brightfield

Ah, if only he would. I learned to play English from his tutor back in the 1970s and it has a great range of tunes in it, including the wonderful Sir Sidney Smith's March. I found it a very helpful book - particularly for melodic playing - but it did not contain much about harmony and song accompaniment.

thanks for the link to the article on the Fayre Four Sisters - there were some amazing people around in those days. And if you follow the Folkways link from the article, you can actually listen to the Fayre Four Sister's playing a bit of Greig's "Morning". Tom

And what a great piece that is. Alastair Anderson recorded it back in the 1970s and I learnt it on the mandolin. Now I'm playing the English 'tina, I feel the tune has found its proper home.

Hey, I really like the photo on Reto's frappr Tom http://www.frappr.com/mamot

Thanks Jon I've been reading all this advice again this evening and you've provided some really good tips. Tom

I have sold many instruments in my time, and without fail, a few years later I have regretted letting them go. Most of the time I sold them because of financial pressures, particularly when bringing up children. But I look back on my lovely two pre-warehouse fire Guild guitars, my French chromatic accoridan, my first concertina and a hand-made Spanish guitar and I just think now nice it would be to have them all in the spare bedrooom. Don't sell if you can possible avoid it! Tom

Thanks for some really useful replies so far. I'm in London yesterday and today and will be reading in more depth on my quieter day tomorrow. Tom

I've been playing for a while now, and can play some solos quite reasonably, but am now wanting to accompany myself while singing also. I've heard some great English players who sing as well, the latest being Barrie Temple from Newcastle. But they all seem to play such complex accompaniment that there seems to be now way into it for someone who's just starting off to sing with the 'tina. Does anyone have any hints please? What should I do first? - learn basic chordal accompaniment, or should I shadow the tune with some harmony? Can anyone suggest any CDs or other resources on the net perhaps? Any other clues gratefully received. Thanks, Tom

Just try the biggest city near the place where you live. Thanks for telling me about that Henk - it looks like fun, and I've joined the concertina group on frappr. I'm at Tom C. I've not been contributing here for a while having just moved house, ISPs, and job. not sure which was the most traumatic, but the concertina has been a constant point of stability throughout the changes. My new location has an excellent folk club every Friday and I've been privilieged to hear some great 'tina players over the last few weeks. Tom

7. Have you ever wanted to quit music? Concertina? Yes. After many years of playing classical guitar and progressing slavishly through the "grades", i suddenly woke up one morning and found I'd had enough of scales and exercises and I found myself unable to pick up the guitar anymore. It was a complete psychological block. The problem with the classical guitar is that in order to play at all at the higher levels, you have to devote at least an hour a day to mechanical practice, just to stay where you are. When I eventually found that I could pick up the guitar again, I couldn't bear to hear myself play, I had deteriorated so rapidly. The tyranny of playing "classically"! A less obsessive player may have been able to content himself with playing "Spanish Study" day after day, but for me, I had to drive myself on all the time. I reverted back to playing folk guitar, my first love, and then eventually found my way to the 'tina - an instrument I love, and find totally relaxing. I've never wanted to quit concertina and don't think I ever will 11. Is there anything you don't like about concertinas? No. 12. What are the best three things you like about concertina? I like the buttons - they just sit under the fingers and respond instantly to the lightest touch! I like the way the instrument breathes, you feel you are holding a small animal sometimes. I like its compact size - so convenient! 14. What is the most influential book that you read? I think Jack kerouac's Desolation Angels had a huge influence on me when I was young and showed me that there are lots of ways of living a life and that you can plough your own furrow if you want. One more - T S Eliot Four Quartets also seems to say it all as far as I'm concerned.

I am delighted to say that 1. Henrik Muller has converted Barry's video clips to mp4 format, and 2. Henk Van Aalten has added them to the Recorded Tune Link Page The files are now much reduced in size and can be easily watched by anyone with a reasonable Internet conneciton, and the Apple QuickTime player Tom

I am incredibly grateful to Henk for managing the recorded tune page for us - I run a couple of weblog circles and know how hard it can be to fit in the time to add new members, check links are working, deal with correspondence etc. I think Henk's work on the recorded tune page must be very demanding. For myself, I see the recorded tune page as supplementing this forum. It provided examples of the playing of members of the forum, often leading to postive criticism of the playing, leading to learning and improvement. With the few tunes I have on the page, I certainly value comments on how I may improve, and my only difficulty is that when I listen to the files a few weeks after they're posted, I think, "how did I have the gall to submit such dreadful recordings for public consumption?". But so be it, they are a snapshot of a moment in time and people can take them or leave them. I therefore don't think the soundtracks from existing CDs should be posted, nor commerical offerings etc. And I think the player should be a C-Netter. The value of this sort of page is that its primarily for enthusiastic amateurs or semi-professionals (?) so share their playing, to learn from each other, to be inspired by people who play better than oneself etc. I value it greatly as a learning resource and once again commend Henk for his hard work in maintaining it for us. Tom

