gcoover

Wow, that was great fun! The treasure has been found so the contest is now closed. And the answers are: Hector Barbossa, Sao Feng, Jack Sparrow, Elizabeth Swann, William Turner - from "Pirates of the Caribbean" Peter Blood - from the 1935 Errol Flynn movie "Captain Blood" James Hook - Peter Pan Davy Jones - from folklore (and "Pirates of the Caribbean") Peg Leg Pete - from the 1932 Terrytoon cartoon (and Disney) Long John Silver - from Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island One-Eyed Willy - from the 1985 movie "The Goonies" And for the extra credit pirate, I was going to add another clue maybe something about a Pontiac parked at Downton Abbey - since Hugh Bonneville played Captain Henry Avery in the Dr Who episode "The Curse of the Black Spot", featuring Matt Smith, the 11th doctor - but Schult and Mjolnir figured it out first. Thanks to all who played! A hearty yo-ho to all! Now go treat yourself to a nice tot of rum. Gary

Yes, Peter Bellamy was an awesome live performer - none of his recordings do him justice. The power and the energy were something to behold. Also wouldn't be surprised if he went through at least one new bellows every year! Yet, he was always lamenting the fact he never had many gigs in England. Too opinionated? Too right wing? Too manic depressive sometimes? Regardless, sad to have lost him. I don't think anyone has ever posted any of this songs with chords. Assuming you can figure out what the chords are, or try some serious trial and error, here are some chord charts that might help for the 20-button Anglo. You're pretty limited, but you don't always need to play every note of every chord. Open fifths often work much better. Hope this helps! Gary 56-Anglo-123-LHS-20-Chords.pdf

Four winners so far! And it turns out there are 11 (and not 10) obvious "not real" pirates on the list. So you only need to name 10 of them. But there be one more who could conceivably be included in the fictional list, and I'm curious if anyone will be able to spot who it is (for the extra book). And there, I've just gone and given you two more clues... And, the "11" clue still stands. Curses! Arrrr! Gary

So, what's the point of having a pirate book without a bit of a treasure hunt? On the dedication page (attached) are the names of several pirates "real and imagined". At least 10 are in the "imagined" category. (As is the fact that any of them were concertina players!) As a CNET Special Exclusive, the first five folks who can correctly identify the 10 names and where they come from will each get a free copy of Pirate Songs for Concertina. What a deal! And, for the first person who can also correctly identify the more modern source of the 11th name (this one's a bit more tricky, "eleven" is itself an obscure clue), I'll also throw in a copy of one other Anglo book of their choosing. All you need to do is just send me a PM with the correct answers. Happy hunting! Gary PSFC-DedicationPage.pdf

In flagrant disregard for the obvious anachronism... here's a new book, Pirate Songs for Concertina, with nearly 70 songs and tunes. All include standard musical notation, lyrics, and tablature for the Anglo concertina. It's available through Amazon US, UK, DE, ES, IT, FR, CA, etc., and perhaps soon at the Button Box (US) and Red Cow Music (UK). I've had a few requests for a nautically themed book, but with all the recent pirate-themed movies, TV shows and online games it just made sense to go full-on piratical for this one. And who knows, perhaps fans of some of those shows and games will be interested in picking up and learning the real thing? Some songs have harmonies and accompaniments, some are just single note melody, and one song can even be played with only two buttons of the Anglo. Also threw in a couple of hornpipes and jigs. About 80% can be played on a 20-button Anglo, and most have a small graphic showing which buttons are needed for each tune. And the best, and most fun, part of writing this book? The writin' all be in pirate-speak. Aye, 'tis tempting indeed to give up speakin' and writin' proper English fer good! Here's a sample that includes the Table of Contents plus a couple of the songs. Hope you enjoy, Gary Pirate-Songs-SAMPLE.pdf

I've seen this on some really old German concertinas, where the two rows had the identical pattern in C and also in G. I would guess that as the Anglo-German concertina developed in England someone had the bright idea of making that first bottom button (#6) much more useful by not mirroring the C row pattern. I really prefer the B/A, but have also seen old Lachenals with B/D. Gary

