Alan Day

Horrendous. Al

More tracks on Anglo International.

I think you probably know that Will Duke is a great source of tunes by William Kimber. Will is a great Anglo player and his style is based upon the William Kimber style of playing. Will has made a number of recordings of tunes played by him . I have played alongside Will and I noted one evening that he was playing almost double the number of notes I was playing. Al

Some years ago Julliette Daum printed most of my Victorian Concertina Book for The ICA to send out to it's members. Some pages were missing which I later supplied.. Apart from some excellent old music composed for concertina, there are pages of scales suggested for practice. I must stress that unless you can read music and play to a reasonable level then what you find in the book may drive you to play another instrument, I have donated the original book to the ICA and it is now in their possession. It was handed to me at a Morris Meeting outside a pub from a person I had never met before and he asked me if I would like it. No charge. I think it is only right that I pass this on also free of charge to the Concertina World . Al

Please remember that brass instruments at that time were also in old concert pitch and many a person has been caught out buying antique brass instruments (and concertinas) that were out of tune to the modern ones. Al

This tune, Stream to River Flows and many others can be found with my arrangements in the new book by Gary Coover. Each tune has a link to my videos so you can play along. Al

I think it's almost certainly concertina bands that played Brass Band scores. Or concertina players playing with brass Instruments that are in Bp . I have one and played alongside a trombone player for a number of years. Al

A new Waltz composed for Gary Coover to go in the book.

Just to recap Gary's hard work. The book provides the basic tune dots, Against each dot is a number showing the button I am pushing or pulling. Other numbers are provided giving the accompaniment I am playing. A page is dedicated explaining the push pull notes and numbering system Gary uses Just in case your Anglo system is a different layout to mine. A link is provided to me actually playing the tune, so you can play along with it. Thanks again to Gary and for your interest. Al

Perhaps I should have said "It seems like only yesterday".

I do not know of any musical background, but she is a World authority on knitting machines and knitting patterns for them, so she has a mind well suited for the Duet.

It was not that long ago that she was knocking on my door asking me what she had just purchased.. She has developed into an incredible player and this set of tunes shows her technical ability is reaching new heights. Al

One recent question came upon Face Book regarding a CG instrument that Gary usually writes his books for and a GD . The fingering on a CG and GD is usually identical so do not be put off using Gary's system You have the dots ,the fingering pattern, the accompaniment and the Video of the music . Al

You can reduce the amount of strain by playing very quietly. Al

I would say that if you turned up with a new tune every Month good enough for a session ,you are doing remarkably well. Lots of tunes have similar patterns and after much practice picking up tunes may be slightly easier for you. You may be some time. Al

Very nice playing Jim and not the easiest of tunes.

Wow 16000 Views on the Duet Page. FANTASTIC.

My error here I forgot to tell Gary about the ICA link to my tutor. All sorted now. Many thanks to Gary, Don for the link to my Tutor, David and of course ICA. A great honour to have all my tunes in book form ,with a lovely racing green front cover . Gary has done a wonderful professional job as usual. Al

Following some more excellent work by Wes we are pleased to announce the addition of Jean Megly recordings to the collection. I have always admired Jean's playing and fun personality. There are some more recordings to come ,but this represents a small part of his contribution to the concertina World ,sadly now lost due to his recent departure, RIP Al

Great bit of playing. About time you made a CD Al

I would look forward to that Ryo. Great Show Riverdance I saw it live at Hammersmith (London) and as usual it got a standing ovation. Al

Well played Ryo, have you any solo performances without the piano ? As brilliantly as she is playing the balance of sound from the piano is dominating your concertina. Al

If of course the button is too high the the button pillar comes out of the pilot hole and the button jams up, or wears the sides of the hole away and eventually may need bushing. Button height adjustment can usually done by increasing, or decreasing the pad height. Bending the levers sounds a bit drastic to me unless they are clearly wrong. Sliding across the base notes on a run are easier if the buttons are lower. Al

On this interesting discussion the difference between Anglo and English has been discussed. If you are playing a complicated piece of music on an Anglo - Three factors have to be taken into consideration. A)Running out of air B)Is the chord, or note you require on the push, or the pull. C)For very fast or complicated fingering do you require to use the accidentals or cross row playing. The Anglo can be played like a Duet if you have accidentals (Normally three rows). A full scale on the push and or, on the pull is possible with practice. In the same way an English System can be played to sound like an Anglo, but repeating what has already been said ,it takes practice. Each day you realise just how much time it takes to improve and master these instruments and never achieve it ,but it's a fun journey.

Wes Williams has informed me that he has successfully adjusted the sound on the recordings by Kurt Braun and these have now been added to the Crane Duet Section of this Duet Collection. We have located some recordings of the playing of Jean Megly, since hearing about his sad loss to the Concertina World. Wes has a considerable amount of work to do on these old recordings mainly on cassette and these will be posted up on completion. Other players have promised recordings in the future, so we look forward to receiving them . Thank you for your support and thanks again to Wes and Daniel for their hard work. Al