gcoover

Well, if some folks can't view some of the "Nancy" videos on YouTube, I guess they'll just have to learn to play the tune themselves! In the spirit of the OP (that's me) and the spirit of Christmas, here's Tom Clough's wonderful Northumbrian pipe tune "Nancy" with button numbering and directions for Anglo - and you can play the whole thing, including all the variations, on just one row. Of course, anyone else who can read music notation on whatever type of concertina can also play along. Thanks to Pete for his Christmas gift of the abc's! Gary 28-29-Nancy-C-ANGLO-123.pdf

Hi Don, I know we're getting seriously off the "Christmas" topic, but I have no problem viewing the High Level Ranters here in the US, or any other of the Topic videos. You can't watch YouTube at all in China, but I was not aware of individual YouTube videos being restricted in other countries. Are you getting a message saying it's unavailable? Gary

If you search YouTube with the words "Nancy" and "Northumbrian" you'll find a few versions, including this rather fast one by the High Level Ranters: https://youtu.be/ZAVw6sYnVmo. It's also become popular with oldtime musicians here's a lovely version on banjo: https://youtu.be/gf307NwVTLM. And yes, I know I need to post a version on the Anglo, but we've moved to a place that has way too much outside traffic noise and no way to screen it out - very frustrating! Gary

Not sure why, but I see the "Look Inside" feature on Amazon doesn't show the entire Table of Contents for "Christmas Concertina", so FYI here's the complete listing of what's in the book. As you can see, it's many of the old traditional copyright-free favorites in the US and UK. Single note melodies for all songs, so anyone with an English or Duet can play them if they are "paper trained", plus all have button numbers and directions to play them with full harmonies on Anglo Concertina. On an entirely separate note, I'm not seeing any videos out there of concertina bands playing Christmas Music - why is that? Several years ago four of us on English concertina worked up some carols in four-part harmonies from an old hymnal and they sounded wonderful! Gary TOC-CHRISTMAS-CONCERTINA.pdf

All, Thought some of you might enjoy learning a few Christmas songs (from Christmas Concertina) so you can get ready for the big holiday season. So, here's an easy version of Silent Night, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, and perhaps my favorite arrangement in the whole book - In the Bleak Midwinter. The music includes the melody in regular musical notation along with button numbers for Anglo Concertina (Wheatstone/Lachenal accidentals). Also posted is an explanation of the tablature and numbering system. And, you can hear videos of these arrangements at: https://www.youtube.com/user/angloconc(Christmas Concertina playlist). Enjoy! Gary SilentNight-CHRISTMAS-CONCERTINA.pdf HarkTheHeraldAngelsSing-CHRISTMAS-CONCERTINA.pdf InTheBleakMidwinter-CHRISTMAS-CONCERTINA.pdf Tablature-Example-CHRISTMAS-CONCERTINA.pdf

Apologies if I've posted these before, but here are a couple of photos of Rev KNJL in action somewhere near Thaxted in 1979, playing the Jeffries Anglo originally presented to William Kimber in 1911. According to John Watcham, Reverend Ken was nicknamed "Reg" by the members of Challice Morris when he was president of the side. Loveless would boast (as only he could) "they call me Reg, how wonderful!" What he didn't realize was that they called him Reg because he looked remarkably like a Coldstream Guards Regimental Goat! Thanks, John, I'll never look at KNJL the same again! ​Gary

Wow, excellent suggestions all! And yes, I'm trying to keep it to old, mostly traditional songs and tunes that are pre-1923. Chasing copyrights is a huge pain, especially when dealing with the big music publishing houses, and they typically want at least $150 per song minimum for print permission. So you can imagine how quickly that would add up for 50-60 songs, not counting all the research and legal paperwork. And there are some I'd REALLY like to include, so maybe I'll sneak one in on the tablature example page (shh!, don't tell anyone). I'm more than happy to work something out, perhaps do a little horse-trading, with a more recent songwriter, well, because "it's the cowboy way". I'll probably include some more great tunes by Steve Hartz from East Texas and I'm hoping Pipp will also volunteer a couple of his songs too. And yes, we definitely need to include the Indians and the Vaqueros! Maybe even dance hall girls...? My working list is already up to 150 or so - I'm counting on Pipp and the good folks here at cnet to help cull the herd down to something manageable. Whether or not they work well on Anglo will also determine if they make the cut. I'm pretty sure Red River Valley, Streets of Laredo, Sweet Betsy From Pike, Home on the Range, Rivers of Texas, Cielito Lindo and maybe Cherokee Shuffle will be included. Looks like Spanish is a Loving Tongue might be 1925... Hey matthag, thanks for the kind words, hope you continue to enjoy the books but please don't end up playing like me - I'm counting on you to do a lot better and create your own style! Gary

