Rex

Thanks Henk! I knew there was a computer wiz out there somewhere. I may not be a good concertina player, but at least I have a cool avatar now. Since this was team effort I feel the image belongs to the group, not just me, so everyone feel free to use it in posts if you wish. The original idea was not mine, but Heather D's (she is not on this board but I wanted to give her credit). She made another animated smilie and told me how to make one. I made the concertina smilie but didn't have the brains to animate it. Henk did. So it was a three person job.

I have attempted to make a concertina playing smilie and am using it as my avatar for now. Feel free to use it, or edit it. I don't know how to animate it but if someone out there does that would be cool too.

I was just imagining you putting head phones on you concertina so you don't bother your coworkers. LOL. Actually from what I have read, the break in on stringed instruments has nothing to do with the strings, otherwise you would need to break it in again each time you changed string. It is the wood soundboard (top) that needs to "learn" to vibrate with the strings. I actually had a German made fiddle that an old fellow had stored for 75 years in a closet. He sold it at an auction. It sounded terrible for a month then over the period of one week the thing just started to sing. I have since sold that same instrument to a local player who is very good (I never was and no longer own any fiddles) and he absolutly loves the tone of it. The first month I had it it sounded like a bag full of cats fighting. So remember, do not leave your instrument next to a bag of cats! A note to animal lovers: I have never placed a cat in a bag!

You only HAVE to have 30 buttons if you have to play in keys other than G and C. If you learn on a 20 button you can easily transition to 30 because the G and C rows will still be the same. The added outside row gives you sharps and flats so you can play in other keys.

My very first (and very cheap) concertina had very stiff bellows when new and wanted to stay closed all the time. This made it very hard to play notes on the draw. Since I found it easier to push than to draw I stored this instrument with the bellows extended until it was broken in a bit. This actually made it easier to play. In my case the "sping action" was working against me on the draw. Later I stored it closed. I think storing it closed leaves less air in the instrument which means also less humidity to play havoc with metal parts, but I am no expert and have no idea if this has any effect on anything. Never the less, I now store my instruments closed. On the breaking in of instruments (again I am not an expert) I do know that leaving a stringed instrument in front of your stereo speakers and playing CDs of the music the instrument is intended for will speed up the break in process on such instruments. Something to do with sympathetic vibrations. I have absolutly no idea if this same process works for free reeds, but I don't see how it can hurt.

Amen to clean hands. I have always washed my own hands before playing any instrument and will not let any child or adult lay grubby hands on any of my instruments. It just drives me nuts when we are playing at some sort of outdoor function with food present and someone has been eating BBQ chicken with their fingers and merely wipes there hands with a napkin and asks to handle one of my instruments. My friends think it strange that I eat "finger food" like potato chips with a utensil if I am going to be playing soon. I cannot play with greasy fingers.

Helen, What a wonderful story. I carry a cheap mandolin along on gigs where I know there will be children present because from past experience they seem to be attracted to the "little guitar". When they come up with their parents afterwards to ask about the mandolin I just hand them my "backup" instrument and their eyes light up. I always have ten extra minutes to show a kid a few notes or a chord. It is good to spark an interest in music in a youngster. Once I had three siblings interested and their Dad had to make sure they shared. I have already started to notice this same fascination displayed by children toward the concertina. I think it is the size, it doesn't intimidate them. This never happened when I used to play guitar. With the concertina, however, the little ones tend to want to push with all their might and must be coached to go easy.

After reading my previous post I wanted to make one thing clear: I do appreciate fine musical instruments. That $49 instrument was little more than a toy and could not be played up to speed on the fast tunes. A couple of the notes, fortunately not often used ones, were rather sour. I have owned and played professional level guitars and mandolins and 3 of the fellows in our band own instruments that cost several thousand dollars each. Good instruments are a good investment and hold their value and provide years of enjoyment. My point was that most newbies will not take a two thousand dollar gamble that they will like an instrument and continue to play it. Starter instruments do have their proper place. Cheap instruments are also great for taking on a camping trip or other adventure where weather may be a problem. And also great for letting a child have a go at it or loaning to a friend. I have found it worthwhile to have a cheap stringed instrument along with my good one, and if I ever find myself with a good concertina I will probably hang on to one econo-box also.

