Brian Peters
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Posts posted by Brian Peters
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23 hours ago, Mikefule said:
To be honest, I very seldom play in front of other musicians, and play almost exclusively for my own enjoyment. In other contexts, such as Morris dancing, singing in pub sessions, and performing as Fool with my Morris side, it is more about entertaining someone else, but the Anglo is a very private joy.
You probably won't remember me but I met you briefly at Poppy Folk Club, Nottingham. You sang and played other boxes for the entire first half. In the interval, I asked if you were going to play any Anglo and you very kindly tweaked your programme to include a couple of extra Anglo items. (Or, at least, allowed me to believe that you had changed your plan for me!) Thanks.
I do remember the occasion, Mike. I was performing with Gordon Tyrrall, so had a limited choice of repertoire to play with. I will always try and play a couple of extra things on anglo if there's a fellow player in the room, especially when requested!
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4 minutes ago, Wolf Molkentin said:
I reckon you‘re aware of this much-played video... ?
Actually I wasn't, and very nice it is too. Thanks for that - it now has an extra view to add to the 75,000+, and an extra 'Like' as well. But how on earth could 7 people find it within themselves to give that a thumbs-down? Though having said that I recall a chap who came to one of my melodeon workshops and became very angry because I'd committed the musically elitist sin of talking about modal scales in analysing a tune. Not only did he storm out in the middle of the session, but he took the trouble to seek out all of my videos on Youtube and dislike every one!
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2 hours ago, Jim Besser said:
Great stuff, Brian.A few years back I actually copied your version of Robinson's Tune for our yearly and thankfully brief Abbot's Bromley performance. "Thankfully" because we only do it on the night of the winter solstice, outside, processing up and down a very cold street. Not surprisingly, I associate the tune with pain.
I'm surprised more Anglo players don't get into ragtime/Tin Pan Alley tunes. My current obsession is the music of Kerry Mills - tunes like Old Heidelburg, The Kerry Mills Barn Dance, Whistling Rufus and At a Georgia Camp Meeting work surprisingly well on concertina, not to mention his classic Redwing. And I learned something approximating your version of Weeping Willow.
Pinewoods Camp in August was certainly less challenging than the Winter solstice, Jim.
Nice idea to use Anglo for those kind of tunes. I didn't know 'Old Heidelburg' but have just looked it up - nice tune, and the challenge would be to fit in some of those jazzy chords that the piano player does. I'd be interested to hear what you do with it, Jim. I have to admit that 'Weeping Willow Rag' took a lot of working out.
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2 hours ago, Mikefule said:
Haha! I can do something that Brian Peters struggles with! I feel so validated as a musician.
Admittedly, I can use my concertina case as a footrest only because I am a shortarse, and you are tall, and willowy but I'll take the validation where I can get it.
'Tall and willowy' is not something I get called on a regular basis, but I'll take it as a compliment...
And although we all love to achieve challenging targets and gain the approbation of our peers, actually having fun playing music is the best validation IMO!
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Good point Little John. When I think about it, I've only seen JK use his accordion case when playing the big button box, and he's always played the anglo without support. He makes a lot of use of cross-rowing so doesn't need to waggle the bellows about so much, which is usually when the thing needs a bit of extra stability.
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I've been known to use my melodeon case, but my concertina case doesn't get the knee sufficiently high.
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I think we can forgive you for playing that one seated, when you do as good a job as that! An excellent advertisement for the Hayden duet system - thanks, David I enjoyed that very much.
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I'll remember the tip about the gloves if I ever find myself playing outside in winter, but I've managed to avoid that successfully over the past 40 years!
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Interesting, David B. I'd have thought your instrument is heavier than mine, too. When it comes to playing standing, I would always do that when accompanying songs, but I often sit down to play instrumentals because it gives me more control, at least in certain tunes depending on how much bellows work there is, and sometimes on the fingerings. However, during a concert set I'd be alternating anglo with other instruments, so I'm not accustomed to playing standing for a long period. Maybe I'm just not sufficiently used to it.
On the other hand, I know plenty of anglo players who can't play standing at all.
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David Colpitts, re singing and playing, you just keep on doing it until you can do it! Good luck!
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David, will you be processing with the dancers at those street fairs? I found playing for 20 minutes whilst processing with Pinewoods Morris when they danced AB at camp last year pretty hard on the wrist and hand muscles!
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I've never heard you play a wrong note, Howard!
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Thanks, David. Interesting to hear our different interpretations of the harmony - I like your descending bass line. And you are of course correct about the spelling!
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Ha! Well spotted Gary! A bit of dissonance never hurt anyone.
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Many thanks, Wolf!
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Hi folks,
I've just uploaded a few videos featuring Anglo to my long-moribund Youtube channel, so please drop by if you will.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmJQx9Wz7Pz3WLelPihYOAA
Brian -
I've nothing at all against G/D instruments, and musicians like Jody do wonders with them, but remember that it is possible to play quite a lot of tunes in G, on a C/G instrument, in the correct pitch, and with full chording. The way I do it is to play the lower end of the scale (G above middle C to E) 'on the pull' on the C row, and anything above that on the RH G row. The first two notes of the scale are the pulled G at button 4 on the top (accidentals) row (LH) and the pushed A on the same button - both using the index finger - allowing a pulled G chord using the other fingers to be set against the first note of the scale. A tune like 'Speed the Plough' works fine like that, though tunes that go below G - i.e. to F# and lower - become much more difficult to harmonize as more LH fingers are needed for melody notes.
Jim has a good point abut projecting over massed melodeons by playing an octave high.
Personally I find the corresponding G/A reversal at top row button 2 on the RH of a Wheatstone-system instrument absolutely integral to the way I play. But that's probably just me.
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Great job, Jim! When I get back from holiday I'll try to work out which of my extra 9 buttons I use in that tune.
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A question: how many buttons on your concertina?
Thirty-nine - though I only use about 34.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Most kind of you, Jim!
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Hi All,
I recently posted on Youtube some mainstage performances from the National Folk Festival at Canberra last Easter, including a couple with my anglo.
Here goes:
The Wild Rover:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96Xuu8yeTFc
The Northern Lass:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9CK1CMiqIwThere's also a home recording of 'Weeping Willow Rag' that I made last year:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VatDE1SMc4o
Regards,
Brian
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Very sweet!
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I remember having significant air leakage problems during a trip to Ontario one frozen February....
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"Also, when listening to Brian's tune, The Blossom and the Rain, I was struck by how certain parts of the tune remind me of the Boda Waltz, a previous TOTM. What do others think? I wonder if Brian knows the tune and was subconsciously influenced by it?"
Well, Chris, up to the moment it was brought to my attention I hadn't heard of 'Boda Waltz' and, having checked it out on Youtube (played by Jody Kruskal, as it happens) I can say pretty definitely I've never heard it before. The first couple of bars of the 'B' are similar to 'Blossom', though if there was any subconscious borrowing going on, I think it's more likely to have been from 'Silent Night' which shares the same phrase.
Old English music, folk songs, and ragtime on Anglo
in Concertina Videos & Music
Posted
Practicing with a metronome may be good discipline, but it can also deliver a very nasty shock!