wunks

It's complicated because it involves this Wheatstone Jeff duet which is a bit of an oddball itself and I don't want to hijack the thread. I'd need to get some pictures together and maybe start a new thread later but I'll send you a brief PM.

I Think it makes sense for my box which has three empty pairs of reed slots at the low end. It seems relevant to this thread also that one could view the section of overlap on a duet as constituting a pair of mini ECs, one for each hand. Playing arpeggios and triplets in a side to side manner when playing mid-range is easier and I think sounds better than switching sides abruptly when you run out of buttons.

Perhaps to become more complex. I'm thinking of adding a bisonoric bass row to my Jeffries......?

Nice looking 18 button EC craigslist western Mass.

I find a good way to add interest when practicing is to multitask by playing tunes that modulate. The switch to another key snaps your brain back into focus. lots of tunes adapted from 2 row melodeon have this feature.

Just found it on u-tube. "Shepherd's Rocking Carol" nice simple piano rendition by Philip Aaberg. remarkably similar to "twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Merry Christmas!.......?

Hmmm... The arrangement is written in 5 parts: Soprano, alto, baritone, flute and handbells/glockenspiel with optional parts for bells and glockenspiel. Lyrics are included. To be played "softly slowly". Key of G with a 2/2 time signature. I'm assuming the soprano part is the lead. I'll bet it would sound gorgeous with a concertina or two and maybe a dulcimer or bowed psaltry. Lets see if anyone else responds. I'd mail it to someone willing to work it up for a presentation for the holidays! How would I "provide the dots" Wolf? I'm fairly archaic as to my tech. skills......?

I've been thinking about tunes to play for the holiday season. While rummaging about in the thrift shop I found an old piece of sheet music for a "Shepherds Rocking Carol" It says it's a Czech folk song. It would take me a couple of hours to parse it out as I don't sight read and then I wouldn't know how it should really sound. Does anyone here know it and , if so would you play it?

I recently stumbled upon an article in Concertina Magazine from 1985 written by Polly Clap concerning The Jeffries duet system. In it she states that examples were produced by other makers, specifically Crab, Wheatstone and later Colin Dipper. She includes a note chart for a 58 button example and says boxes with up to 88 were produced. I have a rather large Wheatstone Jeff pattern, and a Jeffries 50 button that I acquired in the late 60's early 70's. I also have a chart for a 44b. The Jeffries is a match for Nick Robertshaw's chart but the Wheatstone at 53b is significantly different and the 44b is different from either. It's reeds (Wheatstone's) are arranged in a (conventional?) radial pattern as opposed to the lateral set up of the Jeffries. there are empty spaces for 3 pairs of reeds at the low end which would bring it into compliance (sort of) with the 58b. I'm considering adding these notes and making a couple of other changes to make it match the 58 button, but there seems to be a lot of variation even within Jeffries made instruments. Does anyone have information about other makers of Jeff duets? If there are owners here of these duets by Jeffries or any other maker I would be grateful for a note chart to the end of establishing a loose standard for instruments of various button counts. You can simply type the notes in lines followed by a / for end of row, or stack them. Indicate a thumb key with a th. You can PM me so as not to clutter the site. Thanx.

www.concertinaconnection.com is listing bushed chrome over wood buttons. Flat or domed.

Prego.?

I'm not sure if this applies to the anglo but with the Jeff duet (same or similar fan shaped button pattern) a lucrative scale is created on the top row as an artifact of "centering" the instrument in C. By shifting one's brain and hand position upward, selecting a tonic from the top row and reaching down for other notes as needed, the fingerings for playing in G#,C#,Eb and F# come readily to hand. This probably won't be of help in session playing but makes things a lot more interesting. I don't know but I suspect this may also be true for anglo, at least to some extent.

Yep. Less can be more. Another thing that would be interesting is to encourage the string players to pick up lower pitched instruments Mandola Or viola. With two fiddlers in our dance band I've been having a blast playing viola!

Lots of good suggestions! With three instruments capable of playing lead it can be hard not to garble the melody. As an option I'd suggest a lead in the lower register, a chug (preferably on pa) and a drone or broken drone.

I'll mention this as somewhat relevant to the oom pa portion of this discussion and also because there's a recent thread about hand strap tightness and stiffness. I have an F# thumb key on My Jeffries and can reach the low G on the bottom row as well. On a whim, I loosened the LH strap a notch and slipped my thumb underneath. I was easily and comfortably able to reach The low G,C,and D. Because the strap is both stiff and loose, It held it's shape during this maneuver and maintained contact with the back of my hand for control. It's easy for my thumb to duck in and out as needed. This is important for me because I'm playing melody in the middle of the box when possible so if I want to oom pa, drone or play a bass line my index finger doesn't have to drop down for these notes abandoning it's melody assignments. I'm not familiar enough with the other duet layouts to know if this would be of use. Eh?

Me too. The chords are always there waiting in my subconscious. I find myself limiting the melody to just the first two fingers mostly, and reaching out for harmonies almost without thinking.

Belt it is then. Headed for the thrift shop A.S.A.P.! ?

"Inverted" oom pah is definitely a thing, especially to facilitate an interesting bass line. Piano accompaniment uses it a lot. The only limitation with concertina would be a smaller range to work with to avoid stumbling into the melody. It seems to sound best to bring oom and pah close to each other before crossing over in either direction or use a short run as a transition.

I really don't think any one technique is superior. The duet allows for many different approaches and so places an onus on the player to choose anew for each sitting. Limitations and constraint can yield flavor and character (lots of great music coming from single row melodeon) but by picking up the duet you've lost your innocence and must sally forth to return again in Triumph (pun intd.). Beware the Jabberwock, but I think you're up to the task!

What you said RAc but I play a lot of Quebecois stuff and I'd go A.W.O.L. from duet for a bit if I found a nice 20 button anglo.

As I'm just learning my instrument myself, coming from fiddle, guitar, banjo, I can't give specific advice to an already accomplished concertina player. I think I can make some general observations though that may be helpful. First of all the overlap of notes in the mid range not only allows for a seamless transition from the left hand instrument to the right but also makes possible all manner of grace notes and other types of embellishments. I play by ear and tend to improvise and I'm finding that playing in the middle of the instrument is very rewarding. An approach from guitar seems to work well for me and that is what some would call "cross picking". When using thumb and one finger or a flat pick, instead of trying to keep the base line and melody separate, one develops the melody from the chord structure and invades the harmonies when the melody allows. Some tunes are too "notey" for this of course such as fast reels and jigs played in the higher register which need a separate accompaniment (if any). Some keys are not as easy as others. With the Jeffries Pattern centered on C the keys of F,G,Bflat and of course C are delightful and the relative minors come easy. A and D are resisting my efforts so far. I practice this "mid box" approach with slow airs and such like Shenendoah and Da Slocket Light but lots of sung tunes have enough room in the melody for this approach.

I just made a new set for my duet from old belt leather that is much thicker and stiffer than the old. There's a marked improvement in control, however I'm having trouble keeping my pants up.?

This article is fascinating, especially the discussion of "grounds" and "divisions".

In a thread "History of Hornpipes", from The Session forum, Ronald Ellison mentions Walsh's Tunes Book of 1730 from the Manchester Music Library. He says it contains 25 Hornpipes in 3/2 but doesn't say if there are any in other time signatures. The whole thread is an interesting read.

People dance to these tunes, yes, but I don't see them dancing the "hornpipe" except in an exhibition setting, which was my meaning. Sorry to confuse. The hornpipe dance in the examples I've seen is a singleton dance with lots of hops and leg kicks.