fnirt

I have had an experience with Helmi, as well. I took anglo concertina lessons from her in Burnsville at her home. I had her repair my father's concertina and she did a good job on that, as far as I can tell. She did a trade of an older English concertina (in moderate disrepair) for a new Defner (still can't find info on this concertina) that was a double reed concertina. A few keys stick, which is a bummer. I don't know if I got a fair deal, but I don't think it was a horrible trade. As for her abilities, she did play a number of tunes for me in the course of the lessons and played them well, but all accordion type songs. The lessons were a bit less thrilling, in that she literally gave me an accordion lesson book and taught in more of an accordion style. When I mentioned Irish music I got a bit of a brush off, almost like it was beneath her? I did understand that I was going into an accordion world with a concertina, and that was my own fault. But I have yet to find any other published concertina teachers in the Twin Cities, MN. (anyone?) Overall not a bad experience but not a true concertina experience either, and not the greatest at that. And the following disclaimer: I'm a complete noob, I don't practice enough, and wouldn't know quality if it hit me in the face. R

I have the MadForTrad CD and it's great, but one of the first tunes is "An Tseanbhean Bhocht" and I'm having trouble finding the full version. Some of the versions I find on the net (ABC Tune finder, etc.) don't even look the same as the one I have on the CD. This is one of many tunes that I have a short portion of from a learning aid, and the long version or "true" version seems elusive. ("Monk's March" from Handbook for Anglo-Chromatic Concertina by Roger Watson, also) And as long as I'm bugging you all, when I see sheets and sheets of tunes, how in the world do I know which ones are common and popular, and which ones are obscure? Any thoughts?

I'm about to have to start translating to ABC, as well, since it's becoming easier to read than regular sheet music. (I don't have a background in music, so I'm learning to read it right now too.) Also, some of the ABC tunes I'm finding differ from the tunes in some of my books as far as arrangement goes. I play a mix of Sea Shanties (Blow the man down, What do you do with a drunken sailor, etc.) and folk (Go tell Aunt Rhody, Oh Suzanna, etc.) and eventually I'd like to begin the ridiculous practice of playing contemporary pop songs, just for fun. My friends think it's eccentric to play a concertina. When I can play Madonna or Britney Spears or whatever for them they'll think me completely insane, which is what I prefer. Hard to find some of that stuff online, so that's where playing by ear will have to get better..

What's your sheet music collection look like? What do you WANT it to look like? I'm still learning, so I'm not doing a lot of improvising or jamming. I use a lot of sheet music as I'm still learning to commit songs to memory. One thing that's bothering my (too logical) personality is my collection of books, papers, printouts, etc. Do any of you "standardize" your sheet music? I've tried to start using ABC format, but finding certain arrangements (or even the song at all) in ABC can be difficult, even using the tune finder, etc. I'd love to have a stack of printouts, all in the same format, etc. of all of the tunes I'm learning not only for the anal-retentiveness, but so they can all be large enough for me to read, etc. Am I crazy, or what?

I've been playing for "about a year" and have collected the following: 1 Generic Red (Italian) 20 button Anglo - belonged to my late Father, some buttons stick, but in fair repair. Sentimental 1 Generic Red Bestler 20 button Anglo - eBay sweatshop special, understood it would be cheap and cheaper. It's the one I play by the fire, take camping, practice on, etc. It's my beater. But you know, it's not that bad! 1 Ernst Deffner 20 button Anglo - This is my "nice" concertina, but it's a dual reed which sometimes makes me wish it weren't, just aesthetically speaking. Very nice, though. (Anybody have experience with that brand?)