TehRazorBack

Good evening all, On this unseasonably warm Scottish evening, I would like to share my rendition of Anna Foxe by Josephine Marsh. I have also attached the sheet music I wrote, using Gary Coover's Tablature System. It is also available at my MuseScore page here: https://musescore.com/user/37659330/scores/8221139 Hope you enjoy! Martin Anna_Foxe_Final.pdf

Managed to get a recording that sounded ok this morning. Hope you enjoy, and can hear how the arrangement sounds: My cheap squeezebox is starting to fall apart; the bellows are leaking air, one of the reeds (right hand 9 on the pull, by Gary Coover's tablature) isn't sounding at all, and about 2 reeds have a tendency to get stuck on even when not played. All in all, I was happy I managed to get a recording at all that sounded semi-decent XD Can't wait to get a better instrument soon. Martin

I have recently also made a version of God Save the Queen. I have attached it below Gonna try master it for Friday Martin God_Save_the_Queen.pdf

Evening everyone, With the Queen's Platinum Jubilee coming up very shortly, I decided to attempt to transpose God Save The Queen to C/G Anglo Concertina. I've heard a few recordings on here of people's versions of the song, but I think I managed to get my own flair across. The song is already in the key of G, and pretty easy to get arranged. Like always, a few bits could do with better harmony, but it has to be sacrificed for pulling or pushing air out where appropriate. You can find my arrangement attached, or on my MuseScore page: https://musescore.com/user/37659330/scores/8148252 As always, Gary Coover's awesome tablature at work here. Martin God_Save_the_Queen.pdf

Forgot to say, but as always with me, I'm using Gary Coover's tablature system ✌️

Afternoon everyone! Hope you're all having a good day. I'd like to share with you all my arrangement for Tarantella Napoletana. You can find the sheet music attached as a pdf, or at my MuseScore page: https://musescore.com/user/37659330/scores/8141565 Some of the E7's (bars 10, 12, 38 and 40) get a bit hairy and difficult to play, but I couldn't get it sound right any other way than I ended up with. They're challenging, but I'm finding them easier the more I practice myself. Once I am proficient enough with it myself I'll upload a recording here as well, so you can all hear how it sounds. Martin Tarantella_Napoletana.pdf

Thank you for your replies, folks. Been away from here for a few days, so just catching up with messages now. Depending on where Barleycorn is based would depend on how feasible it would be for me to travel down on a weekend. I cannot find anything about location on the website, so I'll fill out a form on the website. Martin

Thanks for both your input @papawemba, I shall look into The Clare 👍

Oh, I fully understand that. I hope I haven't come across as assuming concertinas are quick and easy to make; I fully understand good quality takes time. Each separate element must be made from scratch, and to make such an instrument is a really impressive skill to have that takes years to learn and master. All I was trying to imply is that some manufacturers are in higher demand than others, some waiting times are longer than others, and - what I'm hoping - some might have some concertinas ready-made and ready to purchase. For example, as Alex said, it looks like there Celtic Chords in Stonehaven has an AJP concertina all ready for sale, as does Hobgoblin Music it seems. If Marcus Music doesn't have any of theirs in stock, and there'll be a wait time to purchase one, and it seems they're both good quality instruments, that will affect my decision of which I will purchase. Hope that makes sense EDIT: The AJP concertinas they have for sale might be second-hand, I'm not sure. If they are, then it'd prove your point of buying second hand. I think if I already had a semi decent concertina, I'd be more patient waiting for another. But my current concertina is well below par and has been bugging me for months now, and it's taken a while to save up for a new one, so I cannot wait to get something better in my grubby mitts Thanks for this, David. Might be worth me doing some phone calls in the coming weeks, to find out what the stock or waiting times are. Thanks for your replies, everyone. In only a few hours my ideas of what is available to purchase in the UK has changed drastically

Thanks for the replies, guys. It's looking like Marcus or AJP might be the way to go. Looking at the ACNorman concertina website, a 18-20 month wait is far too long for me. I cannot see anything on the Marcus Music website about wait times, but having bought multiple yourself can you remember how long from purchase-to-delivery the whole thing took? I know I sound impatient, but a month is fine with me. I just don't want to be waiting a year or two; that level kind of quality and care is too much for what I'm looking for in the level of instrument I'm after.

Hey Alex, thanks for the reply. I'm near Edinburgh jusnow, but I have family I visit in Aberdeen, so Stonehaven is definitely on the table. I think I need to start looking more into APJ concertinas. Thanks for the suggestion of the Dabbler, I had not found it in my research, however the wait time of 16 months means it'll be a no for me. I really want something soon, as I'm getting fed up with the feel of the Scarlatti XD Those Marcus Music concertinas also look very nice, I shall have to look more into their sound and playability too. Same with Andrew Norman, I'll look into what there is for sale.

