PeterT

I'll be spectating, again, this year. Just one thought, I hope you have Samantha lined up to keep the scores.

This should enable you to stand on one leg!

When discussing the specification, with Colin Dipper, back in 1989, he said that many people were favouring the contoured hand-rests, and found them comfortable. I went along with this idea, but this is the only aspect of my Dipper with which I am not 100% happy. I prefer slacker straps, and the facility to move the hand, on the hand-rest, to get the "correct" tension on the strap. However, it is a personal thing.

Let us know if he plans to go full-time. If this thread follows the pattern of others, I would expect a rash of knitting jokes.

Hi Michael, The way I look at it, traditional music differs from (say) classical music, in that it is functional. If someone listened to a classical concert, they would expect to hear technical excellence, with virtuoso performances by the soloists. With traditional music, song, and dance, these elements were based in the community. A traditional fiddler, playing for the Morris, might be playing to a technically poor standard, and producing a sound which you would not sit and listen to through choice. However, when coupled to the Morris dance, it would make that music visible; the whole performance being something rooted in that community. A similar comment might be made of the Church Quire, which ended around the time when Thomas Hardy was a young man. Again, the music was functional, and based in the community. My opinion is that anything which raises the standard of traditional music is a good thing. I discovered traditional singing competitions in 1985, and concertina competitions in 1986 (having joined the ICA just after the 1985 Festival). As a participant, I'm guessing that the singing competitions were easier to organise. Any established folk festival, with a traditional bias, could run one as long as they could raise the necessary prize money, and find a suitably qualified and respected adjudicator. Amongst others, I had the pleasure of being adjudicated by Bob Copper, Shirley Collins, Packie (Manus) Byrne. They all gave praise where it was due, and highlighted points where performances could be improved upon. When it came to the concertina (Anglo), I had been "playing" in splendid isolation for 18 months, before being recruited by a local Morris team who were desparate for a musician (yes; I was that late 20th century version of the fiddle player). I turned out to be a fast learner of "basic" Morris tunes; all learnt by ear, so not necessarily as they appear in the Bacon "Bible". By 1985, I was playing for 4 different dance teams. In 1981, I could barely play a couple of notes! I must have been doing something right, since the West Country Concertina Players, having heard me play at their 1985 Sidmouth workshops, asked me to teach at their 1986 Halsway Manor weekend (after the late Nigel Chippindale was diagnosed with cancer) and to run an Anglo workshop at the 1986 Sidmouth festival. It was suggested, by Jenny Cox, that I might like to enter the Taunton & Somerset Music Festival of November 1986, in the "Advanced Folk" category. Nothing like starting at the top! This was an incentive for me to work on a set of three tunes, and bring them up to competition standard. The Taunton & Somerset Music Festival was an established event, and Jenny Cox had worked hard in setting up concertina classes as part of the festival. Adjudicator was Dave Townsend, and the scale of marks awarded would have been in line with normal competition practice. Come the day, the venue, a school hall, turned out to be ideal, and about 70 people piled in to hear the various concertina classes. The "Advanced Folk" was a keenly fought contest, with at least three semi-pro performers taking part. I was "first into bat", which could be a good, or bad, thing. I recall hitting just one "bum" note, which was a harmony to what I should have played! The top four in the class were as follows: Iris Bishop (92) Robin Madge (91) Peter Trimming (91) Jean Megly (90) I was suitably encouraged by this result, which helped me to look at my repertoire as being subdivided into three: Function folk tunes (never to be considered for competition). Folk tunes which had the scope to be worked up as competition pieces. Party pieces (suitable for some competition categories). So; there we go. A much more rambling response than I had intended; a very personal perspective on competitions, as I experienced them during the period 1985-91. Regards, Peter.

Michael, I guess that Peter is still around, just no longer a member on this forum. Regards, Peter.

I've just checked the results! 1991 was the last competitive ICA Festival, as far as I am aware. Turned out to be quite a good one, for me. I played Staffordshire Hornpipe in the "Playing by Ear" class, which I won. In the "Advanced Anglo", I just edged out Harry Scurfield by one mark. In the "Folk Dance Playing", I finished equal second (with Iris Bishop), one mark behind Harry Scurfield. Harry also picked up "Best Solo Performance" with this result. Well done, Peter. And what were your marks, if I might be so bold as to ask? Or are you too shy or embarassed to reveal them? I hope they were in the nineties. Chris Hi Chris, 87, 85, 88 respectively. So; not the heady heights of the 90's, on this occasion. Regards, Peter.

I've just checked the results! 1991 was the last competitive ICA Festival, as far as I am aware. Turned out to be quite a good one, for me. I played Staffordshire Hornpipe in the "Playing by Ear" class, which I won. In the "Advanced Anglo", I just edged out Harry Scurfield by one mark. In the "Folk Dance Playing", I finished equal second (with Iris Bishop), one mark behind Harry Scurfield. Harry also picked up "Best Solo Performance" with this result.