I did buy one of those red Laural anglos off ebay a year ago. Had a lot of fun with it and learned some tunes. Only paid $49 for it. I just last week got a Bastari 30 button anglo from ebay. Only paid $202 for it and I really enjoy it. It is much better than my first concertina, which, by the way, I have loaned to a friend who now wants to learn. The $49 box did have some problems, but believe it or not I actually used it with a band I am in and we play in public. Folks who probably didn't know much about concertinas commented on how nice it sounded! LOL. Concertina is not my main instrument in that band. I am sure this Bastari is a beginner instrument when compared to the nice handmade ones out there, and I am sure there is some total junk on ebay. In my very humble opinion the best concertina is the one in your hands, not the one you can just look at on the internet. I think that just like cheapo guitars introduced a lot of folks to guitar who later moved up to high dollar, high quality instruments, in the same way cheapo concertinas will allow more folks like me to take a chance on the instrument and we will later move on up to quality instruments. After all, it is the best and most fun instrument in the world! (Where have I heard that?)

Right. It's all about the relationship between my hands and the buttons. I just so happens that sitting the instrument on the corner produces this happy confluence for me. If my spine was a few inches shorter or my upper arms a few inches longer I would rest the instrument on the flat.

Here is a diagram: http://www.pied-crow.com/30btn0gc.gif The C#s are just outside of the Cs and in the same direction (push). Easy to remember. This is how my recently aquired Bastari is set up. I am not sure about the bass buttons in this diagram. By the way, I think I play The Blarney Pilgrim in D without needing a C#.

I like it. And I want to add a thank you to Paul also for providing this great resource. I have a dial up modem also and like being able to scroll down through the messages in order.

Thanks for the feedback, Roy. Since this works for me and since at least one expert recommends it I will continue down this path. That picture is a great visual aid. My thumb goes straight forward to the air button, not reaching upward toward it.

I have been struggling with stretching out my little finger to reach certain buttons and also with my index and middle fingers moving freely on the G row. Recently I have been playing much faster and with more accuracy (relative to how I played a month ago, not relative to how a GOOD player might play!). I attributed this to practice finally paying off but then I noticed something else had happened. I never watch the 'tina or my hands when I play and I just noticed that I am now holding it different. I don't know when or how this started but now I find it difficult to play any other way. What I am doing is tilting the concertina away from me so that instead of resting on my lap on the flat "bottom" it is resting on the corners. My wrists and hands are straight out, but now the buttons are at a 45 degree angle with the buttons under my index fingers being farther away and the ones that my little finger would operate are closer to me. My fingers now seem to stay over the rows naturally and with no effort on my part. The straps are going across the backs of my hands at an angle of course, but this seems to cause no problems. Does anyone else play like this or am I an oddball? (Of course these are not mutually exclusive possibilities. ) Are there any disadvantages to playing like this? Should I unlearn this habit right now? My hands are smaller than average, if that makes any difference, but I have no problem playing a full size classical guitar with a wide neck so they are not too small to work a 'tina.

The wife and I had a nice time here a few years ago. There is going to be a great concertina player there also. I heard him play before in St. Louis a couple years ago. http://www.greatriverroad.com/stegen/randa...t/kaskmusic.htm

Just my opinion, but I think the question is why have so many acoustic instruments waned in popularity. I play concertina, but I also play nylon strung guitar and the mandolin, which is another instrument that was threatened with obscurity but has been making a nice comeback in recent years. While listening to the radio today I heard an electronic keyboard that sounded a lot like a concertina. Music today has become a boring formula of electric bass, electric guitar, electric keyboards, and drums (often also electric!). I like many combinations of instruments, but this particular combination has been overdone. I think the electronic keyboard has replaced the concertina, accordian, bowed string instruments, wind instruments, and many other good instruments. I also agree about people not making their own music as much today as in the days before radio and tv and cable and cds. Back then people gathered on the porch and brought different instruments into the mix and entertained themselves and had a good time with neighbors. My dad remembers those days and also remembers an uncle who would sit on the porch and play concertina and it was heard for blocks on a quiet night and people were drawn to that sound. I feel that homegrown acoustic music is making a comeback and I think the concertina will be part of that. I have already seen some being played at old time music festivals, mostly in Irish or Cajun styles. I play in a bluegrass/Gospel band and we have used the concertina a few times. Especially when we play holiday music at Christmas time. I know the concertina is not a bluegrass instrument, but we break a lot of rules. LOL.