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We used to enjoy NEFFA years ago and played a bit for the contra dancing. Don't travel much musically of late but I'm glad to hear it's still roaring along! A delightful participatory event....😊

Click on steel guitar pack a seat. There's one for sale on western Mass. craigslist at the moment.

Someone here, I'm thinking (RAc?) suggested finger exercises on paper as an aid to determining what system to pursue. Might be helpful in this case.

I just noticed someone is offering a large collection of fiddle tune and dance music on Vermont craigslist under musical instruments for what seems a reasonable price.

Ah yes. I knew it the moment I hit send! I'll be happy to comply soon. It'll be around a year mid May since I sat down with earnest intent. I'm happy with my progress so I'll shoot for that. Maybe a couple of composed tunes as I seem to learn faster that way. I'll have to learn how to do it with this cheap chrome book though. Thanks for the gentle prod....😏

When I was a child we often had (when we had enough money for meat) a dish my father called Rincum Ditty which consisted of elbow macaroni, a can of stewed tomatoes, chopped onion and loose ground beef. As I was fiddling around with the concertina yesterday the two embraced each other in my mind and I started making up a little tune in their honor. The phrase also struck me as a great band name (I hear bye claim it). Looking for definitions I came up with the old English "rinc" = warrior or "rincum" = warriors, and for ditty, a simple tune of course or a sailors "kit". There also seems to be a musical meaning for rincum as a short stanza or some such but I can't pin it down. So my loose translation is some blend like "Soldiers Supper Song" or "Warrior's Lunch Box". Also the concertina could be considered a part of a sailors (or warrior's) essential "kit". Is anyone here familiar with the phrase or would you have any other associations, connotations or definitions?

Yes, although you can play the melody above or below the drone of course and combine that with "rocking the bow" for a nice deconstructed chord effect. Interestingly, some fiddlers flatten the bridge and "cross-tune" to play triple stops.

Because you can "drive the rhythm" with just the bellows you can do without oom pah or just pah or any of the above really. I like to do something similar to Mikefule's pedal points above. If you're moving up the scale, be a snail and leave a trail. hold or dwell on previous notes that are in harmony. From high to low, rock the bow. After bowing the melody note old time fiddlers will dip down ( sometimes up) to catch harmonies on the adjacent strings. Because I like playing in the lower register, especially for singing , I'll hold a high drone note (and move it around a bit) when coming over from the left to the right hand. Works great when playing duet because of the overlap ( you're playing a Hayden I think).

That's the right way to think of it Dave. Although I'm just starting to add the accompaniment to my playing, I'm finding a brief sparse chord on the off beat with an extra puff and quick lift off from the buttons at the very end really add the bounce!

Right. There's no hard hard and fast rule. Even in 3/4 there are Mazurka's, Redowa's, Swedish, and Cajun style waltzes with different accents and flavors.

I favor the off beat also. Breve gives one reason: It gives you some time to adjust. Even if the tune is familiar the phrasing may vary. There's lots of improv. in old timey stuff. If you play chords for the on beat the lead gets buried and the lead drives the rhythm. Even if you're doing oom pah the bass line is generally low enough to avoid tripping up the lead and the chord falls on the off beat. Additionally you can make subtle changes in harmony on the off beat with out throwing everything off.

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Now that we've gotten you nicely settled in with the Lachenal, it's time to rip the lid completely off that can of "wormes". I must mention that there is listed on the Facebook public group concertina page, a beautiful looking 31 button C/G Anglo for around 3k (British Pounds I think) and it's in Ontario (somewhere). Even if it's above your price range you might be able to try it out before you pull the trigger on the L.......🙂

No one has mentioned cost or "serendipity". I remember Neville Crabb telling me in the Islington shop many years ago that if you're just beginning, it makes no difference what system you choose, as he trotted out a large Wheatstone/Jeff duet with what turned out to be some strange accidental and bass arrangements at about half the cost of anything else on the shelves. Although it's taken me 50 years to actually give it a go, I don't regret the choice one bit. You state your goal as personal entertainment so I would suggest that neither a pitch anomaly nor close compliance with a piano should dictate your choice. A concertina is not all that much like a piano, nor is it much like a violin. It's a very expressive and rewarding instrument in and of itself. My advice is not to go the route of imposing your will on the instrument ( Trying to make it act like a piano) but let it sing itself to you. So. I'd buy the Lachenal if it's in good playable condition, it's convenient and the price is right.

Would this perhaps be a baritone or "Jack" rather than a "Jackie" ? Admittedly, I don't know what the note difference would be.