Sorry - the files were downloaded over 160 times in two days (just shows how popular this forum is!), and my ISP download limit was reached. I had to pull the files yesterday afternoon and forgot to come here and tell people. If you'd like me to mail them to you, I could send you the small one 15mb and see if you like it, then mail you the others if you want to see them. I can do this for anyone else who requests it. Mail me at tomcunliffe@yahoo.com if you want to take me up on this offer. Thanks Tom

Just thought some people might be interested in these rather nice photos I found on flickr http://flickr.com/photos/dr-fujitronic/sets/1509875/ Tom

Yes Greenferry, Barry also plays the Anglo and he had the wristbands fitted to the English because he finds them helpful. Just for the record, the clips were made with a just a Canon A95 compact camera, using its internal microphone. I wonder if other people on c.net would be able to make live recordings like this - its really nice to see people play as well as hear them. The only problem is the hosting - I have a monthy download limit on my hosting account and I'm monitoring the detailed stats closely at the moment and so far, these clips have been downloaded 160 times since I put them there yesterday. My monthly allowance is OK for this month but I'm going to have to watch it closely. Tom

Thanks to those who have looked at the clip. I have two or three others too - these two are nearly 50mb and so are very large, but if you have the patience and a broadband connection they are a treat. In the first, Barry is accompanying himself while singing Danny Deever, a song based on a poem by Rudyard Kipling. Danny Deever The second is perhaps the better recording. Note another Wallace And Grommet moment when the cat climbs the tree in the first minute of the clip! Rounding the Horn Cheers, Tom

Had a great day yesterday - Barry ("Bazza" on this forum) came round for lunch, bringing his Wheatstone Aeola. Between courses he played some carols, including a nice version of Ding Dong Merrily on High. I recorded it on my Canon digicam and the result is quite nice - anyone can download it here: http://www.brightfield.org.uk/dingdong.avi but its a 14mb file and will take about least ten minutes on broadband connection. Its even includes a Wallace And Grommet moment when next doors cat strolls past the window. Tom PS - please note, two more videos have been added at post 5 of this thread, below

And you too Henk - for your fantastic recorded tune page. You have administered it with great generosity of spirit! Now, I'm up before everyone else, I wonder if I dare practice the 'tina. Hey, we've got another concertina player, Barry, coming for lunch today and he's been practicing old English carols on English and Anglo. What a treat eh? Tom

From www.dictionary.com Short for lime juicer(from the use of lime juice on British warships in order to prevent scurvy) Oh yes, while I'm on this thread, I'm from Newcastle on Tyne, but moved south with my parents as a child. Damned shame to lost that Geordie accent.

There was an interesting thread on a guitar newsgroup not long ago about "secret" guitars. People lie about the price ("oh it was in a sale"), they lie about buying them ("someone lent it to me"), they hide them in the home, and they rely on the spouse not noticing another guitar lying around the house. As someone who has NEVER shared bank accounts with his wife, its all too tempting to splash out on another concertina and make up a story rather than endure the interrogation as above! I have 13 months to wait for my new Norman 'tina - plenty of time to think up a story. Now don't tell me you've never been tempted! Tom

There are two noises that make our cat Winston flee for the hills. The first is the vaccum cleaner, and the second is the concertina. Maybe its my playing?

Thanks Henk - I think we 'tina players owe you a huge debt of gratitude for all your work on this page. Tom

Yes, but sometimes it comes up gold. My Lachenal cost about £250 on ebay and I then spent a couple of hundred on restoration including tuning to concert pitch - result quite a nice little instrument at an excellent price. I know another member of this board who's built up a nice collection of 'tinas from ebay and boot sales. Its not easy but it can be done.

The Edgley is a very pretty instrument isn't it - I love the colour of the ends My wishes are going to come true, but alas, not this year. I have a Norman tenor English on order due for delivery about 13 months from now (I'm counting down). The one in the photo was a prototype and the buttons are moved up more to the middle on the one I've ordered. Its going to have dark green leather bellows.

Yes! Thanks for that Henk. They are very useful e-learning and it is good of you to provide them free of charge. You must have put a huge amount of work into them.