lstein

Can you post a sound clip?

I hate to interject, but you realise that a brand new professional Edgley can be had for about $3000 Canadian, which with current exchange rates translates to $2000 US? Great instruments, btw. Lincoln

The other day as I was passing through US Customs in Boston, the official asked me to take the concertina out and demonstrate that I could play it. After a successful demonstration the official explained, a bit apologetically, that if I were trying to smuggle drugs inside the instrument I probably wouldn't have known how to play. Dubious assumptions about the musical abilities of smugglers aside, it looks like the tina narrowly escaped having its bellows knifed by the DEA! Lincoln

I've taken mine as a carry on at least eight times on various domestic and international carriers using a hard Storm case. I also bring a backpack and a small roller suitcase. Never have I been forced to check it. The only issue is that I am ALWAYS required to open the concertina case for inspection at security and explain what it is. Apparently it looks suspicious on the X-ray.

I started out with Alan Day's tutor, but got frustrated with the audio going too quick to follow what was going on with the left hand. Then I switched to Gary Coover's book "Anglo Concertina in the Harmonic Style" and found learning from dots and tablature to be very effective in picking up accompaniment patterns while at the same time learning some beautifully arranged pieces. Everyone will have a different learning style, but this is what worked for me. Lincoln You should check out Alan Day's tutor; it will take you much farther than a single tune. It's currently available here. It's an audio tutor, though there's also a PDF of all the tunes (thanks to David Barnert) and a bit of explanation. Note that the above link is a directory of all the files comprising the tutor. Please begin by reading the one web page at the beginning: "00 - About-These-Files.htm". It advises you to download the individual files to your own computer and access them from there. This saves both you and Etan (the owner of that web site) from being charged for repeated downloads. You could download them all "at once" (though I still had to do them individually), or simply each one when you're ready to use it. Enjoy!

I've got one of those rugged waterproof storm cases for long term storage.

Does anyone have a padded gig case they want to part with? I'm looking for something like the Fuselli gig bag shown at the top of this page: http://www.buttonbox.com/cases.html#ConcertinaCases Thanks! Lincoln

The Wren uses the Wheatstone layout. Have fun! This was my first instrument as well. Lincoln

Could be ulnar, also could be higher up. You can get similar symptoms from nerve entrapment in the neck.It may not even be related to your playing. See a doctor before the tingling progresses to numbness or weakness. Don't try to figure it out yourself. Lincoln

I use the terminology from Gary Cooper's book, "Anglo Concertina in the Harmonic Style". It seems to mean a style in which there is a strong accompaniment to the main melody, and not just occasional chords and embellishments. Lincoln PS: great book!

Being able to play it and being able to enjoy it could be quite independent concepts, at least for someone who feels a need for melody. Or you could have a friend stand beside you and beat your concertina with a stick. You could call that method "slapstick concertina". I sometimes beat my head against the wall after messing up the fast triplets for the tenth time. Will that do?

I'm referring to rolls, cuts and the like. Pretty essential to the style, I suspect. Lincoln

I think a rendition of a melody-less minimalist piece like Phillip Glass's "Einstein on the Beach" might work quite well on the concertina. Has anyone attempted it? As far as emulating guitar slaps, there's always the option of sitting on a cajon and drumming with your heels! Lincoln

Unicycles aside, and speaking only from the experience of a rank beginner, I'm finding that learning the Irish and Harmonic styles simultaneously has been fun, rewarding, and enriching. Harmonic style forces me to learn alternative fingerings and helps me get comfortable with using all the rows. In addition, I think that if I were just working in the Irish style, my right hand would be getting a disproportionate amount of training; at least on the tunes I'm working on, the range favors the right side of the instrument. On the other hand, I've had to make tradeoffs to learn the harmonic style in the limited amount of practice time I have per day. I haven't tried to learn the various Irish-style ornamentations, reasoning that gaining fluidity with the unadorned notes is more important at my level. What do you folk think? Lincoln

A Google search on DADGAD found this https://www.guitarlessonworld.com/lessons/dadgad/, which describes an alternative guitar tuning suitable for chords with lots of open strings. Maybe he means a style using simple 2-button chords and open 5ths?

Wow! Gorgeous piece of work. Lincoln

Small world. My dad lives in Park Slope and I was down there for a few weeks over Christmas holidays. During that visit I also ran into a different concertina player (forgot his name, but not Jody) at a restaurant in nearby Crown Heights. Is Brooklyn a hotbed of 'tina players? -Lincoln

Just got me a used Edgley concertina. It is much easier to play quietly! Now I've got the problem of the thing being so sensitive that every slight hesitation during bellows movement is blazingly obvious. Time to work on bellows control. Lincoln

I'm fortunate to have a very sympathetic spouse. She even says she enjoys the concertina playing (and I believe her). For the long practice sessions, I do move into another room of the house, but I prefer spending the evenings in the living room with the rest of the family, and it would be great if I could practice the 'tina while my wife plays her guitar and my daughter strums the uke. The only thing for it is to learn some pieces in common, and for me to get greater control of the dynamic range. I have noticed an improvement in the slow-to-sound reeds over the six weeks I've had the instrument. Will they continue to improve? I don't think I'm ready to open the instrument up and start tinkering with reed height. Thanks to everyone for your suggestions and offers of help! Lincoln

It's ironic. My wife had been complaining that my little soprano recorder, which I use for early music, was too shrill for her ears. Now that I'm playing on an instrument that is pitched lower, it's too loud. I need a "Get Smart" style cone of silence, or maybe one of those MIDI concertinas from Concertina Connection. Actually right now I need my own set of earplugs -- the wife and kids are all wailing away on an electric guitar, two ukuleles, and a cajon among them, and they don't seem to agree on what they're playing. I'm going to join in with my own interpretation. -L -L

Ah, hadn't thought of that. ;-) Seriously, though, I think I need to get a better instrument. With the one I'm playing on (a "Wren" from Irishmusik.com) if I try to chord on the left and play melody on right, the higher reeds won't sound unless I'm playing at a fair volume. Lincoln

I'm happy to call them hand straps and will for now on. However, as someone who went through gross anatomy in medical school, I'd like to put in a word of defense for those who call them wrist straps. The anatomic wrist actually extends to the top of the carpal bones, much higher than most people think (see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpal_bones) while the hand begins at the base of the metacarpals at just about where the web of the thumb is. The HAND straps are mostly covering the metacarpals, but probably cover the top of the carpals as well, so it's not completely misguided to associate them with the wrist! Lincolnl

My family has begun to remind me regularly that the concertina is a loud instrument, and asking me to practice in another room. My wife complains that when I am playing it drowns out her electric guitar. Has anyone ever tried to build a "concertina muffler"? I'm thinking in terms of something that would look like a pair of ear muffs; two shallow sewn cloth bags with elastic openings that would slip over the ends of the instrument with a sleeve-like opening for the player's hands to slip in. The player wouldn't be able to see his/her hands, but otherwise I don't see an effect on playability (aside from looking really really silly). Thoughts? Lincoln

Followup: I continue to work on both styles using Mick Bramich's book "The Irish Concertina" for guidance on the ITM style and Gary Coover's tutor for the harmonic style. I'm having a great time and feel like the two approaches are more complementary than conflicting. I'm finding it great fun to figure out harmonies --don't laugh but I'm working on the "Lord of the Rings" theme now. Lincoln

I think that Don and Ken's suggestions may apply. My hands are not particularly large but I have long fingers. I am picking up a new instrument in a few days and perhaps the palm rest will be better positioned. Thanks for all the great advice! L