catty

As a fiddler, and other stringed instrument player, I am a devotee of using all of my fingers. I tried for years to adjust to having my "pinkies" immobilized in those stirrups, and quit playing english numerous times because of my dislike for them. I finally removed those "pinky stirrups" once and for all after reading this thread.

Very nice, Dick. I finally took out a page the other day (albeit, NCC): http://www.myspace.com/birdtranescoenow

Indeed; a child's sense of wonder is often greater than an adult's sense of rationality...both are often inhibited by image-consciousness, naivete and ignorance (the adult, likely, more).

It takes two to bicker. But, concerning advice to newbies: past discussions have revealed that you and I are as far apart on this as possible. However, I think that your recommendation of a 48-button for a "versatile" english is a good one.

lol...2manyhobbies has his first post derailed by bickering with Misha I don't think coaching newbies is Misha's forte...I recall my first evocation to post on this forum--when Misha trashes newbie's instrument.. But.. I admire and respect the pursuit of innovation and cross genre playing--some of it may be effective. But I stubbornly side with Mish on this: you're just not going to execute convincing bluegrass or any variety of other styles on the little bendy box. For example, I contend on melodeon.net that diatonic button boxes are not going to be effective in, say, be-bop, etc.. And as a cajun fiddler and DBA player, I'm not going to try to play cajun on concertina. I may be uninformed, but my offhand response is, why?

I assumed that it wss a Scholer or its equivalent. The Scholers I've played were all vastly inferior to the $100 Hohner. So, Daniel...how much would YOU pay for it?

My guess is 50 bucks. 50 bucks? I wouldn't even give 50 p for it. The only use they have is for firewood. Personally, I wouldn't give anything for it...as no doubt many here wouldn't either. But the question was "how much is it worth?" Ultimately, I think it may likely sell for $40-$50, if the seller understands and accepts that.

My guess is 50 bucks.

Eeek.

NFI http://cgi.ebay.com/Concertina_W0QQitemZ26...id=p3286.c0.m14

It's as easy as concertina...but without buttons and bellows.

But Mom doesn't live that nearby, anymore. Consider moving back in with mom, perhaps (or, work on improving your concetina playing..)

Not necessarily; as was mentioned by some, facility one one instrument tends to facilitate another.

My experience precisely - I've still not worked out why I can sometimes play something better on the concertina once I've perfected it on the flute. It's not even a matter of working the actual shape or individual notes or phrasing of the tune out, because I've got pretty reasonable sight-reading and ear-learning skills - but getting the actual fingers working on the tune on the flute or whistle seems to solve some of the issues around playing it on the completely different muscular and spatial movements involved in playing it on EC ... This is an interesting phenomenon that I've long been fascinated with. I attribute it to the complex wiring of the brain, but exactly how this works I can't explain. I'm proficient on a half-dozen instruments and dabble on a half-dozen others. I find that I become, not quite bored, but rather stale when I spend several weeks without diversifying my playing. Then when I pick up the next instrument, my playing in all respects is usually better upon that instrument than when I last left off. I think there are several factors involved, among them is a simple excitment of the senses to experience something fresh: not only the tactile stimulation, but hearing something new or different usually inspires and stimulates an acutely sensitive approach to execution. I'll take exception to the above statement that there is nothing to be gained by practicing or playing when you are not in the the right frame of mind and not thoroughly enjoying it. While enjoyment is certainly a part of it, one may improve their playing by persevering through uninspired periods. That's a big piece of performing; I often don't feel like performing, but must cultivate inspiration in order to meet the scheduling demands. Practicing perseverance can help to develop one's mental discipline to find inspiration in "dry" periods and increase facility of execution during such. If nothing else, it helps to learn the art of "faking it" which, in my experience, is roughly 50% of the performance milieu. Finally, earlier in my life I quit playing guitar for many years when I first heard Tony Rice -- whose playing immediately convinced me that my efforts were valueless. I was lucky to have since found many various performance opportunities, and through performance -- or, facilitating enjoyment of others through music -- I easily find inspiration for even the most meager of musical expressions. I would encourage anyone, who may feel encumbered by a lack of confidence in their musical abilities, to seek to share their music with others. Often, there is someone who will enjoy it -- no matter how "bad" you are.. You'd be suprised by how folks are entertained by some simple Stephen Foster on the anglo.

"So with all her millions she couldn't afford a better concertina? Or was it her rich friend?" I heard her say that she received it as a gift for her birthday. I must have missed it when she mentioned that the person who gave the gift is rich.

Those comprise a good bit of my anglo playing (as well as banjo, fiddle, uke, harmonica, DBA, and whatever else...), but I thought those would fall under RB's "big categories" of trad American..

I used to play one of Satie's Gnosiennes on english, but then I started playing it on PA. Never thought of trying it on anglo..

That's a lot of onions at 3:49 BTW, I stayed up to watch the reformed Spinal Tap who were on the following show.

While the tele was putting me to bed last night, I noticed Meryl Streep holding an anglo on a late night talk show. I quickly turned the vloume on to see what was up. She said she'd just acquired it within the week so there was no playing, but she did press a couple of buttons to demonstrate its sound. Nice to see someone having an interest enough to take it on national television, even without being able to play.

I like "Loose Tools." (but then, my band is "Leftover Lutefisk" ) http://libbynordicfest.org/Entertainment.htm

That's a convenient excuse; there are gators EVERYwhere in Flawda.

For that you should learn to play the Jedcertina. If that was a response to my quip, just Search for "Jedcertina" in these Forums. You'll probably soon know more than you wished. Ah...thank you for the exegesis. (another great band name ) I've had no such problems as seems ubquitous among the board here in devising names for groups that I've played in. The process usually begins with, "okay, the gig is next week...we need a name." Then, it's a process of free association. It helps if the players are a little weird . If needing assistance, caffeine, sugar, alcohol, psychotropic drugs, and a general disdain for humanity all seem to help. I've had MUCH more difficulty with pet names; my wife doesn't share my affinity for...whatever it is (she is not a musician )

Happy Birthday -- it's a lovely looking instrument: a diatonic button accordian (aka melodeon). I have a single-row nearly identical -- a Hohner in the key of C that sounds and plays very nice. Lark in the Morning sells a video on melodeon repair that may be of use to you depending on its condition. In case you haven't yet explored, it's easily disassembled to reveal its reedblocks and button lever mechanisms.

What the heck?

I started playing with a hardanger fiddle player about six or so months ago. We're still going, and in fact are headlining the Nordicfest in Libby MT in Sept. I dubbed us "Leftover Lutefisk" ... after the infamous cajun slamgrassers, "Leftover Salmon." Apparently, my instincts were good as the name seems popular and gets attention. I've always wanted to name a bluegrass group "Jed Zepplin." Maybe later..