Peter Brook

He has also not posted on melodeon.net in a few weeks either. Hope he is busy and it's nothing more serious.

Alan, I have had some great experiences playing to "older" peoples groups. Good performance experience for me, a couple of hours entertainment for them and lots interesting discussions about concertinas and the last time they saw one etc. At the last one after I mentioned that Charles Wheatsone is credited with the invention, I had a great chat with this chap who was about 89, a former signal operator in the Royal Navy, all about the "Wheatstone Bridge" and how it had made radio (and TV) possible. He was so enthusiastic for life, he was a joy to talk to. It is definitely a good idea to share your passion, and people outside of "folk" circles seem to be genuinely fascinated in our shiny and black boxes! all the best, Peter Mark There is a fantastic song which is sung during the Sheffield Carols season called "Kris Kringle". I believe it is American in origin and it is such a bright and cheery song no one could object to that. I can send you the words if you like but can't send the tune or a recording. Peter

Hi, Just a note on my experiences of the last few months. I was fortunate enough to be given a cheap melodeon (Vienna Accordeon for non-english readers) recently and I started playing it in the last week of August. I've probably played it for about 20 minutes per day most days which has been a lot of fun. During this time I've not had so much time to play the concertina, but last night I had an extended practice on my anglo. The difference in my playing is astonishing. I have got so much more finger strength and arm strength that I am able to really punch a tune out now, but I can also play much quieter and keep the accents and punch in there! Also I am thinking much more in terms of the whole music, not just concentrating on the tune, which gives a much richer aural experience. Playing triplets and bellows reversals are also smoother and easier. I've basically advanced my anglo playing on a great deal by playing the melodeon! In the past I have also had mild carpal tunnel problems but am not suffering today at all. Previously I would have needed the anti-inflamatories after such a long practice in order to use the mouse today. I'm not saying that my experience is relevant to everyone but I am very surprised at the positive results. all the best, Peter

Hi Lars, You are just missing the live canary for the bird call! Not sure how you could get it to sound when it was required though.

It's a really interesting question but I don't think there is a straight answer. In England there are approaching 100 players of English, Anglo and Duet systems that meet each September at Witney in Oxfordshire (in the heartland of "Cotswold" Morris). My very rough estimate would be that this is probably less than 1% of active players in England. So somewhere approaching 10,000? (what do others think? am I wildly over optimistic!) [We have over 40 morris sides in Kent with a population of about 2.2 million people] I base this on some (very) rough approximation of the number of other players I know or have seen playing within 30 miles of me. The majority seem to play English of various types, the next biggest contingent are anglo players, although I know of at least one chap who plays Duet for Morris. Off the top of my head I could probably name (or bring to mind) 25 to 30 active players that I have met within the last 2 years. I live in a rural part of England so would expect there to be more players in large cities. I have only seen 2 of these players at Witney. When I first started playing I didn't think there were any players nearby but the longer I play the more I meet other players. Anyway I can't offer a scientific answer - the ICA may release the number of members but I don't know if that would be classified information and/or how representative ICA membership is of the wider concertina community.

But who is no 6?

I agree with what Larry and Jim have said, and I'm assuming there is nothing wrong with the concertina. This skill takes practice. This is one of the harder things for a novice to be able to do - play soft or loud. Most concertinas can be played fairly softly they don't always have to be at the same volume. A good training tip is to play a scale as softly as possible and then as loudly as possible. The next step is to play the same scale with one note soft and one note loud. Alternate first note loud next soft, and then first note soft next loud. You're developing muscle memory incunjunction with aural memory and it will take time for this to sink in - there is no short cut.

