TehRazorBack

Thanks guys. Concertina Joel reached out to me, and he had now added a link to the MuseScore page on his YouTube video. I feel proper chuffed

I recently picked up Gary Coover's Christmas book, would recommend 👍

Hello all, hope you're all doing well. A while ago I saw a YouTube video of someone playing an amazing arrangement of Maiden Voyage from Sea of Thieves. I noticed that there was no sheet music available for the dude's arrangement, and seeing from the video's comments that no sheet music was being made, I decided to do the arduous task of playing the video at 0.25x speed, watching the fingers, listening to the sound being made, and eventually writing down the guys arrangement. This has been an on-off project for about 2 months; it was a slow and monotonous job, taking several hours to only get 5-6 bars, but I'm happy I did it. MuseScore link: https://musescore.com/user/37659330/scores/7162161 The song seems to jump keys all over the place. I did my best near the end of the song to try adjust the sheet music to match the changing keys (and time signature right at the end), however the entire first page is just left in the key of Bb Major / G Minor. If anyone more experienced could point me to what bars the keys change at, and what keys the song changes to, I shall endeavour to update the sheet. Also, let me know if there is any wrong notes or bellows directions in the music, and I shall also fix those. I take no credit for this arrangement; all the credit goes to Concertina Joel. I have attached his original video below. I know the concertina community is a small one, so maybe he's on the forums here somewhere too (I member searched for joey, but could not find him. Maybe he's under a different name here?). Also, big shout out to Gary Coover for his tablature system, which has been a great help to me learning this instrument. Recently picked up his Christmas book for the festive period. Maiden_Voyage.pdf

I have also transposed the song to Am. Much to my chagrin (because I enjoy playing in the original key where possible) it still sounds fine, and is a little easier to play. There was still an issue with harmony on the first note of bar 20. Buttons 7 and 1a pushing on the left hand would have been better, but because of uncomfortableness and running out of air (probably due to my cheap concertina), I opted for 1 and 3 pulling instead. Feel free to try 7 and 1a instead. Hope y'all had a good weekend! Roll_Northumbria_Roll_(Am).pdf

Hey guys, I'd like to share with you my arrangement of Roll Northumbria Roll by The Dreadnoughts: https://musescore.com/user/37659330/scores/7115064. I'm using Gary Coover's tablature system again (Big shout out to G-Dawg!) I used this resource to determine the chords (https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/the-dreadnoughts/roll-northumbria-chords-3285992), and from that figure out the tune. I had most trouble with the F#s, but I wanted to keep it in the original key. The second-last bar in F# was the hardest, as the melody required a C# and E (pushing), while the chords required F# and A# (pulling). I managed to get some harmony that worked, but it is not the original F# sadly. Link to the original song: Roll_Northumbria_Roll-The_Dreadnoughts.pdf

Hey Joachim, Is this the video you're looking for?: Had a quick search on Youtube, seems to match the criteria; concertina and harmonica, performed at the Willie Clancy Summer School (a quick google search informed me they teach Irish music). Martin

Morning Don and David, You're absolutely right, I did not take this into account with my post. I am sorry, David. And I'm sorry if I came across as disrespectful or rude. I did not mean to be. Looking back, even a day later, I kinda wish I didn't send it tbh. I was just in a place where I was re-reading the messages (to find the links you guys sent), and it felt like I was being told off for something I didn't do. Having little sleep - it is unseasonably hot here in Scotland - doesn't help either XD I have nothing but respect for all you guys, especially with all the helpful links you were sending me. I am new to these forums (thanks for having me) and the instrument, and although I don't often post, I do often lurk around reading lots of the forum posts. Oh lordy, I'm trying! I'm already at the stage where I think a better instrument would seriously help some of the fast in-out movements of the bellows required for a lot of songs. I hope to chat to you all in another thread sometime soon Martin

Hey Don and lachenal74693, Sorry the reply in getting back to you. These are some weighty reads, and will take me a while to fully get though. I appreciate your help with all this. Music theory has certainly piqued my interest in the last year; I think it was having the circle of fifths explained to me that really got me interested, as it explained why my accordion's bass buttons were in the order they were. I suppose my thoughts here are to clear up the main point of contention. As far as I understand it it's with the use of D instead of Am. As I've stated above, I agree with the music theory others have expressed; if this was a new song we were composing, or we were looking at the sheet music objectively, then music theory would suggest that Am would be the most appropriate chord here. Again, I agree. However my point is that the original tune does not use an Am, but instead uses a D (as far as I can tell through listening to it) (again, here is a link to a version I made with the chords on the bass clef to help hear how it sounds, to help when comparing to the original tune). Unless I have misread others posts, I feel my point is maybe being missed. I am trying to get my rendition as close to the original as possible. I am not disagreeing with Am because I disagree with the music theory side of things. I am disagreeing with Am because it is not the chord used in the original tune, as I hear it. I could very well be wrong, my musical ear is pretty amateur. But I haven't heard anyone engage with that point and say they hear an Am in the original song; only that if they were looking at the sheet music objectively that they'd use a Am, not a D. Maybe I have missed this in the posts, and people are engaging with that point, and if so I'm sorry. I hope this clears up my confusion here, and hope you're all enjoying the same sunny weather we've got in Scotland today, Martin TLDR: I feel others are taking an objective look at just the sheet music, and not focusing on the sound of the original tune.

