gcoover

Unfortunately, the cheaper instruments often have very shallow bellows that are fairly stiff due to the way they are made with folded cardboard. Better models have deeper bellows folds, are usually made from individual pieces of cardboard. I've played some where I didn't even feel or notice the bellows at all! Gary

What a festive concertreena!!!

Now available in Kindle, with the stave spacing adjusted for better readership on Kindle devices. Gary

Awesome, thanks! Just now having to migrate to MuseScore after the "FU" email that Finale sent to all their "valued customers", so learning how it works bit by bit. It's fairly intuitive so far, and actually a lot quicker for doing the numbering and overhead lines. There's a fine line between keeping the staffs separate enough so it's not one big jumble, but I'll experiment. See attached re-do of the Bonfire Tune. Really appreciate the tip! Gary Albert-Farmers-Bonfire-Tune-D-tight.pdf

Hopefully not too much space between staves - I'm now using MuseScore and it pretty much dictates the spacing (unless I can find a way to override the standard settings). How about the example "Bonfire Tune" I posted at the first, do you think that will work ok? Kindle versions of music books are "print replica" and not flowable text, so yes, I suppose the size of the reading device could make it a little problematical. You might have to learn the A parts and B parts separately! Gary

Yeah, that's why I've never bothered to learn abc since it's not the right tool for me - no ability to draw long overhead lines for push and pull (which are crucial for showing phrasing and air control), no ability to depict complex harmonic arrangements, and being text-based it doesn't show standard musical notation. That's why this English session tunes book, and all of the Rollston Press books, shows the melody in standard music notation, with button numbers and overhead lines for Anglo tablature - keeping it as simple as possible for beginners to learn. This system also makes it very easy to markup new arrangements in existing tune books with nothing more than a few pencil strokes. No need to learn another complex way of notating only single-line tunes! Gary

No clock, just a tune, it was the first tune on the 1977 Flowers & Frolics album, Lester Bailey plays it on a 1-row melodeon on YouTube. I don't know much about abc, but I don't think it can do button numbers and bellows directions. There are lots of abc collections out there, so maybe someone out there has done up much of the English session repertoire? Gary

The movie is available in its entirety on YouTube. The concertina is briefly seen (but not played) in drier times at the 41-minute mark. Would the Germans still have been shooting at them if they had a German concertina instead?!? Gary

Traditional English Session Tunes, is now available for all instruments, and includes 65 tunes commonly found in English music sessions. Every tune also has easy tablature for C/G Anglo concertina so you can play along in the most common session keys of G and D. And this was the really fun part of making this book - it has over 100 QR code links to videos of a variety of traditional musicians – from field recordings to pub sessions, solo fiddlers to loud folkrock. You can now easily play along with the exhilarating version of the "Dorset Four Hand Reel" by Will Allen and Martin Clarke, or the brash Tiger Moth version of "Seven Stars". It also includes many videos by our melodeon brethren including Lester Bailey, Gavin Atkin, Ed Rennie, Bob Cann, Roger Watson, and Anahata, plus the Abingdon Morris Dancers and even Bellowhead! THE TUNES: A Hundred Pipers, Albert Farmer’s Bonfire Tune, Astley’s Ride, Banbury Bill, Banks of the Dee, Beatrice Hill’s Three-Handed Reel, Bonny Breast Knot, Bonny Kate, Brighton Camp, Buttered Peas, Captain Lanoe’s Quick March, The Chestnut Tree, Clee Hill, Curly-Headed Ploughboy, Donkey Riding, Dorset Four Hand Reel, Dorsetshire Hornpipe, Down the Road, Durham Rangers, Enrico, The Fiery Clockface, Fairy Dance, Galopede, Grandfather’s Tune, Harper’s Frolic, Horses Brawl, Hunting the Hare, Huntsman’s Chorus, Jamie Allen, Jenny Lind, Keel Row, Lemmy Brazil’s No. 2, Linnen Hall, Little Diamond, The Man in the Moon, Michael Turner’s Waltz, New Rigged Ship, Off She Goes, Orange in Bloom, The Oyster Girl, Portsmouth, Princess Royal, The Quaker, Rakes of Mallow, The Railway, Redowa Polka, Rochdale Coconut Dance, Rogue’s March, The Roman Wall, The Rose Tree, Roxborough Castle, Salmon Tails up the Water, Scan Tester’s Polka No. 2, Seven Stars, Shepton Mallett Hornpipe, The Sloe, Smash the Windows, Speed the Plough, Three Around Three, Tip Top Polka, Uncle Bernard’s, Walter Bulwer’s Polka No. 1, Walter Bulwer’s Polka No. 2, Winster Gallop, Woodland Revels, Young May Moon. Available now from Red Cow Music in the UK, and Amazon worldwide in paperback. (A Kindle version will be available shortly.) This would make a great Christmas gift for the aspiring session player, and could help them get ready for the awesome Sheffield Session Festival this coming April. In honor of the recent Bonfire Night, here are the dots and the audio of "Albert Farmer's Bonfire Tune" from a session at the Six Bells in Bishops Castle recorded back in 1987: https://youtu.be/eyuNHvVvDrw Enjoy! Gary Albert-Farmers-Bonfire-Tune-D.pdf

