derekc

http://forum.melodeon.net/index.php?topic=452.280 The Knowl Hill Session may be worth checking out. http://www.nettlebedfolkclub.co.uk/whats_on.html?487 is still going strong - albeit it is a folk club - but as Jody suggests it may open up some avenues.

Toffie, on 23 Jan 2015 - 2:15 PM, said: Hi all, I am concertina beginner since last summer. My concertina is a 30 button Clover C/G Anglo. I really enjoy to read in this forum and also about the TOTM during the last 3 month. May be that I am a little bit crazy to add my recording here, after listening to all the very professional played tunes above ( and Nigel Eaton posted something too )! But Jim wrote something about „feel free“ and „all level“ and so here is my first very, very, beginner attempt: https://www.dropbox.com/s/s17ffqklipizyfs/Halsway-Schottische.mp3?dl=0 I would be happy to get some beginner tips so that my playing ( and my old school english ) will become better step by step. Elke Ok this it - deep breath..... firstly, well done Toffie and an inspiration for all of us to contribute no matter where we are on the musical path - so much so, that even though I sort of set myself a new year's resolution to post at least one tune this year, I knew I would never do it. But you have prompted me to have a go and given the poll for next month is already upon us - time is running out fast for this month, so I thought yes stop the DIY and record this tune. If only it was that easy - oh boy - you think you know a tune, but try recording it - if that was not a difficult enough hurdle to get over, then play it back and hear even more mistakes :-( I realise I always fluff the start of the B section by missing a beat. And then there is the right hand chords - I can only seem to snatch at a chord, rather than get any fluidity. This appears to be a very easy tune, it isn't and requires a lot of thought and in my case much more practice - it is a beautiful tune, so please forgive my rubbish recording, but I do feel I should post it if only to encourage other people to have a go. If the purpose of totm is to learn, then for me I have learnt more in really trying to play this tune correctly than for many many a month of pretending I learnt the TOTM. I prefer this tune on the C/G rather than G/D - so settled for the quiet and clackety old 20 key lachenal........... https://soundcloud.com/dc12/halsway-carol-in-c

Hi Marcus - in answer to your original question "I wondered if all of you who play the anglo do so as if it were a C/G instrument. I learnt the fingerings etc on a Wheatstone C/G layout instrument and transfer that directly to my G/D - is this the correct way to do it?" - good approach and makes life easy, that is provided, if playing with others you can cover the key in question - in your case - C/G/D. If not you will need to learn the correct notes. On your 2nd point " I like the sound of the G/D but the pitch of it makes playing tunes I know sound odd." I find some tunes just seem to fit one key better than another.

Hi Marcus - if you were just going to play everything on the one key system (e.g. C/G) then learning other keys would be the right thing to do - however, as you already have two key systems (which cover the common keys), I really see little advantage in this and it would be adding an unnecessary level of complexity. Later downstream it may be worth revisiting - but if you are anything like me, then mastering a tune in the home key is a sufficient enough challenge :-)

I have a C/G and a G/D - I cheat in that because I know the notes/chords on a G/D (I have a D/G melodeon background) better than a C/G, if a tune had to to be in C - I would transpose it to G in order to play it on the C row on the C/G. Hope that makes sense :-) Pretty sure this will be frowned upon, but it makes life easy. In other words, I always use the same fingering on both concertinas.

well done x 3 - for getting on the recording + getting it played on the radio + plus being a great version. I am very pleased to say I supported this kickstarter campaign - Shirley Collins has no equal in my books.

It is - but it's a polka, not a reel, and it is indeed English. The Session seems to have difficulty classifying anything in simple time as anything other than a reel......... I strongly suspect the pen of Mr GPS here :-) Agree, not a reel but the site has at least reminded me there is a version of this tune on Knock John. Another one to go on the "to learn list".......

thanks for sharing - a very good sounding concertina and some very nice playing at the end as well. It inspired me to go and find the dots - I think this is the tune; https://thesession.org/tunes/9910