Hello Acqua, I haven't played Sea of Thieves in ages, but glad to see they're adding new songs to the shanty list. I gave the song a try, I believe it is in the key of F, and I used 2 resources to help me (here for chords, and here for notes, although I had to transpose them to F instead of G). I tried my best, I'm missing some of the flourishes with the bass notes, but I feel it's a good starting point. An aside, all the C7s are played as normal C majors. I could not easily find a way to get a Bb and C comfortably, and it all sounds fine as C too. I hope this is the sort of thing you're looking for, and have a good day, Martin Yo_Ho.pdf

I know the recording of me playing the song wasn't the best, so to help hear what the song sounds like with the D chord, I have transposed my tablature to a bass clef, and uploaded to MuseScore here: https://musescore.com/user/37659330/scores/6861479 Give the play button in the top left of that page a press, and see how you feel. Again, if you feel Am fits better, by all means switch it out. It's all personal preference at the end of the day, as it's my unofficial arrangement. Have a good day, Martin

Hello Mike, thanks for your reply, Sorry if I was confusing, but yes, this was what I was referring to; each note having 3 chords within the Key (I guessed the key was Em) that could accompany it. In my chord testing, for the most part I wasn't straying to Cm, Fm, Bb, or any other chords not part of Em. The only bit's where I had to stray was with the A and B; it took a while to figure out those chords as they're not within Em. But maybe that's what you were getting at with it being Aeolian (I don't know what that means yet, but maybe it would explain this?). I have played the tune, swapping out D for Am, and it does sound tonally correct, but I personally don't feel it matches the same sound as the original tune (linked above). That's not to say I don't agree with you; although my music theory is limited, everything I have learnt tells me that Am should be the chord to use here, and it was the first one I tried when testing accompanying chords. I tried Am, D, and F, as all contain an A, but I personally felt D better matched the original tune as I heard it. I hope this clears things up. I don't disagree that, just looking at the sheet music, Am should be the chord used here. However, as I hear it, D matches the sound of the original tune. By all means feel free to switch it out with Am if you plan to play the tune, as long as you have fun playing I don't mind Martin

Hey David, thanks for your reply. My music theory is rather limited, mainly learned through the Music Matters YouTube channel. My method of arranging this tune was to get the melody by ear (attempting to stay within C or G if possible), determine the key (in this case Em), start with an Em chord (as the first note is Em), and try to figure out the rest of the chords by ear from there. My understanding is there are usually 3 chords you can use from a key for any given note, and D sounded the most like the original tune. I gave Am a quick try, but it didn't quite sound right. That could also be because the rest of the chords are based around the D chord, and maybe the rest of the chords need changed too? I've attached a recording of me playing the piece, so you can see how it sounds. Apologies for the quality; I'm still fairly new to playing the concertina, I have a cheaper instrument, and I'm recording with a potato phone mic. Here's a YouTube link to the original song as well: Martin rowing_with_one_hand.mp3

Hello again, I've been on a roll these past few days, and I'd like to share another Ye Banished Privateers song I have managed to arrange for the concertina; Rowing With One Hand. I had pretty much zero issues with this song; all the bellows directions matched the chords perfectly, I found I wasn't overextending the bellows or running out of air, and even the awkward B chords fit perfectly with everything else. The song itself is an entertaining one; see if you can figure out what the song is about from this verse: Rowing in a rowing boat A trail behind me left afloat I'll raise the level of the sea Enjoying my own company I have attached a PDF, and you can view it via MuseScore here. Thanks for reading if you got this far, and have a good day! Rowing_With_One_Hand.pdf

Hello all, hope you're all having a good weekend! I bring you all an arrangement of Capstan Shanty by Ye Banished Privateers, a modern day sea shanty. I have used Gary Coover's tablature system for the arrangement, so anyone familiar with his tablature should have an easy time reading it. Here is a link to the MuseScore page, and a pdf attachment is available to download. The only section I had trouble with is the Am on the pull, on bar 7 of the piece. I feel like a pull is needed here, to ensure you don't run out of air, but Am does not naturally work with on the pull. Any thoughts on how this could be improved are most welcome. Here is a link to the original song. It takes about a minute to properly get into the tune. Martin Capstan_Shanty.pdf

Cheers for the headsup, Bill. The next time I have to open it up for whatever reason, I shall consider doing the replacement.

