Kathryn Wheeler
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Posts posted by Kathryn Wheeler
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8 hours ago, David Barnert said:
How appropriate! Concertina music and concertina wire.
You know what, I'd never come across coils of concertina wire before - only the plain old barbed wire variety! You learn something new every day..
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2 hours ago, SIMON GABRIELOW said:
A very unique piece of music again and performance..and presentation🌝
Thankyou!
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I wondered what the sparkle of a raindrop might sound like on an anglo concertina. This piece came out of playing around with that idea and seeing where it went. I still can't get enough of how versatile 20 little buttons are and how expressive.This piece moves through several moods - the warmth and contentment of watching the sun go down over the ridge of hills near where I live, squinting my eyes at the sunlight until it scatters into golden rays. The love of the landscape around here - the views of the Malvern hills and the ridge that runs north of them. This soon turns to an antsy, agitated, cabin-feverish feeling of being trapped and needing to go for a walk out there, but being unable to. Only temporarily, thankfully!
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On 7/4/2024 at 6:11 PM, Dan Worrall said:
Beautifully played, Kathryn!
Thankyou Dan!
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And I do think I'm in the worst one for that
Worcestershire - although maybe you're used to that with the sauce!
And don't get me onto all the different pronounciations I've heard. It's got quite amusing watching Diners, Drive-ins and Dives as they use the sauce a _lot_ making lovely barbeque stuff from scratch!
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On 4/9/2024 at 2:52 AM, Victor F said:
Hello I am starting to learn about chords and have some questions.
When a music sheet has the letter of the chord on top does that mean you play the chord for the same length of the note below it? Is there anything special that needs to be done if the melody line includes the note in the chords?
I noticed that in the Gary coove Easy Anglo 123 book that the c chord is notated as being 4 notes C-C-E-G. I believe that it is only C-E-G? Is there a reason to include the extra C?
I have attached images showing examples of it.
There are many ways to play a C chord (I'd only use that bottom C sometimes if I wanted some extra bassiness). You don't have to play all the notes, or you could double up some of the notes (as done here). No rules really - just use whatever you think sounds good or feels good. You don't have to play the third of the chord (the E here in a C chord) or you could just play the C and the E and no G (especially, say, if you have the G in the melody).
It's funny you say this, because I was literally only yesterday showing someone the suggested chords in this book - they're a really good starting point but there are often many ways to play the same chord on an anglo. Even on a 20 button.
For example - if you want a C chord, you could basically mash together any notes on the C row and make one! Or play cross row and choose your C from the C row, the G immediately below it on the G row and then the E next to the C - a nice triangle shape of buttons! (Triangle chords as I call em! If you play that pattern of buttons up and down on push and pull you can find other chords!)
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I don't play Irish music, but I would be experimenting with what sounds good or interesting. From what I know the harmonic accompaniment is often extremely bare in that style, with some bits here and there. It's all about the horizontal flow of the melody and it's ornamentation? It's almost like any other notes are a kind of ornamentation.
There are some harmony "rules" about what notes can be useful. Do a bit of research on chords and how they're formed and the chords that go with the notes of scales of different keys.
If you've just got one big long Fsharp and you want to put some accompaniment in to go with it, you could try any notes in the chord of Fsharp major (F# A# C#) or Fsharp minor (change it to a non sharpened A) - I think it's probably most likely it'd be a F sharp minor as that's most commonly used in folk music, for example. OR it could be a chord of D major (which has an F sharp in it) so you could try any notes from D F# A. There are other chords you can use (and I've just read the other response above which has some others). Experimentation is the best bet as it can throw up some really interesting and unexpected sounds which can be used for effect.
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I see! And isn't Todley Tom a great name!
Oo by the way, it is Herefordshire - it's the next county over to where we are in Worcestershire
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You know, I've had your playing of Staffordshire Lasses as an earworm the last few days, haha! I like the staccato accompaniment with the occasional run down. Are these both tunes you play for dancing?
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Nice! I love the angle from which you're videoing this. You can see both sides and what you're playing nice and clearly.
