rlgph

I don't doubt it, though what one does and enjoys musically is entirely context dependent. However, a mirrored left side does not preclude developing other forms of accompaniment, and has the advantage of providing quick additional encouragement to a beginner. It also provides the ability to jam with others at the lower octave without much additional effort, which i've sometimes used effectively with my American folk jam group.

After trying out the mirrored option on the former Hayden simulator iPad app, i immediately upgraded my Elise to a mirrored Peacock, and later traded that for a mirrored Wakker W1. I have no regrets, though admittedly i'm a mediocre player, and at 78, will not get better. The biggest attraction for me is the fact that i can very quickly play in octaves or partial octaves, and once i learn a melody with my right (dominant) hand, i can almost automatically play it on the left (bass) side. I know of no study that indicates chords are generally easier to form with the standard arrangement on the left side. Obviously some chords will easier, some more difficult with a mirrored side. Of course, any chord you can finger with the right hand can also be fingered with left hand in the mirrored configuration. The biggest down side is as has been stated -- not finding used instruments to upgrade to. I personally think entry instruments should be by default mirrored because of the quick ability to play octave accompaniment is likely to provide beginners with additional incentive to continue to advance, but that surely will not happen.

The most surprising thing for me to discover is that with a mirrored duet, learning a tune on the right side transfers almost automatically to playing it on it the left side. (Presumably it works the other way as well, though i haven't checked that.) I did not expect my brain to operate that way.

To provide context, i mostly play American folk, Americana, and some pop music. Commonly, i jam with others (mostly guitars), but also play tunes by myself. I prefer to play by ear, but with effort, can work out a tune from sheet music if sufficiently motivated. I also mostly play the melody (or a simple pentatonic accompaniment), but can (if sufficiently motivated) work out an octave-based left hand accompaniment to a right hand melody. I started with an Elise (in my late 60s), upgraded to a Peacock, and then to a Wakker W1 as a 70th birthday present for myself. I was able to use the CC upgrade policy at each upgrade, so i didn't lose any money. I actually upgraded to the Peacock rather quickly, not because the Elise had too few buttons to keep me entertained playing tunes by ear, but because i recognized from playing a Hayden ipad ap that i wanted a mirrored left hand button arrangement. IMO the major downside of the Elise for jamming on American folk songs was that it was difficult to control the volume and so was too loud for my fellow jammers. Had i not upgraded i would probably have added some baffles. Finally, i found the Hayden system very easy to learn to play simple melodies on the right side by ear. (Remember, i started in my late 60s.) The learning curve for left hand accompaniment was much steeper for me; admittedly, i have not put a lot of effort into doing that. The bottom line is that i have no qualms about recommending starting with an Elise for the style of music i like to play.

I play a Hayden duet during jams with (mostly) guitars, a banjo and occasionally a mandolin. I usually use pentatonic scales and play something approximating the melody, with occasional variations. I like it (don't know about the others, but no complaints -- once i learned not to play too loudly).

Thanks. I've just ordered one.

Are the striso boards still available? The web page says out of stock, and it's not clear to me that the site is still active.

I have not found it more difficult to play chordal accompaniment on the unidirectional layout than the bidirectional layout (based on my limited experience with the Elise). I have not been patient enough to learn to play counter-melodies with my left hand, but i see no intrinsic reason it would be more difficult to do so with a mirrored layout. I have not found the theoretical tendency for the left hand to mirror the right hand to be a problem with learning a chordal accompaniment.

I'm apparently one of the few who have chosen the unidirectional (mirrored) layout. I chose it because i discovered from a Hayden simulation app (unfortunately no longer existing) that once i learned a melody with my right hand, it transferred almost automatically to my left hand so that i could play it an octave lower. This makes octave-based or 4th- or 5th-based left hand accompaniment (which i prefer to chord-based) very easy. However, since any chord you can finger with your right hand you can also finger with your left hand on the unidirectional layout, chordal accompaniment is also available. The primary disadvantage of the unidirectional layout is that it will likely be more difficult to sell such an instrument.

I went into pare-down mode about a year ago. I gave up the bagpipes because i could play most of its tunes on concertina, so i rarely took it out of its case. (I also couldn't use it at my regular folk jam, as i could the concertina.) I also gave up on my 4 string instruments -- tenor guitar and ukulele -- to spend the time learning guitar in more detail. I did get a baritone guilele, which satisfies the small stringed instrument niche.

The Eb rather than D# would make it awkward to play in E, a very common key for the American folk/blues players that i jam with.

You have apparently misread my post. I did not state a premise. I stated some results about my own playing that gave me insight into learning transference from one hand to the other in the case of a mirrored left side, and asked for information from others about whether similar transference occurred for a non-mirrored left side. I have many other interests beyond playing concertina, although i do occasionally seek to utilize my concertina playing to give me insight into those other interests. With regard to left hand accompaniment in actually playing tunes, however, i find it surprising that you (RAc) say that you don't think that the lower octave adds anything significant. I personally find it much more interesting to insert octave (or other parallel key) snippets as accompaniment than the more common chord or partial chord inserts. Becoming a good musician is only one of my goals, so i will continue to theorize and seek experimental data because doing so satisfies my intellectual curiosity. I accept that i will never become an outstanding (or maybe not even good) musician, but so long as playing is enjoyable, i will do so.

Thank you JimLucas and W3DW for replying with answers to my curiosity about transference of skills from one hand to the other.

I find human learning very interesting, so i'm curious about learning of other players of duets. Those of you with standard non-mirrored duets (essentially all duet players i gather), if you learn to play (e.g, by ear) a simple tune on the right side, does that learning transfer directly to playing it on the left side, or do you (or would you) have to undergo a corresponding learning period to play it an octave lower (or, if it's a Hayden layout, some other key shift) with your left hand? I understand this is not a task that you would normally do in learning a new melody with accompaniment. I'm just proposing a simple experiment to investigate transference of learning between the hemispheres of the brain.

"I relate to the note position, not the finger." So do i, but i don't have a conscious image in my mind of the layout or of my finger positions relative to it. However, i don't agree that "humans learn complicated things very easily". There are far too many who have tried to learn to play an instrument (e.g., guitar) but have given up without significant progress.