Ok, took it apart again this morning. It was a friction fit, however the seal had been partially glued between both the outer shell and the action, so a scalpel was needed to cleanly separate the two. Turns out there were 2 issues I could see. Firstly, the button shaft wasn't sitting snuggly in it's little canal; it was able to wiggle back and forth, more so than the other buttons. A few pinches with a long pair of pliers was able to reduce that. Secondly, I think the scraping was coming from some gunk buildup underneath where the button connected to the shaft. It's probably a buildup of metal shavings, due to the button wiggling on the shaft. I took the button off and removed the gunk. Putting the whole thing back together was a bit of a pain, due to the left-hand side being in 2 parts that no longer stuck together. There are times I regret getting such a cheap concertina - especially due to the bellows - however this is one of those times where I'm glad, as fixing this has been a learning experience. I don't think I'd be too happy taking apart a £1000+ concertina, however I don't feel too bad if I were to break something in this particular concertina. I've attached pictures of the problem areas.

Cheers for the reply, Bill. I did give it a little pull, incase it would come apart, but being inexperienced I didn't wanna break anything. I'll maybe try give it a firmer pull. I think I remember the fabric seal was sortof glued on, so removing it to have a look might require more glue to reattach. But hopefully I can just expose a little bit of its to have a look. I expect if it's screwed near the edges that there'll be more than one screw, so I won't need to pull apart the whole edge if I don't find a screw after a certain amount. I wanna make sure I've got a firm plan before I start taking it apart again. There are no metal inserts in the wood where the external screws go (just straight into the wood), so I wanna take it apart as little as possible so I don't destroy the screw holes.

Hello everybody, I am wondering if anyone can help me get access to the action of the left-hand side of my Concertina. I am a new concertina player, and own a cheap Scarlatti to learn on. I have recently found my left-hand G/A button (button 5 by Gary Clover's tablature) is starting to click/slight-grindy-crunchy-noise, and sometimes becomes hard to press in. Something is not quite right with it, but I am unsure what; the mechanism might just require some lubrication, or something bent back into place. I am hoping the issue will become apparent after I can see the mechanism working up close, and comparing it to the other buttons. I was following the Repair Techniques section on concertina.info, but got stuck after I removed the endplate when I could not find any method of getting into the action. There is no screw on the inside that I can see that will give me access to the action. I have attached a photo of what I saw when I took the endplate off. I have since put the concertina back together. Does anyone have experience with this brand of instrument that will know how to gain access to the action? Martin

Hey Gary, Thanks a lot for this, I shall give it a try and see how I fair! Martin

Link seems to be working now. This is an incredible resource, thanks for sharing!

Hey Gary, Nice to chat to you, and thanks for helping me out. I am not from Arkansas (I googled Arkansas and razorback to find out you were meaning sports teams), it's just a username I chose as a kid, whose reason/origin for picking is now shrouded in mystery. Any hints on what kind of music book you'll be producing next? Martin

Hey David, Thanks for this. The original song does actually jump to the key of Em halfway through, and changing to this would allow me to play on the first 2 rows. All the F#'s are all still on the pull, however, so we'll have to see if that'll be an issue. The chord progression will be: Em, Bm, Am, B | Em, Am, G, Am, Em, Am, B/Bm, Em Em: Push only Bm: Pull only Am: Push, and pull in a higher octave (sounds wrong) B: Pull only G: Push or pull Bm: Pull only Had a quick look of chords on the left hand, and as far as I can see this is the push/pull possibilities. I am a newbie, so please let me know if I'm wrong. It looks like the second half of the song will be mainly push, until we hit the G, and which point we can take a deep breath with the bellows until we hit B and Bm. With the songs I have currently been learning I am not very familiar with getting my fingers into position to perform a lot of the chords needed for E minor, so it might take me a wee while before I get the dexterity/muscle memory required to perform this to a good enough degree.

Hello everyone, I am new to these forums. I'm from Scotland, I have been playing accordion on/off since 2008, and recently picked up a concertina from Red Cow Music. I've started with a cheap 30 button anglo c/g Scarlatti concertina, as I am just starting out and didn't want to buy anything extravagant to begin with (until I know if it's something I want to continue with). I have been playing through Gary Coover's Easy Anglo 1-2-3 and Pirate Songs books, and enjoying them so far! I am finding the bellows control to be much more important than with the accordion, and that little air intake button requires some finesse to learn the perfect time to use it. My thanks for letting you join your forum comes in the form of a song composition; Waves Roll High by Ye Banished Privateers: https://musescore.com/user/37659330/scores/6731482. I have arranged this using Gary Coover's tablature system, however I had a lot of issues during the second part; there is a lot of pull on the bellows, and not much push. So every chance you get to push you really have to give that air intake button a good press too (at least on my Scarlatti you do ). If anyone has any ideas on how to improve this section, please let me know. My issue is all the F's and Bb's for the chords are all on the pull. Hope you're all well, and if there is any issues with me using Gary's tablature system like this, please let me know and I shall remove it. WavesRollHigh.pdf