Musical Sore

For virtuosity, "trying" isn't enough... "succeeding" is required. "Succeeding?" I can only aspire so far... Then I wouldn't consider you a virtuoso. Would you? Aspiring is not the same as doing. To put my feelings about this would-be-crushing riposte in words of one syllable: Some of us are not too good yet on the box. I am one such. But that is not the point. I think this thread is daft. I sent my post to show this. The first post is put in words so loose that the sole true way to post back is just to say "YES". Use some sense. That's all I have to say. The End.

For virtuosity, "trying" isn't enough... "succeeding" is required. "Succeeding?" I can only aspire so far...

My interpretation of "virtuosity" is "trying to play the right notes."

Is the introduction of modern instruments un-crwth? Depends who you're cittern next to.

If its mere presence in a room can cause a brawl, then it's a traditional instrument. Remember, music can bring people together, but it can take the police to separate them again.

So is the English Channel a city? Perhaps one of its residents could give us the definitive answer to the question (whatever it was) about sailors and concertinas.

The best person to comment on this is Charles Dodgson. He may, of course, be a pseudonymous member of this forum, but I am sure he will allow me to quote three passages from "Through the Looking Glass" (the first is surely a commentary on hexagonal Aeolas). `Don't stand chattering to yourself like that,' Humpty Dumpty said, looking at her for the first time, `but tell me your name and your business.' `My name is Alice, but --' `It's a stupid name enough!' Humpty Dumpty interrupted impatiently. `What does it mean?' `Must a name mean something?' Alice asked doubtfully. `Of course it must,' Humpty Dumpty said with a short laugh: `my name means the shape I am -- and a good handsome shape it is, too. With a name like yours, you might be any shape, almost. --- ‘The name of the song is called "HADDOCKS' EYES."' `Oh, that's the name of the song, is it?' Alice said, trying to feel interested. `No, you don't understand,' the Knight said, looking a little vexed. `That's what the name is CALLED. The name really IS "THE AGED AGED MAN."' `Then I ought to have said "That's what the SONG is called"?' Alice corrected herself. `No, you oughtn't: that's quite another thing! The SONG is called "WAYS AND MEANS": but that's only what it's CALLED, you know!' `Well, what IS the song, then?' said Alice, who was by this time completely bewildered. `I was coming to that,' the Knight said. `The song really IS "A-SITTING ON A GATE" --- `This must be the wood, she said thoughtfully to herself, `where things have no names. I wonder what'll become of MY name when I go in? I shouldn't like to lose it at all--because they'd have to give me another, and it would be almost certain to be an ugly one. But then the fun would be trying to find the creature that had got my old name! That's just like the advertisements, you know, when people lose dogs--"ANSWERS TO THE NAME OF `DASH:' HAD ON A BRASS COLLAR"--just fancy calling everything you met "Alice," till one of them answered! Only they wouldn't answer at all, if they were wise.'

Another very odd one: http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/ws/eBayIS...em=120183872814 The system looks sort of pidgin English at first, but I think the red keys are the ones that have lost their caps, rather than Cs.

A useful site for (particularly American) popular songs of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is www.parlorsongs.com

Looking at the page in question (11th July to 1st August 1913) there are several 56 (or more) key instruments, but none of the entries say "tenor-treble" or "extended treble". Perhaps at the time "tenor 56 keys" meant "tenor-treble" and a plain "56 keys" (like entry 26006) meant "extended treble". But look at entry 26002 - "Octo baritone black 62 keys". That would be fun to play!

The vendor's blurb now says "My main area of expertise is brass". Brass neck, I should think.

Another way to look at the pricing is this: How much is a basic “beginners” English worth – a mid-19th century Lachenal or Wheatstone “tutor model”? £300 to £500? How much better is a 1910s, 1920s tenor-treble Aeola in good condition? Six to ten times better? If so, then it's worth £3,000.

Hmmm....concertina weekend near where I live, vs wedding anniversary. Choices, choices...

Well, I think I'll "proceed with caution" and keep on twiddling.

£5,620 plus VAT (17.5%) over six years - it's £3 a day. That's a sandwich plus a couple of pastries (or a pint and a half of beer). It's the Concertina Diet!

Thank you very much. The Notation Player does seem simple, and useful - but I wonder if there are any simple harmonisations specifically for the English concertina?

I'm hoping to learn a few simple EC harmonies for traditional Christmas carols or wassails (unison voices). Any ideas as to where I might look, whether online or in a published book?

Surely the important question about these T-shirts is... how many folds?

There's an item on ebay, 220134393527, with the following description: This instrument is an Anglo Concertina by Louis Lachenal, 20 notes + one. At one end is inset an oval paper makers label which reads "Louis Lachenal-Patent concertina manufacturer-London" At the other end, a similar label reads "26651". The photograph of the reed pans shows that the reeds are positioned parallel to each other, rather than radially. Is this a fake Lachenal, an experimental Lachenal, or is it simply that the subcontractors who made the reedpans used to work to their own designs?

I want it NOW!!!! I just don't think I can afford it EVER.

English concertina on Ebay with a nautical connection: "This Concertina has a label on it which says J Russell London,Improved concertina at the other end in the recess it has the number 6800 (this can also be read as 0089!), this concertina belonged to my grandfather who didnt to me seem to be the slightest musical , he had it with him as a marine in the first world war at Scapa Flow ( where the German fleet was scuppered) and was still able to play it when returned home. I think from my brief research that it was probably made by Lachenals and retailed By Russell, it has 48 keys/buttons, one or two are stuck down and there are a couple of holes in the corner of the bellows but not that bad , but definately in well used condition and requiring restoration, please ask any questions you may have, NR "

I love the wording of the care label in the lid of the case.

I hope those twenty-six lanes are on an English or Duet system. Imagine the chaos if they were bisonoric.

I remember reading, years ago, "Swept Channels", by "Taffrail", a fascinating (and, I seem to remember, first-hand) account of wartime minesweeping. The same author? Or are there two Taffrails? My uncle joined the Royal Navy from school in the 1930s and served for many years in ships and submarines. His widow recently saw my concertina and told me that my uncle always wished he could play one. This, of course, proves absolutely nothing.

Looking at the Pepsi picture, isn't the pointy-fingered woman telling the man: "You're going to have to choose between me and "that box"."?