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBJgDJjoX84 Sur Le Pont http://archive.folx.org/tune/scottishe/sur-le-pont-878

apologies for this late comment - early November was a period of intense DIY so completely missed this thread. Like others, I have learnt many tunes from TOTM, but these tend only to be tunes I am interested in - in my case English/French. My observation is only when a English/French tune is chosen does the general level of interest increase (number of hits). My other observation is for a beginner one month is not long enough to learn a tune - e.g. I am still battling with that little run up and down in the last 2 bars of the first section of Abott's - time to leave this tune now and re-visit over the coming month's knowing it will eventually fall into place. The comments I have are; 1) is it possible please for those who regularly submit a recording to use youtube - one of the great pieces of advice I have picked up over the many years is that you can learn a lot about playing an instrument by watching the musician. C.netters tend to use Soundcloud (though youtube is becoming more popular), whereas m.netters use youtube. Can understand the reasons why not to use youtube, but as a learning vehicle youtube works so much better than soundcloud. E.g. I would be very interested to observe the RH fingering people use on an Anglo for Abotts. 2) do we need to have 4 tunes submitted every month, why not just a couple? 3) Even more radical - I know from correspondence with Jim, it is highly embarrassing to put forward a tune written by someone and it to be beaten by a trad one. A lot of work goes into seeking permission from the artist in order to use their tune - so could I put forward please, that for some months, if Jim has a cracking tune (and we know he has good taste ) we have an editor's choice month, where there is just the one tune. We do not vote on ThOTM so can't see this as an issue.

Foul Weather Call - this is a cracking tune, as demonstrated here; https://soundcloud.com/boxtet/foul-weather-call

I too read a good review and if I understand it correctly, a goodly proportion of Christmas music is firmly rooted in the tradition - which I sort of suspected given the number of 6/8 tunes. http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/culture/books/non_fiction/article1496555.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2014_12_20

Currently - Morse Ceili G/D for 80% of playing - admittedly though the competition is a bit limited with a C/G Wheatstone Mayfair, C/G 20 key Lachenal and a C/F Hohner Liliput melodeon requiring attention. And it may be that IMHO G/D is a far better key for an anglo, so this makes it preferable over a C/G. However it plays extremely well and the sound has its own character. If I was ever to replace the Morse, I would probably choose another modern concertina.

Talking of December - a bit early I know - but I was going to suggest the Halsway Carol schottische https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qcUzQUuy9E or take your pick;; http://halsway.musicwebdesign.nl/performances.php we do need to see some more concertinas on this page :-)

Abbots Bromley Horn Dance - this tune is dark, beautiful and very very mysterious. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL3a13AsDPI & and an absolute exquisite rendition by Clive Williams; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juojlCUXwwg various abc versions available - there is something wrong with this one as it jumps, but the notation looks ok http://abcnotation.com/tunePage?a=trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/England/misc/AbbotsBromleyHornDance1_Em/0000

Excellent fiddle/concertina rendition of the white joak https://soundcloud.com/nick-hart-tom-moore/the-white-joak-the-black-joak

great - thanks for sharing - it brought a smile to our faces.

excellent - many thanks

Here's a couple of charts I put up a while ago: These are really great - would have the same for a G/D by any chance please?

I intend to be there too - weather looking good.

Nice. A good challenge this one. I found this ABC - it puts the tune into 3 sections and into 3/4 and misses/changes a few bars to above (bar 5 section 2 sounds a bit odd) - but it does seem to make the tune more approachable. Well to a beginner it does :-) How accurate this version is I will let others comment on. I use http://mandolintab.net/abcconverter.php to transpose it up 2 semitones for G/D friendliness. X:1 T:Packington’s Pound M:3/4 L:1/8 K:G Dorian G3 ^FG2 | A2^F2D2 | G3^FG2 | A4A2 | B3cd2 | c2A2F2 | G2B2A2 | G6 :| |: d2f2e2 | d6 | d2f2e2 | d6 | defd aa | d2f2e2 | defd e2 | d6 :| d3cd2 | c2A2F2 | G3^FG2 | A2^F2D2 | d3cd2 | c2A2F2 | G2B2A2 | G6 ||

you might also want to check out this beautiful experimental recording by Sigbjorn Apeland - ok granted it is on an harmonium, but IMHO very much in the context of this thread; http://hubromusic.com/sigbjornapeland-glossolalia/

excellent stuff - it is really good to have people who can and are willing to push the boundaries of a particular instrument. I encourage you to keep going and look forward to future explorations. It may be of interest that there was a similar-ish debate on melnet regards Antti Paalanen's playing of a 3 row melodeon; http://forum.melodeon.net/index.php/topic,9928.msg122824.html#msg122824 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvdgTBxvivM

I hope I am like many who always have a go at TOTM but would never consider recording it myself. Can I ask a technical question please, as this tune has a very good example of this particular beginners dilemma. Played on a G/D in the key of G how is it best to tackle the G/F#/E/D notes at bars 3 to 4. Is it best to drop on to the D row and try and work out chords as best as possible, but keep the same right hand position or, to keep on the G row but move the right hand up to the last few buttons? I hope this question makes sense and apologies if this has been asked before. Thanks.

I found the Zelda notation if anyone is interested http://www.cancoillottefolk.com/partitions/images/zelda.jpg