the Belgian/Argentine musician, Dirk van Esbroeck. I believe he also played EC. It looks like Mr. Esbroeck died in 2007 and it took some time for the website to finally go away. I was recently on a search for duets (the musical act, not the instrument) and was saddened to find this web source gone. Does anyone know anything about website or the music library? I think much of what he had was arrangements of public domain material. I therefore hope that it has found a home somewhere.

Here's one I hadn't seen before… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMc8vovQLwM

I think this is the link to the actual piece of music: https://soundcloud.com/andy-western/too-utterly-too-classic-banjo

Sold and shipped. Donation sent.

This is a typical treble Jackie English concertina from Concertina Connection. I bought it new 1 1/2 years ago and it is in very good condition. Reason for sale is that I upgraded to a Geordie and, while I thought I would still use the Jackie for lugging around on trips, I haven't touched it since the new instrument arrived. I live in the US and will sell for $300 + shipping (probably only makes sense for a N. American buyer). Thanks, Brandon

I have a Jackie from Concertina Connection that I bought in 2012. It is in as new condition. The only non-original thing about it is that I added wrist straps. I upgraded to a Geordie and thought I would keep the Jackie for trips, but it only sits on a shelf. I will sell it for $300 + shipping to the US. I assume you are in the US or Canada based on the $ sign in your original post.

Someday you will realize the irony of the juxtaposition of these two statements. Ah, I hope you are correct...