Hey Stu, that's pretty darn good for only 3 weeks! Just keep playing as much as you can and keep that driving rhythm front of mind and you'll do much better than me in no time. As a Morris dancer it's always good to think about what a dancer might be doing as you play, and then play to really inspire and enhance their performance. As for the video, any time you're not doing anything visually interesting with your body or face, or singing along, maybe just show the concertina only? It's hard to avoid "concertina face" but thankfully it's easy to crop out! Or maybe do a little spoken intro for some quality "face time"? Looking forward to hearing and seeing your progress over the next several months and years. And yes, it gets much less stressful and a lot more fun as your fingers finally master that mechanical learning curve! Gary

The one 62-button Wheatstone Jeffries Duet I've seen was much larger than a similar 62-button made by Jeffries, so perhaps it's just due to two different makers. Treble, baritone, etc. are usually used to describe the different ranges of EC. Would love to see some photos! Gary

And here's a photo of the May Fair that will make the woodworkers amongst us cringe...

I'm a little puzzled by the chamois reed gaskets on the May Fair. It's obvious they used one standard reed pan for 22-button or 30-button, but I wonder why there are those extra bits of chamois that extend beyond the reeds? If this was indeed a budget model I wouldn't think there'd be anything extra without a purpose. Gary

I recently bought a 22-button Wheatstone May Fair EC and was quite surprised at the similarities between it and a 22-button Scholer I came across several years ago. Although one has wooden ends and the other has beautiful red "mother-of-toilet-seat", the action is virtually identical between the two. The May Fair has reeds screwed in with chamois gaskets while the Scholer uses traditional accordion wax. Not sure why the May Fair has a hole in the reed pan since it's all glued together. It's a little sad to see the finish work on the May Fair - the wood cuts are rather crude and still have burrs that could have easily been removed if they'd spent 2 seconds extra. But the sound is surprisingly good with strong bass reeds. With only 22-buttons, it's basically an accompaniment instrument since you've got nothing above "e" above high "c" and only about 1.5 octaves range. You can play Carolan's Draught and Planxty Irwin, but it's much better for songs like "Pleasant and Delightful" or "Blackwaterside" (think Tony Rose, Louis Killen). Wish I could compare the sound with the Scholer but that one is currently packed away and still in need of restoration. I rather like the way the button levers attach to the buttons, Harold Herrington did a similar thing with his instruments. But what say ye experts out there about the construction similarities? Do you think the two companies were coordinating somehow, copying each other, or buying from the same suppliers? Gary

Here's a video showing the little 4-fold brass-reeded concertina used in the Sea of Thieves music and the reasons why they selected it.

Hey there Black Tusk, here are some dots and button numbers. The numbering system is 1-10 on both sides, with buttons on the right shown above the music and buttons on the left shown below. A line over the number indicates "pull". The music shown is for the key of C, but you can play the exact same pattern on the bottom row and then you'll be in the key of G. For accompaniment and harmonies just try various notes on the left side in the same row, for example, the button immediately adjacent to the left of the one you're playing. Other variations will hopefully suggest themselves as you experiment. Luckily, with the 20-button there are not many wrong notes! But be sure to eat your spinach first... Gary Popeye-C-ANGLO.pdf

I've always considered Stephen Foster's "Oh Susanna" to be a great introductory tune for learning the Anglo since it can be played on only three buttons. However, while working up some tunes for a new book (to be announced shortly) I've run across a tune that can be played on only two buttons on the Anglo. Yes, that's right, only TWO buttons! It's "Poor Old Horse" (see attached). Sorry for all you EC and duet players out there, but you'll need twice as many buttons to play this! Which of course has me wondering, are there any other two-button wonders out there? Gary PoorOldHorse.pdf

Aye, here 'tis one way o' playin' ye tune. In case it be copyrighted by the authorities, not sayin' where I got it from, just passing it along... Grogg Mayles-Dm-ANGLO.pdf