wendina

Instruments, in chronological order: Voice (currently sing tenor/contralto). Not that great a soloist, but can harmonize tenor & alto with a suitable degree of proficiency. Soprano in a pinch but only among friends. Been harmonizing nearly as long as I've been breathing. Sing in services weekly, at the top of my lungs, with 2 other like-minded meshuggeners. Sing occasionally in my shul's choir. Chant liturgy and scripture. 8 years of piano lessons. Consider myself a dabbler. Treble and sopranino recorder. Play badly. Piano accordion. Professional. Main axe. Tinwhistle. Professional. English concertina. Professional. Harmonium, dabbler. Lap dulcimer, badly. Truly awful. Clawhammer banjo. Semi-pro. Competent dance player. Soloist, not so much. Chops in need of improvement but not much incentive, certainly not financial. Anglo concertina, dabbler. GCF buttonbox, dabbler. Nearly forgot. Took fiddle lessons (traded for accordion lessons for about a year, from a professional concert violinist) but didn't have the dedication to become any good so I sold it. I do know a thing or two about bowing though, and use this in my concertina playing. Came to the English concertina by accident. Was playing tinwhistle in an ITM band and looking to play an instrument that would allow me to flap my jaws at the same time. BC playing friend was selling his Bastari treble English because Bill McComiskey told him he needed to learn Anglo to play ITM. That was it. Took me many moons to get a handle on the thing. What finally did it was coming down with the flu, and having to lie awake in bed bored out of my skull. Too sick to play whistle but the concertina was perfect. One day, something just clicked and I began to be able to actually play tunes instead of just practicing scales and chords. I found the instrument satisfying to play not just auditorially (is that a word?). I find coordinating finger dexterity and bellows action to be physically pleasant. It's also fun to analyze what one is doing in order to teach others.

Bob, you are a class act. Still enjoying my custom Tedrow! xxxooo Wendy

Lady can have as much space as she wants. I just answer her questions about what I would like to see in such book. And as it happened, I am actively looking for such books, to vary repertore for my mom. It's a life saving procedure and I take it seriously. What I would not like to see, is yet another indistinguishable tune book for "beginners", read "the book that is not composed, not arranged, not sorted". I need examples of work done. OK - See if this helps - I put up excerpts from 2 pages - one, an original tune, and the other, one of the 2-handed Anglo versions (A parts only). Please see at http://www.hmtrad.com/catalog/books/sbx-bks/tina-bks.html I welcome constructive criticism. This gentleman was not rude and made several helpful suggestions. However, I do appreciate the support In my defense, I considered sorting the tunes by difficulty, but then I ran up against the problem that what is simple on an English concertina may be more difficult on an Anglo, and what is easy on a button accordion may be more difficult on a piano accordion, etc. So instead I sorted the tunes alphabetically. I don't consider my collection indistinguishable from others. I think it's a nice collection to expand your repertoire, even if you aren't a beginner. I challenge you to find more than 2 or at the most 3 tunes (if any) in the collection that you already know! P.S. I think it's great you are teaching your Mom to play the accordion. What a nice way to spend time with her! Wendy

I don't see any "easy-squeezy" book in he catalogue. Can you give more precise link? Sorry - if you click on the link for concertina books, it's there. http://www.hmtrad.com/catalog/books/sbx-bks/tina-bks.html is the direct link to the concertina books. It doesn't come with a CD -- I don't have the bucks to pull that off. It was expensive enough just producing the books. It's a nice idea though, maybe sometime in the future I can manage it. Your idea about a progression from an easy version to something more ornate is a good one. I actually sort of did that with 4 of the tunes from Volume 1 - they are notated first with just melody and chord symbols, and then in full 2-hand versions. Question for you - would you want the more advanced versions of the tunes to show ornamentation, or just have more notes, or variations, or what? I kind of like the idea of keeping things simple for the beginner and getting more tunes in, rather than more and more elaborate versions, but I'm willing to keep an open mind. For me, what would be more useful would be to put the tunes in several different keys, so the diatonic players can manage to find a version that suits their instrument. It's not an issue with English concertina, but the Anglos and button box players might want to have a choice. /WM Does it come with a CD? I think the best book for beginner would be a book with tunes in several versions, from just melody, to melody with chords, to some arrangement with variation and harmony, to another level. So a beginner can tangibly see the progress. If there are enough tunes, and some are to student's liking, chances are he will want to retain them. So he must be given a perspective to grow with them. And an instruction book without a companion CD nowadays is not an option, it seems.

Oops - sorry, this is the correct URL: http://www.hmtrad.com/catalog/books/sbx-bks /WM

I've wanted to do this project for a long time. Most (good) tune collections contain mainly material that is beyond a beginner level, and what little there is, in beginner method books mostly, is either boring and overplayed, or else really not at a beginner level (except for the musically talented). I'm a patient teacher, but even I get tired of Hot Cross Buns after a while. Over the years I have been collecting simple dance tunes to use with this type of student, tunes that are fun, have not been played to death and yet are within reach of the struggling beginner. I looked through them and found I had a nice assortment of really simple tunes that fit in the keys of C and G and sound great on button box and concertina. I transcribed them, arranged them with chord symbols, and printed them out in 2 spiral-bound volumes. Some of them are my own compositions, written intentionally as teaching tunes. Order from the House of Musical Traditions, at http://www.hmtrad.com/sbx-bks Wendy

On consignment at the House of Musical Traditions, please see http://www.hmtrad.com/catalog/winds/sbx/used/holmwood.html It's my understanding from reading this forum that these don't show up very often. If you want to hear it played and you live too far away to visit, phone the store on a Thursday. Nobody else at HMT plays English concertina and that's my only day in the shop. The concertina isn't mine, so I can only answer questions based on the original receipt and what information the owner has already given me. /W 3/5/07 page updated. /W

I dislike throwing out anything that might be reused - couldn't repair the action on these so I disassembled them to harvest hardware, buttons and straps, and tossed out bad reeds and broken or otherwise unusable parts. What's left is up for grabs: 2 Bastari-style bellows (3-1/2 inch hex sides), Italian made, good condition 2 wood ends to match, also good condition (ends only, not the action) 3 bellows from larger Italian or German concertinas (4 inch hex sides) -- have red celluloid ends to match one bellows, wood ends to match another, and no ends for third bellows. Two of these bellows are in good condition, the third has cosmetic wear in the typical places. 3 complete C/G reed sets (still waxed in, attached to the plywood), no visible rust or broken reeds. Only a couple of reeds missing their valves. Some miscellaneous hardware, mostly springs but also some button rods, valves. I have no idea what to ask for this stuff; basically I want to see it all go to a repair shop where it might be reused rather than ending up in a landfill, and where I can feel I may have contributed to saving an old concertina's life. These were mostly cheap eBay purchases. I don't think I have more than $150 invested in all 5 instruments, so if you make me a fair offer and pay the postage I'll accept. I can be contacted directly through the House of Musical Traditions, www.hmtrad.com - no phone calls to the store, please, just use the email contact info for the accordion department.