meltzer

One thing the DVDs might show you is how to hold the thing without crippling yourself with RSI, etc. However (and I realise I'm opening a big can of worms here, but hey) one big difference between the pipes and the concertina is that traditional piping has been pretty much a continuous thing. The concertina has been "rediscovered" as a folk instrument -- certainly in the English tradition. In the English tradition, we have basically 2 players to work from -- William Kimber and Scan Tester, both of whom were pretty much tunes players, and definitely not song accompanists. This is unlike the melodeon, for instance, where there's a definite body of traditional playing to work from and within (should you choose to do so). When it comes to my own playing, when I'm looking to accompany my voice (such as it is, after 20-odd years of smoking), what I'm trying to do is capture something of the harmonies and countermelodies I hear in my head, having been brought up in a family where singing was important (one set of grandparents were gypsies, the other lot were farm labourers, and all of them were Methodists ). This -- in my opinion, anyway -- isn't something you can learn, although you can pick up tips and tricks about transferring what you hear in your head to your fingers. You have a musical heritage which is different to mine but of absolutely equal value, and it's absolute gold-dust, so use it, use it, use it, because if you don't it's gone forever. Anyway. Go and play your concertina! (This is me being a bit drunk and winding down before I go to bed, by the way. Apologies for the ramblings.)

NB: If the tune you have in mind is a jolly little number, the chances are that you'll find the first note on the "push" of your bellows. If it's a bit more mournful, try starting on the "pull." PS I'm sorry if this post, and my last one, are way below your musical abilities, and I sound a bit patronising. But it works for me.

Think of a tune you know well -- one that's not too fast. A song that you've known since you were a kid, maybe. For "quick win" purposes, the chances are that this tune either starts on the top button on the middle row, on either your left or right hand. Play the first three buttons on the middle row on your right hand hand, and try and hum the tune in the same key as you're playing. Then work out what the first note is, by a process of trial & error. Once you've established this, try and pick out the tune. You'll be amazed by how quick you get the hang of it. When you've got the hang of the tune, start faffing about with your other hand on the same row, and seeing what sounds OK. Occasionally reaching down to the lower notes in the "outside" row. In a slightly refined version (i.e. I've been playing push-pull instruments since I was 13 or 14) this is exactly what I do. If anyone fancies printing this off on a postcard, and selling it as an Anglo tutorial for the "English" style, feel free. By all means wait for the DVDs, but don't rely on them too much -- there's only one person who can play the concertina in your own unique style, and that's you. So enjoy, and don't worry about the f***-ups too much.

Cripes! $40-$120 for said book from Amazon! Now that's what I call piracy.

Let's hope it never meets that South African Rock Chidley. If they breed, we're all doomed.

^ This.

In both locales, we will play harmonies and countermelodies on our tinas. But in the coolor spot, we will actually agree on the chords. --Mike K. Luckily, we'll have all eternity to do it in. That should be long enough. Probably. You also have to factor in the time it'll take for some of us English-style anglo players to work out what chord it is that we're actually playing. having the best and worst of both worlds, I imagine eternal purgatory for us Duet players. We'll visit you upon occasion for rhythmic insights, and smile knowingly at your chordal distemperment. All my chords are called "actually, that sounds alright." Does that help?

http://www.contemplator.com/sea/ward.html Here's one. Cracking tune, as well. There's a MIDI file on there, but -- as my computer is silent at the moment -- I can't tell if that's the cracking tune I have in mind. NB: It's about a pirate, btw. Don't know if any pirates ever sang it.

In both locales, we will play harmonies and countermelodies on our tinas. But in the coolor spot, we will actually agree on the chords. --Mike K. Luckily, we'll have all eternity to do it in. That should be long enough. Probably. You also have to factor in the time it'll take for some of us English-style anglo players to work out what chord it is that we're actually playing.

In both locales, we will play harmonies and countermelodies on our tinas. But in the coolor spot, we will actually agree on the chords. --Mike K. Luckily, we'll have all eternity to do it in. That should be long enough. Probably.

I reckon we'll still have 'tinas. It's just that the demonic hordes will have bodhrans & shaky eggs.

If you think that's bad, they used to put numbers on the buttons of Anglo concertinas - I kid you not! I guess you had to be able to read, to play an English... Numbers? It might have helped me if they'd have printed "dum" "der" "diddly" "dum" on them.

I can't really see why anyone would want to personify a concertina as being female. They're temperamental, expensive, and need a bit of a seeing-to every now and then.

By the way, what exactly was the point of printing the names of the notes on those student model English concertinas? I can see the point of maybe making the C button a different texture to the other ones (like on an old Hohner Double Ray) so you could find it with your fingers. Were you expected to play the thing with the end facing towards you? And if so, why aren't the letters on the other hand printed in mirror image so you could see them with a mirror on your lap?

I refer to my old Chinese concertina as "a piece of junk," in honour of the favoured form of marine transport in that country.

I have an old LP of Mike Harding, where he refers to his bass anglo as "this instrument of pleasure I have between my legs."

I'd echo what Chris says, but with one qualification -- if you're after doing songs, you might miss the lower notes on a 26 key. I could just about live without the two extras on the right hand on a 30 key. But I'd be lost without the bottom 2 on the left hand. Thing is, I'd go for a 30 unless you're seriously strapped for cash. But realise that you might come up against the limitations of your instrument sooner rather than later.

What's wrong with just joining in with the tunes you know, listening to the ones you don't know, and then going home to try and pick them up so's you can mebbes join in next time?

There are ,I don't , and why not ? In modern political climate "re-enacting the Civil War" begins to have very straight forward connotation. I'm sure there are some, who wouldn't mind to see it re-enacted en-large and for real. And I can't say I disapprove completely. Here here!! So that whole slavery thing was a price worth paying for Southern autonomy?

Too much information. Nah, I worked in Dublin for three months in as a care assistant in a hospice. Irish nurses.

*tentatively raises hand*

This is also true of non-musical English usage. In fact there are even special beers called "session beers" which are refreshing and not-too-strong, to enable you to drink them for long periods of time without falling over. As I discovered to my cost some years ago, Marston's Owd Roger is not one of these. *stands by for 2 pages on whether the Irish or the English came up with this first, and whether -- in order for it to be a real session -- you have to be drinking Guiness*

*wipes away tear*

No, just English/Flemish and song accompaniment. I suppose it's not proper amazing unless you can play authentic ITM as played by Americans the world over.

I do not doubt you, but I have heard people make this claim with no proof when the pudding was served. I think the best instruments for attempting this are the mandolin and fiddle. I think you're right. This said, one of the best harmonisers I've ever played alongside was (wait for it......) a trumpet player. :o Not only did she have a fantastic ear, but she could play quietly. To the extent that she could play countermelodies to otherwise unaccompanied singing*, and not be obtrusive. A truly amazing musician. * And help keep me in the same key.