Ahhh - that is the origination of the Bacup Britannia dance!!! Mystery solved

seems a very good price £850 GBP Music Room were offering an ex demo model for £1350 GBP last week

I love this site. It has provided me with access to so much knowledge and information that would have been impossible to find so easily any other way. Posters are generally tolerant, knowledgeable, courteous and geneorus. In good faith and without prejudice I provide the following link to give information about trolls. Let's protect our forum from this kind of invasion. all the best, Peter

I think the short answer is yes - nice to have but not strictly necessary. There have been many debates on mudcat and elsewhere about the fact that the populations (in England) that kept traditional music vital, particualrly in the 19th and early 20th century, tended to be rural, working class, with less access to formal education. They played the way they did and danced the way they did because it was fun, it sounded right, it was their entertainment, but also they could earn a small amount of money from playing this way which supplimented their other income. Most wouldn't understand music theory or notation (there are notable exceptions such as Joshua Jackson) and it wasn't particularly relevant to their understanding or experience of music. Kimber was quoted as saying that his father taught him by saying " there are the notes you play and you don't play any others". When collectors such as Sharp and Grainger, collected material they did so from a cultural background which was much more "priveleged", urban, upper middle class with access to a formal education. As Samantha pointed out there was some filtering out done by people such as Sharp and Grainger, possibly uncounciously(soory about spellign!), and where we don't have field recordings we only have the "filtered" record. I think I sometimes can fall into the trap of wanting to over-analyse a particular tune and it's harmonics when I would be better served by pracitising it and focussing on timing, lift and dancability (i'm particularly thinking of morris tunes). So I say just play - and if it sounds right to you and your audience - it probably is right.

Paul, I think you are now on "Two Weeks Notice" It's a very good book - nothing to do with Panda's though.

Lars, I don't know if you are aware that Chris Sherburn and his band have a website at http://www.lastnightsfun.com/index.html which gives ordering information for CDs. I can heartily recommend Dubh and Tempered as being first rate. If you every get chance to see them in concert they are simply wonderful, they create an amazing atmosphere. all the best, Peter

Yes I agree. The difference in tone is definitely noticable to me, although not enough to put the dancers off. In an ideal world, if I am honest I would have a G/D Anglo for playing the morris, and retain the C/G for my singing and duo work. The problem is - what does a beginner go for. All the tutor books and most workshops specify C/G and I'm not too proud to say I simply can not afford an additional G/D at the moment . BTW I came to melodeon playing the wrong way. That is I learned to play Anglo and then someone gave me a cheap east german melodeon for free (Most people learn melodeon then add Anglo). It is great fun, but so much easier than Anglo

As an anglo player the left little finger is invaluable for morris particularly for the forth button down on the push (D) or pull (F#). It also forms the anchor for lower end of most of my chords - all of which are 4th or 5th button down. I think it is just a question of using it and dexterity has improved (in my case). BTW must we use the silly description p****y ! Perhaps it's a cultural patato/potato, tomato/tomaato thing but it REALLY winds me up.

Phil, I'm not sure if my experience will help you but I think I have "lived" the problem that you first mentioned. I understand your questions is: D/G anglo or C/G anglo for cotswold morris if playing with others and convention is tunes mainly in G with some D? I think a D/G is easier as all of the G scale falls on your right hand middle row leaving the left for chords, and you can broadly go up and down the rows - 1 dimensional playing so to speak. When I started with my C/G I played on the G row firstly with the left hand in the right pitch (register) which left my right hand flapping about. Then I decided that was silly and played everything on the G row an octave higher than written! Not very nice . Then I discovered that you can play a C/G in G quite effectively for morris across the rows. You are effectively playing it inside out, and the challenge is to transfer as many notes as you can onto the right hand leaving the left hand as free as possible. So for example a tune starting in G you might start on the push of the last button on the middle row left hand or even better pull of forth button left hand. With a bit of practice you can play in octaves and also make some nice chords. The only real problem is the fact you don't have a low D, the lowest pitch D is the D next to middle C, so D chords don't sound that strong. I know cotswold convention is one musician but I personally quite like having more than one musician although I think three is a practical limit, and I think they should be three different instruments. Although I play melodeon I don't play it "out" as we already have a melodeon player. Our normal set up is concertina, melodeon and fiddle, although on occasions we have had a serpent and a hullican along too! I think it has been said by the others that the important thing is that as a musician you are there to enable the dancers to perform - it is not a musical performance in the sense that people will be totally tuned in to what you do. In fact if you can put enough feeling, rythym and emphasis into the tune then chords are not strictly necessary. It is pretty hard to play chords on a whistle or violin It would be good to hear other opinions on this "style" of playing. As for music everyone said you must get the Mally Books (which I did). However my side have been going about twenty years and have several tunes with no notation and which are different to anything I've heard elsewhere - me then saying "you are not playing that as it is written" went down quite badly . A good suggestion would to be to ask the music leader to play everything through at half speed and dance speed whilst you record him/her, and to ask them to also supply you with the dots (if they have them.) all the best, Peter BTW I play an Andy Norman box which is bright, loud and light