Christian, thanks so much for posting these, and also for having the presence of mind to contact Jenny Bellamy to learn their provenance and get permission - that's a rare thing today! These recordings of Reverend Loveless are so much better than what else has been available - I'm now so much more impressed with his playing! There is a good chance these were played on William Kimber's Jeffries Anglo, since Reverend Ken inherited it from Kimber (and was still playing it when I met him back in 1979). Gary

Because cowboys are cool. And because the late great Peter Bellamy once claimed in an epic intro to "Santa Fe Trail" that an authentic cowperson would have been an immigrant Brit playing a concertina. I'm collaborating with Pipp Gillette from Crockett, Texas, on songs and tunes for a new Anglo book, but of course want to poll the herd at cnet to see if there are any "must have" songs/tunes to include. And if you're already playing any good (non-copyrighted) cowboy songs on Anglo and would like your arrangement included, that would be cool too! Full credit, free copies, the usual fame and glory, of course. Gary

Love the top hat in the fretwork - nice touch! Gary

Eh brah, you play da kine too? Next you wen come Honolulu we make plenty kanikapila! (Sorry folks, Google doesn't yet translate Hawaiian pidgin)...

Ahoy mateys, September 19th be the official international day to "talk and play concertina like a pirate"! (And pay ye no mind of the obvious anachronism). Yo ho!

Hey Adrian, Love the video - nice to see you in your natural habitat! What a beautiful and inspiring place. I've signed up to help and encourage everyone else here on cnet to do likewise to support our own, and more importantly to support such great music. Gary

Good luck on your quest! You'll find lots of good info and opinion to sort through on this site! Since you're a beginner, I'd definitely encourage you to consider "Easy Anglo 1-2-3" over "Anglo Concertina in the Harmonic Style". It's a lot cheaper, and the second book starts out easy but gets really hard really fast. As much as I love the Anglo playing of Chris Sherburn I find his tutor (IMHO) to be the most incomprehensible of them all - really bizarre numbering and notation system, many buttons totally ignored, and nothing about playing in the harmonic style with melodies and chords. I'm sure you'll run across lots of other tutors out there, unfortunately many are of variable quality and with completely different tab and notation systems, but you want something that will get you up and running as quickly and as easily as possible with a minimal amount of overly difficult technical bs and weird notation systems. Anglo tutors for the past 150 years have all been written for the C/G since that's by far and away the most common type of Anglo. I haven't seen a G/D tutor anywhere but will redouble my efforts to try to talk Jody Kruskal into writing one! FWIW, I have a G/D that I keep trying to play and invariably end up putting it back down fairly quickly. And why is that? Well, most of the harmonic arrangements I know and like on the C/G sound like mud on the G/D. There are players (like Jody) who know how to lighten up the left side, but unfortunately there are no tutors yet to help you figure out how. Maybe let your choice be guided by which Anglo players you like to listen to? For recorded music, there's not a lot out there on the G/D. It's no secret I'm a huge fan of John Watcham's style, and I remember meeting with him many years ago when I too was debating the C/G - G/D decision. I thought G/D made more sense because most folk tunes are in G and D (due to fiddle players and now melodeon players), but I was surprised to learn that although he had several concertinas in different keys, 99.9% of the time he plays a C/G and has never even owned a G/D. For Morris music, I feel that higher G octave (on the C/G) is much better for cutting through the crowd. And of course for Irish Traditional Music, the sheer perversity of playing a C/G in the key of D is a lot of what gives the music such great bounce and lilt! But, having said all this, there's nothing to keep you from plowing your own path on a G/D (if you so choose) and doing something wonderful with it. Hopefully some of the G/D players here on cnet will chime in and provide some tips and insights. In the meanwhile I'd suggest trying to meet up with other players, ask lots of questions, try out various instruments - I'm sure you'll finding something that will get you started on the path! Gary

Hi Adrian, Welcome to the Phartophone Club - you have hours of wonderfully rude and awesome bass sounds to look forward to! My Lachenal bass has thick wriststraps that coincide with the thumbstrap connection on the top of the instrument, and both are held in by a tall brass screw thing (not the typical flat-topped brass concertina thumbstrap connector). I'm guessing this same connection might have once accommodated a neck strap of some sort, judging from the wear on the back of the bellows. The thing where the brass screw screws into (sorry for all the technical terms) also has a few stray screw holes, so these might have been where a neck strap was connected. The trick is to find a place where it's balanced enough and then be able to hold it out away from your stomach. Not sure I have a photo that shows this, but I'll look. Gary