Hello everyone! I've been playing concertina for over a year now (started in April 2021), and have been playing with a cheap Scarlatti 30 button C/G concertina. You gotta start somewhere, and I'm at the point now where I really feel I need an upgrade. I'm looking for an anglo concertina, C/G, wheatstone, that is of high quality and playability - not the best money can buy, but good enough for an intermediate player to improve with for I'd say at least 2 years. I am also looking for a concertina I can get fairly soon. I am not looking for a 2 year order time, I am looking for something I can get in a month or two at the latest. The issue I'm having is with looking at what concertina's are available in the UK, and from where. I have been doing my due diligence in these forums to find out what concertina's folk recommend to advance into, and I have come up with this short list of suggestions: Concertina Connection Clover - Seems to be available through their website. Is an American make, and seems difficult to find available in the UK. Concertina Connection Minstrel - More budget friendly than the Clover, but same issue of trying to obtain one in the UK. Also looks like folk recommend the Clover if they're both in budget. Morse Ceili - Seems I missed this one by a month or two; the Button Box store seems to have closed. Similar to the Clover, seems to be an American make that I cannot find in the UK. McNeela Phoenix - This seems to be the easiest to get delivered (just over in Ireland), and seems to be the most budget friendly of these 3, but also seems to have mainly negative feedback when I've been searching for it in the forums (here, here, and here. I have been having a hard time also finding places to buy Concertina's from. I originally bought my Scarlatti from Red Cow Music, however their inventory seems to mainly be introductory concertina's. They have a page for the Minstrel, but I think it's been "out of stock" for over a year, since I bought my first concertina from them. Otherwise I've found it difficult to find anywhere in the UK. There's: Barleycorn Concertinas, but you're at the mercy of what they have in stock. McNeela Music, but they don't stock much other than their own concertinas. The Box Place, but again, you're at the mercy of what they have. I also unsure about second hand, a lot of the prices seem to be quite high, and there's makes and manufacturers that I haven't heard of an don't know of quality; I'm not looking for a bit of history right now, I might be in the future, but I just need a competent instrument. eBay and Gumtree, although looking on here there's all sorts of warnings of scams, so I wanna avoid if I can. Hobgoblin, seems to be introductory concertina's, or second hand much older instruments. They seem to have an Anthony James concertina on sale; I assume new, maybe it's a retailer for his concertinas, would folk recommend this? (http://www.apjmusic.co.uk/) Basically, I'm in a pickle. Looking for something to move into, finding a bunch of recommended instruments, but not finding anywhere in the UK to purchase them. The only one I can find I am getting some bad signals as to it's quality (the McNeela Phoenix). If anyone in the UK can give any advice to what I should be looking at for my next instrument, and where to buy it from, I would very much appreciate it. If you read this far, thank you very much for taking the time to try and help, even if you can't Martin TL;DR Are there any intermediate concertina makes that are available in the UK?

Hello everyone, I am looking at arranging a song from my childhood; the old Blue Peter theme song (also known as Barnacle Bill, it seems). As well as being a maritime signal flag, Blue Peter is a children's TV show in the UK that has been running since 1958. It has a tune that shares some similarities with the Sailor's Hornpipe. Here is a link I am using to help me arrange the song: The song starts with an intro of Sailor's Hornpipe, and then waterfalls the notes down until it starts a different, albeit similar tune. I am wondering, before I start trying to arrange this tune, does anyone recognise this tune and does any sheet music exist for this already? I had a quick search of the forums here for "Blue Peter" and "Barnacle Bill", but to no avail. Perhaps it is known under a different name? If not, I shall endeavour to arrange it and share it once I'm done. Martin

Hello again everyone, Been a little while away from the forums. Thought I'd share my arrangement of Little One by Beck Hansen, which is a haunting lullaby sounding song. The song is in the key of E, so was fairly tricky to get working on the ol' concertina; I could not get much harmony with the C# chords. The Ds in bar 3 also sound off with the C#/C chords, but I believe they are correct with the song (as I hear it). Here's a link to the MuseScore page for the sheet music I arranged: https://musescore.com/user/37659330/scores/8001191 And here's a link to a recording of me playing the song: As always, using Gary's tablature system (without permission I might add). Buy his books if for some reason you haven't already. Have a good day, Martin Little_One_Beck_Hansen.pdf

Hey man, that lead sheet is really great. I just managed to get a very slow, clunky rendition of the tune going in no time. Thanks a lot for sharing it. Martin

The original song can be found here: https://youtu.be/Yeh1S_kl8YI Martin

Hello again, Been working on an arrangement for Joli Rouge by The Dreadnoughts. Used this resource as my staring point, but had to change the key and some of the chords to make it fit better on my C/G concertina. A link to the Musescore page for the sheet music can found here: https://musescore.com/user/37659330/scores/7233075 As always big shout out to the G-Meister (Gary Coover) for his tablature system and books. Slowly working though his Christmas tunes book jusnow. This time around I have added a recording of me playing the song - albeit, poorly. Am still learning it, so it's not the best, but I was keen to share with you all. I thought the image was appropriate, as it is the entry level concertina I am currently using XD Have a good day, Martin TheDreadnoughts_JoliRouge_Dm.pdf

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.