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On 7/1/2024 at 11:54 AM, SIMON GABRIELOW said:
So very cheerful and full toned - it seems that a whole orchestra emanates from that melodious little box😊
Thankyou! It continues to fascinate me just how much is in that little box. Aren't anglos amazing things to play with!
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This is a short snippet of Just As the Tide Was Flowing*. It's a traditional song, but I started playing it for accompanying Border Morris dancing. Specifically for a dance we do in Bow Brook Border Morris that goes by the same name (but we call Tides). The dance was originally devised by the Witchmen side, who are a very inventive lot, coming up with a lot of popular dances.
I think this snippet captures the feel of the dance - specifically the A section here represents a figure where partners cross over for four, turn and then stick for 4 (which is repeated). This is then followed by standing and sticking in the B section.
What I play during the dance really depends on what the dancers are doing. In the very flowing (and rather raunchy) repeated "choruses" what I'd do is fuller and more rhythmic than what I'd do in the figures (like verses - the dancing changes every time). In the figures I vary things up - sometimes I'd do melody in octaves, sometimes I'd do a countermelody (and sometimes there are other musicians). The full range of what I tend to do is in the full video I've already posted.
*I've already posted a full video.
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This is just the sort of thing for a sunny day in June
Which is why I'm in my overalls 😄 (I was taking a break from decorating!)
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Ah! This is one of my favourite winter songs!
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Thanks! It would be nice to do more singing, if I could only remember the words!
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1 hour ago, wunks said:
Exactly, even to the point of supplying the words to the melodies!
Darn, mine only supply melodies to others’ words. And is no use when I’ve forgotten words!
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On 3/8/2024 at 3:10 AM, wunks said:
Concertinas are magical objects like a sorting hat. They know who you are and will invite you to play. They are playing you as you play them.
This is SO true. They come up with the tunes, too!
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Two ways:
One end against left thigh (if I'm doing tricky things especially with my pinkie on the lower left side) - right side if right (I have a short little finger and it helps..)
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Playing the anglo standing (e.g. for dancing/singing with a group) - in which case I'd like to say I play it more vertically, with the instrument over the elbows, but in practice it varies.. I also move it around more (unconsciously - I guess it just goes with the whole body movement).
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It is brief (1 minute long), but it’s based on a longer video (that I also posted yesterday). YouTube Short videos have to be 1 minute maximum.
This is the original piece:
Yes, played on a Bb/F with a good few more buttons. It was played as if it was on a 20 though! No third row in the tune. In fact the piece it’s based on was originally written for one row!
Theres more information in the video description on YouTube
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51 minutes ago, Tiposx said:
Lovely. Your concertina has a really good tone on that piece.
Thankyou, that’s really useful to hear. I’ve not videoed this instrument before, so so it’s really helpful to have your feedback! -
Yes, I reckon!
This looks interesting:
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I've just tried my first YouTube Short video (it's only a minute long)
This is an improvisation on the introduction to On from Abberley, that I just posted. It didn't fit in with the video, and works on it's own.
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This is a tune for 20 buttons - in fact for much of it it’s for one row - but it was written whilst playing this unusual 32 button Bb/F instrument by David Leggett. No worries though - the tune works very well on a C/G and on a 20b.
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Comparing the timbre of different Anglo concertinas
in General Concertina Discussion
Posted · Edited by Kathryn Wheeler
Ahh this is really interesting. I did an acoustics course a few years back and studied timbre and really enjoyed Fourier analysis and seeing timbre graphically. I didnt back then focus on free reed instruments (I would do now if I did it!)
I love trying to describe different timbres (and end up often using words used to describe food e.g. an E string on a violin is acidic or lemony, a C string on a viola can be chocolatey or fudgy). With concertinas, I seem to have a preference for wood ended instruments and Lachenals particularly. For a while I had a Wheatstone and playing it seemed effortless in the sense that it felt like there was nothing getting in the way of expressing what was in my head - it played like a dream and was super responsive. However, I sold it on because it felt too clinical and clean in timbre for me personally. Beautiful but rather soulless (for me) - perhaps that just means I couldn't connect to it. There was no emotional depth in it - no character - and it didn't feel warm to me personally. It's all a matter of personal taste isnt it!