Jump to content

Breve

Members
  • Posts

    59
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Breve

  1. what is the measurement of the ends? width?
  2. I had to give up last year for a couple of reasons - I developed tennis elbow from playing concertina so had to rest it. Then life got busy - moving house, my job etc, and some health issues where I was too tired and had low energy. If you're focusing on keeping your job, and day to day stuff, it's easy for music to be pushed aside. Now finally I am picking up the concertina. Discovering of course that I have forgotten a ton of chords I'd learned and whatever progress I'd made last year - well it felt like 3 steps forward then 2 steps backwards. I know I have to be patient, and have short but regular practice sessions and do my elbow exercises as preventive measure. Playing with others is key for me to keep going and keep motivated. Otherwise I run out of steam quickly and get distracted by other stuff going on in my life. I wish I was a more serious musician, but by nature I'm a dilettante, flitting from one shiney thing to the next shiney thing. I finally have learned not to take on NEW shiney things and just bounce back and forth between a few shiney things. That way, I see some slow improvement, although never as much as a dedicated serious musician.
  3. Thank you Christine for the advice. I meant to reply sooner to your post but have been travelling.
  4. Thanks to you both for replying. Now I have an idea of what to call this condition. Reading up about it, strengthening arm and shoulder muscles is necessary - so I'd better get onto that. I'll shorten my practice time and look into a strap also. I'm fairly new but not a complete beginner. The muscles should've adjusted by now but clearly I need to do some extra exercises. My goal is to save up for an upgrade and in the meantime work diligently on the Stagi to literally outgrow it. Of course I realize progress is faster on a better instrument but I'll have to be patient. I tested a friend's Norman on the weekend and could feel the difference in bellows and action. It confirmed my decision to upgrade for long term playing comfort.
  5. Hi, the muscles around my right elbow joint become sore after playing. Of course I'll stop and stretch and massage the area but this an ongoing side effect playing. Has anyone else experienced this? I play an entry level anglo - a Stagi. The bellows are stiff and sometimes it feels I'm fighting them and it probably doesn't have the best action either. I've realised the fast jerky pull/push is what's contributing to this soreness, plus holding elbow at a certain angle - roughly 90 degrees, so I'm rethinking the fingerings to include more runs of notes on the draw or on the pull and reduce the jerkiness a little (every minimal change must help, right?). Trying to play louder - getting more air - exacerbates this. I usually play softly because I live in an apartment but on the weekend I was playing with other musicians and so had to be louder and noticed how much the soreness bothered me. I can't see how I can alter the angle my arm needs to be to play. This soreness happens regularly from using computer - the posture, typing etc. So alas I've become used to it but it is more noticeably sore after playing. Clearly I need to change what I'm doing! Any other suggestions apart from upgrading to a better concertina which is a future goal but not possible for now. Arm strengthening exercises - resistance bands, hand weights? Shorter practice sessions? Thanks.
  6. I had a great time and learned a lot. Sorry to have missed the Thurs concert. I found learning by ear challenging and in the workshop I discovered I was bloody awful at it, but in the privacy of my own home I can tediously go over and over Ann's tunes at around 35 bpm! I think of it as the tortoise plodding along gets there eventually. I really appreciate how nice and helpful the more advanced players are. This week also my Staging goes to the Button Boc for a service.
  7. True Don I could do that but if I want to play the tunes with any other music and then I'm stuck! Also I am getting pretty good at reading the notes and connecting them to the buttons without focusing on the fingerings numbers. I'll try both ways to hear how it sounds. Dan that's very kind of you. Thankyou. I just bought your book on the history of the conceryina. Amazon delivers it Thursday. Looking forward to dipping into it!
  8. Thanks Dan, I've been practicing daily for about 15-20 mins, sometimes twice daily for a couple of weeks now and I'm noticing real progress! Seems there's a pay off to regular practice after all. Out of all the tutor books I've looked at I am considering Gary Coover's Harmonics book as the best for my needs and desired style of playing. What's held me back from buying it is the need to thoroughly learn where all the notes are first on my G/D anglo so I can transpose his fingerings without too much trouble tho the left hand is going to the most time consuming.
  9. I'll be there and looking forward to it. As a beginner player I hope I can keep up and so I've been practicing like mad. Ruth
×
×
  • Create New...