Rhomylly

well, I, for one, am drooling...particularly at the ebony one...

As a continuation of some comments made in another topic, I thought I'd toss this question to the general forum. What are the pros and cons of rosewood vs. ebony concertina ends? Is is pure aesthetics? Is there a weight difference? How about sound, is that affected (assuming reeds are similar or identical) and how? What other differences, if any, are there? Now that I've figured out just what the heck rosewood is, and can stop scratching my head at my scraggly little rosebush in my yard I'm interested in a lively comparison of the two woods. On pure aesthetics alone, I prefer ebony. Which is why all the photos I've seen of Normans make me drool... Rhomylly

Thanks Paul Now I can stop looking at my scraggly old rosebushes and thinking, "naaah, no way!" Edit: So is there any definitive difference between 'tinas with rosewood ends and those with ebony ends? I personally prefer the ebony look myself. Probably has a lot to do with why I think Normans are so doggone appealing, although I've never tried one. Yet. Rhomylly

Okay, this question has been bugging the heck out of me for a while. Just what, exactly is rosewood? Or am I completely oblivious to the existence of rosewood trees? In Ignorance, Rhomylly

well, Helen, I'm *reading* this while wearing my, ahem, birkies...

For those in the know "Berk" is far from a mildly insulting term. Visit here for a definition, but be warned its not for the feint hearted. Oops! No wonder I didn't find it in my Chambers 20th Century dictionary (time for a new one, I know!). But in common parlance it seems to be used as an affectionate way of saying "idiot" - in my experience ... Samantha Okay, I don't know what it is with you guys and *my footwear* but this has got to stop, LOL! Here in the midwest, the terms "Birks" or "Birkies" are an abbreviation for "Birkenstocks," a particularly comfortable yet somewhat ugly brand of sandals very popular in the folkie/retired hippie crowd. I have 4 pairs. My father has a pair. My MOTHER has two pairs. Now not only do I STILL have to figure out how to incorporate my genuine British wellies into my concertina playing, NOW I can't go up to someone and say, "nice Berks" without knowing I'm insulting their virtue. Geez Louise! BTW, my husband assures me I'm putting a great deal of welly into "Shepherd's Hey" which I just learned a couple days ago. Rh

OOOO! that's definitely a keeper, Jim!

LOL it is RHOM-ill-eee. Y'all are so cute

kudos to all the poets who have figured out without hearing it pronounced that Rhomylly has 3 syllables. I'm not usually so lucky! the only other thing I can say is concertina playing is an awesome pursuit and the nicest people in the world do it!

the only P&D parody I ever heard was "Cosmic and Freaky" that was real big at Pinewoods English Week in the mid 80's. "A picture of his Earth shoes she instantly drew." Updated, when I perform it, to Birkenstocks, of course. Anyone who wants all the dreadful new-agey lyrics to this, better email me. There's a limit to what even *I* will post on this list

Jim, I am totally flattered What a great start to a rainy Friday morning!

Well, Alan, we're even, then. Every time I look at *my* wellies, I try to figure out how to add them to my playing style Rhomylly

Tom and Bellowbelle, When you accompany singing (mo co-goal, along with learning to play for morris), do you prefer to play the tune as another unison voice, play chords, or both/combination? Rhomylly

(singing) aaand the sharks they played melodions, and the sharrrrrrks they played melodions, and the sharrrrrks they played melodions, at the dawning of the day. Please, please Geoff, tell me you've rewritten the rest of it???? And for all the Robert Heinlein fans out there: TANSTAAFR!

The Kimber CD/book combo is already on my Christmas wish list

that was what I thought "putting welly into it" meant, but yanno, I didn't want to assume! Speaking of playing for morris, I have gleaned from various comments that Anglo morris players tend to finger "on the row." Is that accurate (mostly) or does putting welly into it also mean fingering any way that works? Rhomylly Ex-morris dancer, aspiring morris musician

Okay, I *have* to ask: What in the *world* does "put a lot of welly in their playing" mean??? I have a pair of genuine British Wellies, but am unsure how to incorporate them into my playing I want to play for Morris (gotta find a team, first) and song accompaniment most of all, then Irish just for the increase in general skill. I also recommend John Roberts, especially as a fine example of song accompaniment.

I used to go regularly when I was within walking distance of it I miss it terribly, and House of Musical Traditions, too. Bit far to walk from central Missouri, now. Say hi to it and HMT for me, 'k?

I usually banish myself to the far bedroom when I practice so as not to disturb the nice neigbors on the other side of the duplex's shared wall. Usually my husband begs me to take at least two of our four dogs (yes, we're active in local no-kill rescue, why do you ask?) with me so he doesn't have to watch as many. My beagle curls up on the floor near me and falls asleep. The two cats ignore it/stay the hell away from the bedroom door. The shepherd mix stays in the living room with her daddy. She is quite the daddy's girl. Which leaves the two 19-month-old (still puppy) pit bull/heeler mixes, Paige and Phoebe. If I take Paige with me, she thinks it's yelling at her or something, because she goes all belly-up submissive on the bed (pit bull submitting to concertina -- now that's funny!) Phoebe, on the other hand, is the one who makes the notorious RCA-Victrola-dog-head-cock thing, cracks me up, then flops down beside me and eyes my 'tina to see if it's worth eating.

*I* am interested in other folks' Hohners! I currently have: *a new Hohner 20-button *a small piano accordion of unknown vintage/name but my parents took it to Denmark twice with their high school morris team, and I just can't bring myself to part with it. I have ambitions of learning this, too. I *want* a 30 button Norman The Nobel Prize for Literature (I figure they're equally attainable goals, at the moment...)

Well great, are any of you ever going to say the name of the book? Now I want to play some of these tunes and I thought this might be a good book to use. That is if I ever knew the name of this good book! Good for you, Rhomylly, for sticking with a new instrument. This is fun, we are watching you fall in love with your instrument. I'm not all that far ahead of you in taking up the concertina, so I'm loving you loving your concertina. Well, probably most days you love it.

Ahh! That's why your name seemed so familiar. You wrote that book! I have it here... somewhere...

I am completely riveted to this topic, and just had to add my somewhat different perspective. I have tried off and on for years (more off than on) to be a Buddhist. The reasons why are way to lengthy and possibly controversial to go into here, but let me just say that after 5 1/2 years of effort, I'm still probably the world's worst Buddhist. But I still need something to recharge my spiritual batteries, and to pull my "monkey mind" away from my everydayness, at least for a while. Concertina playing is now that something. I've been at it less than a month, and I am amazed at how quickly an hour can go by while I struggle with a new tune or bliss out on the ones I already (almost) know. I have to focus so totally on the task at hand (getting through the tune) that there is NO room for worry, or replaying a bad day at work, or general pissiness at the world. Kind of like how I'm supposed to have been while meditating, and never quite managed it. Also, I have been an English country/morris dancer for the last 30 years, and I love it dearly. Right now, though, I'm in a part of the country where there isn't any English or Morris and even if there were, my old ankles just aren't up to being a Morris dancer any more. But, over the years, some of the dances and tunes have become like old friends. If an inanimate object can be a friend, than so can a tune? When I learn to play oh, Margaret's Waltz or the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance tune (at least the one we use in the States), I feel like I'm spending time with some old friends, and I'm not so homesick for the dancing I miss. It always makes me feel better.

The only thing I can think of, which is probably lame, is that maybe its popularity with sailors made it less-than-pristine ideal for genteel Victorian ladies?