Hi Alan, Have to say that I have not had any problems although the board seems quite slow tonight eg. when loading a new screen when you have clicked on a link. I am using the latest version of Windows XP professional but don't know if that is relevant. Clicky test They all seem to be working for me.... sorry Alan

Well the upgrade explains why the board was unavailable for a short time a couple of days ago. It certainly looks very nice

Well as you are in Manchester why not pop into: Hobgoblin Manchester 123 Oxford Road, All Saints, Manchester, M17DU Open 9.30am - 5.30pm Monday to Saturday Tel: 0161 273 1000 You can have a look at their concertinas, they will have some cheap ones that are ok for learning on but quite limiting when you start to get a little better (about £400 or cheaper secondhand). They may also have some mid range ones about £1000 and up, or the odd connor or jeffries. They have a jeffries on the shops page for £3300 (anglo)! Having said that you are probably better going to a session or to Jubilee concertinas as you will get lots of free advice and people will usually be happy to let you have a play on their instruments.

I'd only be interested in a Field Marshal series 2 late 1940s . Fantastic things - got so much torque they rock themselves and everyone standing nearby! be absolutely impossible to play the concertina whilst sitting on one though - think bucking bronco!

I would have liked to be there as Lewes is quite close and I have been known to attend the odd "anonymous" meeting in that very room, but unfortunately it clashed with the Tenterden Folk Festival and me laying a new floor for a friend of mine! I'd also been away from my wife all week for work so discretion was the better part of valour . you can't be everywhere

Hi everyone, I guess I am the first up this morning, but Anglo International is now live with a lovely picture of the cover of the Anglo International CD. There is also an email address and phone number on the site for ordering. You can have a nice rest now Alan! all the best, Peter

Geraghty, I went to Concertinas at Witney for the last two years and never had any audio CD sent out. I believe they may send a CD to people signed up for the Melodeon weekend but I am not definite on that. I found it hard the first year putting in enough practice to be able to play the tunes well enough to get something from the weekend. So my advice is practice, practice, practice and if you are not good at reading music, find another musician who is, to play the tunes through. all the best, i'm sure you will have a great time, seeing 80-100 other concertina players is fantastic encouragement.

If it's an anglo you are looking at several thousand pounds! John Kirkpatrick was informed by Colin Dipper a while ago that to replace his 40 key C/G anglo with a concertina of similar standard would cost GBP £6,000!

Yes, you also get a book full of tunes that you need to practice like mad before you turn up. You usually get it about two weeks before the event - so I imagine it will be sent out this week. Depending on who your tutor is and the classes you have signed up for you have to learn between 1 and 5 tunes (unless you know them already of course). I've got something else on this year so can't attend but I went last year and the year before. It is a good weekend, and if you can get there early, there is an "off programme" session on the friday night starting at 8pm which is pretty good as well. I'm sure you will have a fantastic weekend - the sight of approx 100 other players of various concertina systems is also really encouraging. Don't know what you play but in terms of breakdown I estimate that 20% play Anglo (C/G), 60% play English and the rest are duets of varying layouts. all the best, Peter