It currently available from Red Cow Music in the UK, and it is also available on Amazon. Only paperback so far, Kindle perhaps later. If you have the first spiral-bound book from 2005, this one is completely different and expanded to 339 pages (from the original 85), and includes an extensive history of Headington Quarry, notes and tablature for all of Kimber's recorded works, QR codes, and Dan's excellent analysis of how to "Kimberize" any tune. Without a doubt, the definitive history of one of England's most influential musicians and concertina players. Gary

Just in time for your Christmas wish list, Steve Schulteis's wonderful musical offering of church hymns arranged in the harmonic style for C/G Anglo concertina - Praise the Lord and Pass the Concertina - is now available in paperback from Red Cow Music and Amazon! All tunes have notation and tablature, along with full lyrics and QR code links to many of the tunes. A couple of the videos are already available on YouTube, like this one: Steve is already playing some of these tunes in his church, so now you can too. Here are the hymns you can now learn on the Anglo concertina: Abide With Me, Alas and Did My Savior Bleed, All Creatures of Our God and King, All Glory Laud, and Honor, Amazing Grace, An Evening Hymn, Angels From the Realms of Glory, As With Gladness Men of Old, Be Still My Soul, Be Thou My Vision, Beautiful Savior, Blessed Assurance, Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, Come Thou Long Expected Jesus, Come to Calvary’s Holy Mountain, Come Ye Sinners Poor and Needy, Crown Him With Many Crowns, Doxology, Hark the Voice of Jesus Calling, Holy Holy Holy, How Can I Keep From Singing?, How Firm a Foundation, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, I Love to Tell the Story, I Need Thee Every Hour, Immortal Invisible, In the Cross of Christ I Glory, It Is Well With My Soul, Jesus Christ Is Risen Today, Just As I Am, Leaning On the Everlasting Arms, Lord Jesus Think on Me, Love Divine All Loves Excelling, Nearer My God to Thee, Nothing But the Blood, O For a Thousand Tongues, O God Our Help In Ages Past, O Holy Night, O Sacred Head Now Wounded, O Worship the King, Ride On Ride On In Majesty, Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling, Sweet Hour of Prayer, The Church’s One Foundation, The Law and Gospel, The Old Churchyard, Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus, What a Friend We Have in Jesus, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring. A fabulous book, which will hopefully bless many players and congregations in the years to come! Gary

Paul Hardy's 2024 edition only has 699 tunes, and the 4 Mallinson books only have 404 tunes... The problem is, I have a bookcase full of tunebooks, but need to distill all that down to a reasonable number of most common session tunes to put into Anglo tablature. I wish I could do them all ("and it would be a shame not to try"), but I'm hoping for something between 50 and 100 for this current project. So, this is everyone's chance to propose their local session favorites. And who knows, it could turn into Vol. 1, Vol. 2, etc. since there are plenty of wonderful tunes to choose from! Gary

Yes, Marcus and Herrington both use the sideways button lever. Also saw them on a rare Scholer EC. Gary

It's long past time for a tunebook of popular English session tunes with tablature for concertina - specifically for C/G Anglos who want to play in the more standard session keys of G and D. What are some of the "must have" tunes that need to be included? The tunes so far: Albert Farmer’s Bonfire Tune, Banbury Bill, Banks of the Dee, Beatrice Hill’s Three-Handed Reel, Bonny Kate, Captain Lanoe’s Quick March, Clee Hill, Curly-Headed Ploughboy, Dorset Four Hand Reel, Down the Road, Enrico, Galopede, Harper's Frolic, Huntsmans' Chorus, Lemmy Brazil's No.2, Little Diamond, Michael Turner's Waltz, Oyster Girl, The Quaker, The Roman Wall, The Rose Tree, The Seven Stars, The Sloe, Smash the Windows, Three Around Three, Tip Top Polka, Walter Bulwer's Polka No. 1, Walter Bulwer's Polka No. 2, Young May Moon. Thanks! Gary

Willie Crook makes high-end concertinas in Denver, would be worth checking in with him since he might have some suggestions, maybe even some trade-ins or other instruments for sale. You might want to also drop in on some of the Irish sessions in Denver and Boulder where there might be some concertina players. (It's been a few years since I've been to Denver, but unless things have changed I would highly suggest avoiding the Scruffy Murphy's session - absolutely legendary rude behavior!) Gary