Sidsqueezer

Perhaps the bigger difference in playing style for ITM is that one is generally only playing melody, often at great speed. Whereas other styles of music, especially English and American will be played harmonically with a bass accompament, when cross row playing and use of alternative buttons becomes essential.

Very thoughtful and moving.

New Harmony being where in the world?

For our American cousins, For ALDI read WALMART or similar discount store. Problem with ALDI is that every store stocks different one-off items. Well spotted.

Not a bad place to be stuck in!

I also have invested in a budget Rochelle to test the water. Problem is that presently there is a huge leap in cost to significantly upgrade. Whereas you can get a reasonable Melodeon for £1000, decent concertinas seem to be all £2000 +. Even well used old ones fetch silly money. Hence why Concertina Connections have made no frills instruments. Sigh!

You should find the 30 button Anglo much more versatile than simple 20 button box as can play in nearly any key. Best technique, especially if you are used to Melodeon, is to play cross row, essentially using central C row and reaching for flat and sharps on other rows as needed, or to match RH with bellows direction if playing bass chords on LH. If you are used to a DG Melodeon in can be confusing because D is always pull and E is always push. I find that playing Concertina in a group is difficult because I cant hear my own instrument.

Works even better on iPad Air.

Interesting if you listen carefully to the arrangement played by Brass Band when they are not marching. Impossible to replicate on a single squeeze box. You need a trombone button.

As an experienced Melodeon player but novice Anglo player, I gave my Anglo its first outing in public tonight at Morris side practice. It was hard working keeping up and my forearms are feeling strained. that was just playing tune, no attempt at chords and basses. Lead musician assured me that it added a welcome new tone to our usual lineup of 3 or 4 melodeons and that I should persevere at it. Perhaps he was just being polite for Xmas. I also fancy a Duet, so got the Duettina App to play with on iPad. Jolly fun.

Very nice. Not sure if you know of this over in USA, but here is how we do it in Lancashire, England. Video for bacup coconutters youtube► 4:54► 4:54 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl58rIDNdWA 7 Apr 2012 - Uploaded by Somewhereintheworl The Britannia Coconutters do their famous clog dance from morning til dusk all round their home ... Sorry, link didn't copy very well. Look up Bacup.Coconut Dance on YouTube.

So is it possible to adjust a reed that has been "set too low", keeping in mind that these budget boxes have Accordian reeds in blocks.

I play a Rochelle and I have noticed the same problem, especially if playing a 3 note bass chord on the Left. Worse combination seems to be a G chord on the pull with G pull on RH accidental. I accept this as the limitation of this budget instrument. If you can play the RH note fractionally before the LH chord, that seems to help.

One thing not mentioned -volume. When I play melodeon in a group, especially outside, I can hear what I am playing and so can the audience. Play the concertina amongst other instruments and you can't hear it. Which is why you see many concertina players holding their boxes up to the sides of their heads. I am talking un-amplified of course. Which is why Accordians in their many varieties are used by Morris and Dance bands. Concertinas were developed for genteel ladies playing in the parlour and then taken over by solo singers, for which they are brilliant. BTW, for a beginner simple two row Melodeon is best as tend to be smaller and lighter. Pick the keys to suit what music you play, but for English Dance has to be D/G (with two straps)

Might I politely suggest that you post using a different font for reasons of legibility.

Wonderful stuff. A joy to watch.

You would be welcome to be guest player with East Devon Folk Orchestra who meet on Monday evenings at Broadclyst, Nr Exeter. As I live in Sidmouth, I could even offer transport to the meeting. I play Melodeon in the orchestra but we have several concertina players. playing is both by ear and sight reading music. A treat you might like to attend will be a performance by West Country Concertina Band in Sidholme Hotel, Sidmouth on evening of Monday 22nd Dec (in aid of Organ Restoration Fund). Sidholme Hotel is a converted Regency house with a wonderful Chapel now used as a Music Room. Perhaps contact me by PM if you want more details etc. Martin Pratt Sidmouth

Yep, WCCP next meeting 1st Sunday Jan. This day will be concentrating on Morris tunes and French dance music. Lunch is Xmas special "bring and eat" so bring a dish or two. Normally they also run a small Anglo group for beginners.

As a novice player myself, I recently bought a Rochelle Anglo. One of the reasons I bought this "beginners" box was because it has 7 fold bellows compared with other budget models which have less. It just seemed a better design. I have learnt since that more folds equate to more air in the bellows. interestingly, I am coming from a Melodeon background where nobody mentions how many folds are in bellows, perhaps because good Melodeon technique is to use minimum bellows movement. BTW, I see you are based in Brixham. Are you aware of West Country Concertina Players who have regular workshop days Nr Taunton? Also look up Folk Orchestra of Torbay (FOOT), one of WREN Music community groups.

Have a listen to English Folk Dance tunes, especially English Morris music. Ideal music for Anglo Concertina or its cousin Diatonic Accordion. Listen to the playing of John Kirkpatrick amongst many others. English dance music generally played very punchy with a very strong emphasis on the beat.

Regretfully doesn't work on iPad when opened in Apple's Numbers program. Incompatible fonts and macros stripped out. Should work on Excel for iPad if one had it, which I don't. Shame because I have all my music scores on iPad, so would be handy to have this chord calculator.

Had problems getting it to work at first. I had to disable editing prohibition and enable macro add-ons. Works fine now. Great stuff, thanks.

interesting as I have dived on the wreck Hera. Nice dive. Nice Tune.

I would take issue with Maki's statement that Anglo is not fully chromatic. If you choose a 30 button (ie 3 row) Anglo, conventionally in C/G tuning, it is fully chromatic although sometimes conflicts occur in bellows direction between basses and tune for unusual keys. Generally advice is that if one is playing music off scores sight reading then English is best. If playing "folk" music by ear or memory then Anglo is best because allows for tune + chords. BTW, I had chance to try out a Hayden Duet recently - what a fabulous logical instrument with glorious rich sound but a bit of a beast for size.

I discoverd why Rochelle is deeper from end plates to bellows than most better boxes. CC use a design where the reeds are mounted in blocks roughly perpendicular to the end plates i.e. Protruding into the bellows not arranged radially as per classic design. So more space is needed in the bellows. this does have the advantage that reed direction and synthetic valves mean that the box storage position is not critical. In fact best position is probably upright in gig bag, contrary to normal practice.