PaddyLosty

Then maybe you should get one of these

Ah Ena is lovely to have around here in the Toronto area. Her music is a perfect representation of her personality, too.

I bet you could do a decent approximation of blues mouth organ like that. Just need to bend those notes!

Yes that's the most likely mistake. I can't fathom any other explanation. I am offended by this statement. A great maker is being defamed. This thread should be deleted!! I'm guessing that this must refer to a Wheatstone layout player not being able to use the Jeffries layout. Otherwise I can't imagine why anyone would think that. It's the most sought after make and usually as easy to play as any you find. An Irish player layout thing then? Or maybe confusion with the duet sytem Jeffries?

Yes in fact that looks like one of the later Jeffries, with Chinese reeds. Probably only worth a few quid, best to donate it to some young player like myself. I am offended by this statement. A great maker is being defamed. This thread should be deleted!!

Well exams on the following Monday prevent me from going this year, but I will definitely attend next year, and hopefully by then I'll have something better than my Rochelle (which is continuing to play surprisingly well, I might add). Looking forward to hearing all about it from Bill N when he returns to our lovely industrial municipality.

Looking forward to seeing and hearing it...contemplating putting an order in myself.

Ha ha I certainly didn't pay for it, I rather chastised them for labeling it a musical instrument.

I was in the local big music chain shop the other day looking for a new whistle and generally harassing all of their instruments. I Found a lone concertina shaped bag amongst all of the band instruments, and was surprised that it contained a concertina. I pulled it out and squeezed out a few jigs, while the employees all watched (I guess they've never heard anyone that can actually play the thing). MAN is it ever a piece of junk! My Rochelle plays like a dream in comparison, I could barely get the notes to sound at all. And as I'm playing along on the thing, one of the hand straps flat out breaks in half. I'm amazed that Hohner would even put its name on such junk, as I have a fair respect for their accordions, at least the older ones. It had a price tag of $330, I don't think it's worth a cent of that. They truly are as bad as everyone makes them out to be. PG

Stephen wins the prize! Wait there is no prize. Im sure they all erupted in joy shortly after the video ended.

Well does nobody know what make of concertina that is? I thought you folks liked a challenge!

Yes we're a dour bunch.

I think they're simply mesmerized by his comb over. Now what is that concertina!

I'm not sure if this is a later Wheatstone, or something else. Nice tone, and seems to play just fine for him!

woops

Here in Hamilton (about a half hour from Toronto) we're lucky to have a few Irish sessions going on. When I first started playing the fiddle, the session I attended was very eclectic. A bit of everything was played, Irish, Canadian, English, American, even Gypsy. I was lucky enough to be able to find out what I really liked, and that was Irish music. So, eventually as I focused more on Irish style playing I was invited to the local Irish session. I'd come out and listen mostly and be invited to play the few tunes I knew. All well and good, and very welcoming. There was a good guitarist that helped lead that session and he sang a few song through most nights. My playing style and repertoire advanced over the years, to the point where I was a bit sick of playing the same tunes at this session. Around the same time, two more guitarists started attending regularly, and the focus began to shift from tunes to songs, to the point where "brown eyed girl" was acceptable material. The piper from the session (Nick Brown), my girlfriend (C#/D box player Karli Strohschein) and myself decided to start up another session in town at an old favourite microbrew pub where we'd gigged a few times. We are staunch in our focus on Irish tunes, as the three of us put in a great deal of time learning tunes, especially finding tunes which aren't common at the big Toronto sessions. People appreciate this and drive good distances to attend. We're open to any playing level, and we tend not to play extremely fast. Those with a deep appreciation for the music, even if they haven't been playing for ages, are more than welcome by us, and we make efforts to invite people from other sessions who are clearly focused on the old-school style. However last Wednesday, a guitarist and piano accordion player apparently from the old session (which has since fizzled out) plopped themselves down and cut in with some pub song. They didn't invite themselves, and took no time to get a feel for what we were all about. We let them finish, politely explained what the session was all about, encouraged them to listen and ask questions, but to refrain from songs or from attempting accompaniment. They understood and were fine with it. We directed them to another folk night which had started up and were grateful. All it takes is to have a clear focus and stay away from the free-for-alls. PS Robin and Paul, I'd love to come out to your session and have a listen. I'll leave the instruments at home though!

Mmmmmm grey paolo with black and white piping. My girlfriend says she'd take one of those in lieu of a wedding ring. I think I'll keep her around.

Get yourself a hohner 4 stop and you can be as loud or as quiet as you want....well not that quiet, but they sound great!

Yeah I didn't expect it to get any bids with a starting price so high. Even if it might have gone up that high in an auction with a low starting price, I noticed while selling my bouzouki that setting the starting price at your lowest usually garners no bids. However, when I re-listed it with a low starting price, I got more for it than I had initially asked. Ah the psychology of Ebay...

I can't speak specifically for the fingering as I'm new to playing the concertina. However, as a fiddler that has studied the concertina playing of Mary MacNamara, the Coen's and Kitty Hayes as a source of "clare bounce" in my fiddle playing, I think the "in-out" in this case emphasizes the bounce of the tune. It isn't a smooth tune, so why would you want to smooth it out? I would bow those notes in different directions to emphasize that, whereas for the most part I slur a lot of jumpy notes like that, and use left hand articulation to accent the changes. I don't know what the gospel of Noel would say to do there, but by the feel of the tune, what you're doing works. But, I'm just a fiddle player so hopefully someone more knowledgeable will chime in!

Here's another one just like it on ebay, only sans football damage

Noticed this the other day Interesting, never seen an Edgley like that before...the "traditional" model with maple ends. I am not affiliated with this sale.

Thanks for this! Im just starting to venture into D and this is quite helpful. Im glad to see that the fingering I chose for this tune intuitively is correct.

I'm quite enthused about people tackling the low end rather than shying away from it no mater what route they take. I have a huge amount of sympathy for the difficulty of the process and the difficulty of getting the little finger and ring finger to behave and only want to say that they do respond to a bit of education eventually. Most of their lives they have been relegated to the role of grasping things unless you've played Piano or some similar instrument, so they never got the separate coordination of the first two fingers. Just keep at it. It is such a lot of fun to play those tunes that are full of the Low notes once you can pull it off. The more tunes you learn down there, the less impossible they seem. I never considered jumping octaves not being a flute player, and my whistle skills never got challenged by tunes that needed it. Somebody needs to hold the low end though or the tune will just get changed and everybody will play it in octaves like that Sean Ryan tune which I vastly prefer not in octaves in what ever key has that F natural in it. ( it also fits very comfortably on the fiddle there as well ) Sorry for not being able to provide the name, but when you hear a tune called Sean Ryan's, it is a little like hearing one called Paddy Fahey's. Doesn't tell you much. Still, it is the one where people usually ( in the states at least ) play the B part an octave higher. Still, if you were playing with others, playing the low part of Green Fields up an octave might work quite nicely. Dana Is it Sean Ryan's "The Nightingale?"

If anyone gets any recordings of the one-row and concertina duet playing, could you pleeeaase send them this way? My girlfriend plays a one-row Hohner and I play concertina, and I've never heard any recordings of this combination. Thanks! I can trade for some rare old field recordings as well, if you'd like. Pat