Kathryn Wheeler

Thankyou!

It is very pixie-ish indeed! In fact we have plenty of interesting mushrooms that come up out there 🍄 And yes it’s a brisk version of a dance step we do (when I say we I don’t mean pixies haha!)

Quite!

Whilst I'm on the subject, I've found when writing tunes for dances that it is much appreciated if it is based as closely as possible on the structure of the dance and make it feel like it feels to dance it, if that makes sense. I've come across quite a few tunes that don't do that and it actually frustrates me when I dance them! A good tune choice can really add extra energy!

I must say I resemble a concertina-playing pixie in amongst the speedwells here haha! This jaunty, puckish tune is one of those that just happened whilst absent mindedly noodling about. Just as the speedwells popped up unexpectedly when I stopped mowing a patch of lawn. It's all based around a repetitive riff or rhythmic figure, if you prefer, which uses notes that occur on both the push and pull. Here it's a D and A alternating with a D and G and then, in the middle section, a B and F# alternating with a B and G. There's something very mesmeric about these sorts of riffs, where you alternate the same note on push and pull. You can get quite a few of them on the 20 button anglo. I might do something on that subject soon. It also makes a change from chordal accompaniment. The melody in the right hand also just happened - I'd recommend anyone having a go and seeing what falls under the fingers and sounds good. What's fascinating is the mode that the piece is in - it's a D-ish kind of tune (like a D major scale but with a C natural on the seventh). D mixolydian mode I do believe! And then in the middle section it goes into what sounds like B minor. But! Very unusually it has a C natural on the second of the scale (B phrygian mode). But actually it's a lot simpler really - these scales are what happens when you try to play D major and B minor on a C/G 20 button anglo! You don't have any C sharps!

This is fascinating, thankyou! I am suspecting that who and what you want to play concertina with is having a big influence.

They also use sticks sometimes!

Yes I agree - I took up dancing a few years back after being a musician for years and now I aim to play the music just as it feels to dance it. Watching the dancers closely and how the feet fall, the rhythm of the stepping and the atmosphere of it all. Mind you I’m mostly dancing these days rather than playing for dancing! It’s also given me an appreciation for what tunes feel like they’re suited well to the steps and structure and what doesn’t - and also things like if and how things are swung, rhythm wise.

Thankyou very much!

This one whirls and swirls along, but then gets a bit ominous in the second half. A bit like the river Severn! Sometimes you can be having a pleasant stroll along the meadows, thinking about your next pint, but at others it's a real force of nature. It might sound a bit French in name and style. It's inspired by the memory of my friend Mike Kerslake who played hurdy gurdy, who lived at Bevere in north Worcester, a stone's throw from the river. The word Bevere, however, doesn't sound half as refined as it looks! - it rhymes with "every" and is related to beavers!

I do like to look at ridges across a foreground of fields

Thankyou, I do love a good bit of scenery!

You’re welcome

Yes, now you mention it I can really hear the French influences. Isn’t it funny that you don’t always notice things like this at the time. It’s possible there’s a classical waltz influence behind that somewhere. But basically it feels good under the fingers!

That’s what I was thinking of, yes, violinistic. In the sense of “lies under the fingers, feels good to play” sort of way. However the concertina version sounded strange hence having a laugh!

Oh I like it, because of the potential humour value!

So you do like hot cross buns after all! 😆

Whilst I can see the use of having tunes that people already know, it would also make a lot of sense to have easy tunes that lie well under the fingers and are concertina- istic (if that’s even a word 😆)

I agree, the recording app on my phone is an absolute godsend!

If that's a malady, then I heartily wish you never recover!

This is a warm and wistful waltz for 20 button anglo. It came about after a walk into the sun through trees on farmland just west of Worcester. I'm not quite sure why it came out like this, but it all got just a teeny bit Sound of Music somehow! I shall probably whirl around in a meadow come the late spring! The first section of this tune uses the melody in the left hand, accompanied in the right. The middle section swaps roles. It feels good to play and just dances along.

I am reminded that this one has a relentless restless, frustrated energy, letting loose! https://youtu.be/lpiDeZRWIMs

Thankyou, I see what you mean. It’s really interesting and useful to find out how a tune comes across to others! I can’t always guarantee where my tinkering around will take me, as usually I’m channelling a feeling or playing around with an interesting pattern of buttons or movements! Perhaps I need to get lost and frustrated on trips more to produce more like this one 😆

I got the bug for anglo concertina by being given a Scholer anglo by a friend who had seen it in a charity shop. It was in Eb/Bb and the arrangement of the notes was the same as a 20button anglo (rather than the one the OP posted) i.e. enough to intrigue me. I even came up with a couple of new tunes on it. So, yes, they're definitely useful!

Oh lovely! Wassail to you!