AlanEgan

In God's name we can compare musicians of every genres, because a Mountain has only one pinnacle, but many sides. So musicians of many genres climb the slopes to reach the top and can be compared objectively by the altitude, but not by the routs and methods of climbing. I was simply stating un-eagerness to attribute some titles to musicians, whose musicianship (accentuation, universality, education, phrasing, depth of nuancing, complexity of harmony, elegance of application) is not that of professionally trained "classical" or "serious" musicians. The top quote is all that applied to you, you are correct in some of your comments but you are off the wall again with your last. If you knew anything about Irish Traditional Music you would understand that it comes from within the musician, yes anybody can play it but only some can master it. You cannot learn to be a good Irish musician you have to have it in you. To even suggest that Irish Musicians who spend their lives playing are not "serious" musicians only validates my point. I know a lot of classically trained musicians with full grades who have tried to cross over to Irish music and failed because they lack music! Everything seems so analysed and robotic and really does not work for Irish music. If "accentuation, universality, education, phrasing, depth of nuance, complexity of harmony, elegance of application" were that of what you consider a "serious" musician then we would really have a problem in Irish Traditional Music. You cannot learn from a book to be a good Irish musician, you need to immerse yourself in the tradition where you can develop your own style and not just play a tune the exact same as everyone else plays it. So as I stated before, you cannot compare Genres! You may aswell be trying to compare Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt. And in case you haven’t noticed, there are many mountains.

I think that this discussion is a waste of time; you may as well be comparing an Anglo to a fiddle or flute. The Anglo and the English are completely different instruments. They may both be concertinas but that is their only similarity. It is the exact same for Piano accordion and button. It is impossible to justify using Anglo or English for Irish music as it depends on the person playing the instrument. If the English concertina was the norm for Irish musicians to start on then I’m sure that we would have some amazing Irish music players on the English concertina. As for some of the comments here from m3838, some are not very wise and show a complete ignorance and lack of respect for Irish Traditional Music and its Musicians. How in god’s name can you compare musicians of different genres?? As for "bouncy" playing, this can be achieved on any instrument and is all down to the musician and their interpretation of the tune plus their ability on the chosen instrument.

Hi Tombilly, do you have any of Micheal's albums? His playing may sound "very busy" to you listening to him first time. Micheal is probably the most technically able musician on the Irish music scene. What he does is incomprehensible for a lot of beginner musicians. As you grow as a musician and get a better understanding of the music and the rhythm you will gain a greater appreciation for what he can do and soon it won't seem so busy. As for overdone.....not in the slightest. His ornamentation is perfect, chording excellent and you will not find better rhythm. I would recommend getting his first CD, "the Nervous man" and listen to this a few times as this is how the Anglo should be played in Irish music. As for the question of double noting, This is all down to personal style; some musicians use it very seldom while more include it throughout their playing. Sometimes it can be used for 2 or 3 notes at a time; it can even sound great for a whole bar all depending on the tune, anymore than that is usually too much. Another important factor is the tuning of your concertina. If your concertina has "in tune" concertina reeds it will sound great. If your octaves are out of tune I would not recommend it as it sounds terrible. This is the same for chording, if the concertina is not in tune; leave the "out of tune" note out of the chord. For those of you with accordian reeds, i'm afraid your just going to have to make do with what you have and hope that what your doing now will sound great once you get a real reeded concertina!

I don’t think conference with video is feasible at the minute with broadband speeds. The classes are going to be one-on-one as it is more beneficial for teaching also. There should be no issue if you have a 512kb+ broadband speed. The idea of posting videos may be a bit time consuming on your part but if you wish to do this I have no objections. I can’t see any problems arising if you have the latest version of Skype and a broadband connection of 512kb+. A new webcam may also fix your freezing video problem.

Hi Everyone, I am thinking of starting up online concertina lessons. I have won numerous All-Ireland titles and have been teaching for years. This will require you to have a broadband internet connection, a webcam, mic/headset, and an Anglo concertina of course! You can download Skype for free and set up an account from www.skype.com If interested in these lessons get in touch, classes will range from 30mins to 1hr depending on your ability and all abilities are catered for. You can email me direct on eganalan@gmail.com for more information. Thanks for reading, Alan Egan

It is #24091. It has been played constantly since I got her about 3 yrs ago now so she is completely broken in. Bellows 6 fold. Ornaments are easily played, very light and fast action. Fingering is precise and tone is beautiful.