Or ..... Draw A, right hand G row (second finger), draw Bb accidental row (third finger). This is for the Wheatstone/Lachenal layout, which I seem to recall is the one which Bob uses. Leaves the left hand free for nice chords.

I see that the girl has left her accordion on the floor. If she was wearing it, you would only see a couple of eyes peering over the top!

John certainly recorded it. Off-hand, can't think which album (but I can hear it now, with John on melodeon - maybe "Three in a row"). I remember this newly-learnt tune being in my head at the ICA festival of 1991, and deciding, whilst practising (downstairs) before the competition, to use it in a tune set in one of the classes where I was competing. So, my first performance of it was in the competition!

That was a hanging offence; see Note (4) of the text on this link: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1645781

Got bored, after waiting five minutes for the link.

Weird! Personally, I don't think that it will catch on, but you never know. Just needs some clever marketing. This one could be aimed at the concertina market.... http://cgi.ebay.co.u...=item2eaa8d6513 Fine; as long as you don't mind sitting on the floor!

You should be playing the melody on the right side. If you play music, as written, much of the melody will drop onto the left hand. This will cause the effect of single line melody, without much scope for chords etc. If you transpose the music up an octave (in practice, it's easier to read the music "as is", but work out the fingering as if it was written an octave higher) this will move most melodies onto the right hand, freeing up the left hand for chords. The only "down" side to this is that, on occasions, the music will be up the squeaky end on the right hand. If this is a problem, drop that section of the music back to the octave in which it is written. This might sound to be an odd practice, but seems to have been a traditional solution to this type of problem. right Peter, Right... and squeaky :( Is it unwise to tackle the challenge by hitting 2 buttons (and sometimes 3)simultaneously on the left with one finger to get to get chord effects and a "richer" sound (so avoiding the squeaky and sometimes unpleasant upper right octaves?) If you are trying to play both melody, and chords, on the same side, I would say "yes; unwise". You need to be able to make the melody stand out; sometimes achieved by playing the chords for a lesser duration than the written notation. Melody, on the right hand, can sound squeaky, when played as single-line. However, when chords (one/two/three note, as appropriate) are added, the squeaky sound is not so obvious. If you are just using chords, rather than melody+chords, for song accompaniment, I don't see why one finger should not be used to hold down more than one button.

I can't get that to work, either!

You should be playing the melody on the right side. If you play music, as written, much of the melody will drop onto the left hand. This will cause the effect of single line melody, without much scope for chords etc. If you transpose the music up an octave (in practice, it's easier to read the music "as is", but work out the fingering as if it was written an octave higher) this will move most melodies onto the right hand, freeing up the left hand for chords. The only "down" side to this is that, on occasions, the music will be up the squeaky end on the right hand. If this is a problem, drop that section of the music back to the octave in which it is written. This might sound to be an odd practice, but seems to have been a traditional solution to this type of problem.

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...em=250562976151 I wonder who that was made for? Presumably Chris would have looked it up in the ledger and said if he'd found any famous owner? (I didn't see it; neither money nor justification for this one though) No mention of anyone special ... only that it was a very unusual/rare beast. The more recent Wheatstone Ledgers rarely make reference to the original owner. What we do know (almost certainly) is that the new owner will be a collector (nothing wrong with that, if the person is prepared to pay a high price for a rare item), since I would have thought that a Maccann player would find a 24 key instrument ..... a little restricting.

(1) Point mouse onto avatar image Right mouse click Click on "View Image" (2) Point mouse onto avatar image Right mouse click Click on "Save Image As" (3) Open image/zoom This is how I do it, but the results can look fuzzy.

Just goes to show that there's no substitute for quality. If I had heard the recording, without your notes, I would have guessed the musician to be aged 45+, and having played for at least 20 years. It's good that these recordings exist. You can never assume that a young musician will fulfill his/her potential. Life is full of potential pitfalls and distractions. I guess that we have to be glad when a musician does have a full "career", and be greatful for some recordings when this does not happen.

Weird! Personally, I don't think that it will catch on, but you never know. Just needs some clever marketing.

I look forward to seeing the video. Well if you've got the music balanced on your lap where else are you supposed to put your concertina when your arms get tired? I understand that there's a new invention, called a "music stand", or some such title. It's probably not much good for the concertina, but sounds ideal for resting your music.

I look forward to seeing the video.

I can understand the comment regarding partial hearing loss, and agree that it might be feasible. However, from my perspective, I can't agree about total hearing loss. Maybe it's because I'm coming from the angle of someone who has played, by ear, for many years. I don't know in which direction the bellows are travelling; my ears tell me whether, or not, I am playing the notes which my brain is telling me to play. If I suffered total hearing loss, I wouldn't have a clue in which direction the bellows should be travelling.

Interesting thread!! I would have thought that English, or Duet systems, would be more logical, as bellows direction would not matter. That way, the player would "know" that if he/she was fingering the correct button, then the right note would result.