Here's a video of John Watcham playing for Harry Taylor's Men at the recent Sidmouth Festival - a double jig in the Longborough style based on the Playford tune "Mundesse". https://youtu.be/eFW6s7c--PE More info on Taylor's Men here: http://taylorsmen.org/

Hi Gari Thanks for the info and tips. I will try and find the samples for Anglo 123 and give it a go!.The main reason for going with your Civil war tunes first is the fact I can watch them and listen to them on your YouTube channel. Are the 123Anglo songs there to?...sorry I'm still going through all the Civil war tunes so have not checked yet. I heard a few tunes that seems very tough but I'll try and pick the easiest ones...so far it's going well with "The first gun is fired" hopefully I will have it down before the end of the week! I have small kids and I am finding it far harder to just sit down and practice as I did when learning guitar more than 20 years now. Oh what I could do with all that free time now.. Last question... when I finish learning songs from your books, is it ok to post me playing them on YouTube? Kind of a record for me but also to get some feedback potentially that will help me improve. All the best Dan Hey Dan, Of course it's ok to post your videos on YouTube! But do consider your potential audience before posting anything that's not ready or your best effort. Make something musical that others will enjoy listening to! Gary

Hi Dan, Thanks for the kind comments about the videos - they're hardly professional quality but at least they show what the tunes sound like and prove they can be played on a 20-button Anglo. Yes, LHS #6 in the book will be B/A, but I'm sure you'll be able to make something work in its place. Most tunes are pretty tough and can stand a few note changes here and there. And who knows, you might even discover something that sounds better! Some of the Civil War tunes will be pretty hard since they mostly have full accompaniment, I'd suggest just learning the melody to begin with and then filling in the left hand later. It takes a bit of brain rewiring and finger muscle training to make sense of the push-pull action. Since you're just getting started you might also want to consider "Easy Anglo 1-2-3" (shameless plug) - there are some free samples here on cnet and also some via the Look Inside feature on Amazon. Enjoy! Gary

Hi Dan, Looks like they just blindly copied the same pattern from the C-row, making that button G and D. Most 30-button instruments I've seen have that #6 LHS button as B/A, but I have seen B/D on several 20-button instruments. As you will learn there is an amazing lack of standardization when it comes to the Anglo, especially in the top (third) row of 30-button instruments. If you're playing in the Irish style it won't pose much of a problem since few tunes go down that far. If you're playing in the harmonic style with bass notes and chords you'll end up playing a note that will be in the same chord but not exactly what a tutor might be calling for. But probably close enough - adaptation is the key! Gary

Divorce from all my concertinas??? Never!!!

For those of you not familiar with the tune, here's a quick sample played on a Herrington C/G Anglo. Gary I Wish I Was Single Again.mp3

Always trust "The Stig" - I learned that from Top Gear! Fixed the errant line on the first note and have uploaded the revised file instead. Thanks, eagle-eyed Dave! Gary

For those venturing into cross-row harmonic-style Anglo here's a transcribed tune that hopefully will prove far easier for you than it initially was for me. It's from the playing of John Rodd on the Albion Dance Band album "The Prospect Before Us" and is transcribed here for C/G Anglo with Wheatstone/Lachenal accidentals. In spite of the really difficult stretch to #4a on the right hand side, I found it to be a real eye-opener about learning to not think about the Anglo in rows anymore. More like a demented musical typewriter where the notes you need might be anywhere and in any direction! I don't want to think how many weeks and months it took to get my fingers and my brain around this little tune, but now it's great fun to play (especially along with the record when all the electric and medieval instruments kick in). Enjoy! Gary 2017-08-03: Uploaded revised pdf. IWishIWasSingleAgain-G-ANGLO.pdf

Bernard Wrigley often jokes that his bass concertina plays better if one pours Guinness in it - maybe that's the dark brown deposit!?! Gary

Excellent points all 'round. I've often seen a certain amount of sluggishness come from beginners trying to force the tune out of the instrument and thinking that pushing or pulling ever harder somehow will make it work better through brute force. That might work if you're a blacksmith, but not so much for enjoyable or danceable tunes! Muscle memory and dexterity can take weeks to develop, so there's a long learning phase you have to pass through to get to the point of being able to play musically once you've got the mechanics reasonably mastered. Another suggestion would be to let boredom work in your favor. Play the tune over and over and over until you're completely and utterly bored with it. And then keep going. It always surprises me what usually comes next - all sorts of experimental bits here and there in a desperate attempt to relieve the boredom that usually ends up making the tune into something that you (and others) might actually enjoy listening too. Soldier on, you'll get there eventually! Gary