Kathryn Wheeler

Thank you for the recommendations of concertina players to listen to!

Hi Theo - I recorded this on a phone, as a video, so nothing fancy and it’s possible the phone could have been too close and there was clipping maybe? I’ll have to take a look/listen to see what sounds there might be. It was my first “proper” video of me playing concertina and I guess it’s a surprisingly loud instrument and I haven’t done proper experimentation into distance etc yet. So there’s that possibility I suppose. As for tuning/set up of the instrument- I’ll do a careful listen. I’m aware of the concept of beating from tuning fifths in violins but am not at all clued up about how concertinas are tuned (yet). So, I assume octaves should ideally have no beats? The instrument came from a dealer back in April and I haven’t had anyone look at it since. Will report back after investigation! Whatever, it’s something to learn from! Thanks for pointing it out

Thankyou Wolf and Gregor! Wolf - great, I’d hate to post in the wrong places. I’ll check both locations out. If it’s a brand new tune maybe there’s scope for putting it in the tune section but I like the idea of the dedicated Videos section a lot

Wise words. My head can get all too involved if I play the fiddle and overthink everything - thankfully it doesn’t affect other instruments, fingers crossed!

Dan - Thankyou, those are incredibly insightful and useful thoughts, which sum up a lot of what I’m starting to find out. Honestly that would make an amazing quote for an album (not that I have one!) or website or gig promotion - there are some wonderful turns of phrase there! Count me very encouraged to carry on enjoying tune arranging on this lovely instrument. I love the way the 20button encourages certain ways of thinking - in how to accompany oneself on it (and I am finding there is more and more to learn and more ideas a plenty to uncover .. right hand accompaniment of various sorts, playing unisons/same pitch using different buttons creating a lovely different timbre - those are what I’m thinking of just now). It’s like the Anglo has opened up a new compartment of how to look at making up melodies, how to approach rhythm and how to accompany. I really don’t want to lose this way of thinking and am in no rush to do too much on more buttons. I have played piano accordion for a good few years now and come across so much oom pah, yes! (but to be honest I treat it like a portable synth/keyboard with lots of r hand chord stuff and very much value it as something I can accompany people in a wide variety of genres/styles and in any key. I don’t really do straight folk on it) So, I definitely want to explore how the Anglo is different - the rhythmic potential, the in-out ness of it, the alternative ways of playing the same pitch, just the way the pitches are so differently arranged. It’s fascinating to find out what suits the instrument and what doesn’t. But honestly it’s made me look at the piano accordion differently - particularly the left hand side and combining chords and bass in interesting ways now. Though I did have the disconcerting feeling of “should I play the next bit on in or out bellows...aargh”. A sign ive been concertina-ing a lot! I keep thinking I should listen more to recordings (I have a bit - I’ve analysed and replicated a few - both old ones and more recent players I’ve really liked) but I’ve been mostly just noodling, finding out what it can do and coming up with ideas and then and working on arrangements.

Thankyou! Some really insightful and valuable comments, I really appreciate that. Wunks - ah yes, I didn’t realise what exactly was going on there until I wrote what I’d played as sheet music! I just remember wanting to add bounce and dancing rhythm to it like I’ve felt dancing Morris. I have definitely enjoyed those rhythms in some melodeon playing I’ve heard. I haven’t quite got my head around what is involved playing it on the fiddle (I guess the bow is moved quicker to cause the accent?) but now you mention it I have noticed it in some players that play English fiddle tunes. Can you recommend anyone to listen to? Do you play yourself?

Thankyou, John and RAc! Yes, lockdown has been an interesting mix, certainly all interesting and a definite learning curve. I know a lot of people who haven’t touched instruments and others who have been playing for local clubs’ zoom nights. I hope you are still feeling like playing. RAc - on the subject of concertina face, I guess that was a particularly jolly tune - my latest one is more “deep and meaningful” so there’s probably plenty of interesting expressions there. My standard piano accordion face (maybe it’s a thing with free reed players?) is one of whimsical “away with the faeries” expression I must say the layout of the buttons on the Anglo and the push pullness of it and the fact there are not all the accidentals on a 20button is fascinating and leads to a whole new way of thinking about music Im particularly enjoying how the alternatives with different buttons or on the push vs pull (even on a 20) are great for say playing one section legato vs dancey

Hello everyone! I hope here is a good place to put this - if not, let me know! I've been on the anglo concertina Facebook page for a while and have now discovered this forum. If I have videos to share, where is the best place to post them, please? I took up anglo concertina back last April, at the height of lockdown and it's really been my go-to instrument ever since. I have been a musician pretty much all my life and I found the impossibility of getting together with band mates or having gigs and (the worst) not being able to jam, improvise and work on material with others, live, in person and in the moment, really hard. As a result, I strangely went off singing and playing anything I had been playing with others. Luckily I'm getting some enthusiasm for those things back now somewhat - and I hope it will continue. Also, on the upside, I'm writing lots and getting round to arranging music to perform all on my own. I really havent gone for Zoom or similar at all, for some reason, although I realise it has been a godsend for some - possibly because I love playing with others live. That said, collaborative videos have been a wonderful thing. Anyway, I have found, right from the very start, that picking up my 20 button Lachenal has ended up with new tunes coming out of it. I've recently started videoing them (as well as producing sheet music) I love the harmonic way of playing, but also really like picking up tips from other styles, too - after all, it depends on the piece and what feel it has! I really enjoy working with different ways of arranging a melody such that it results in (hopefully) lots of nice variety! Here's one of my recent tunes: