Frederick Wahl

What I have done was create a page full of "blank" keyboards in my word processor, such as (for my 34-key Anglo): 00000 00000 000000 000000 000000 000000 I then cut and paste one keyboard on each side of a blank business card. Each note gets one card, one side for the push and the other side for the pull. I fill in the correct dots for each note and label it as the push or pull side. (I even notate at the bottom which octave each particular note is in). I then laminate each card as they receive a lot of use/abuse, but for some that may be over the top. When it comes time to practice ANY scale (or song), you just lay out the cards in the correct order - choosing either a push or pull for each note. You can then change or rearrange as needed. I've also created several reference cards that describe the various scales and chords, etc...

Some of the most memorable accompaniments are rather melodic in their own right and provide counterpoint to the main melody line. When used with discretion until just the right moment they can be devastating (in a good way). Sorry that I can't be more specific than that. I haven't heard enough concertina music yet to be able to recommend a good example, but you could listen to Samuel Barber's "The School for Scandal" or David Raksin's "Forever Amber" suite to hear what I mean.

My Rochelle has the same problem. I assume it's a feature of less expensive instruments - and for the price I still think it's a good instrument to learn on. I'm not sure how much of a strain my lack of technique in the beginning was on the bellows, but I am glad that I had time to practice on something not too expensive. The unwanted noise will be a good excuse for you to upgrade to something better soon.

I once went to great lengths to create a set of audio flashcards containing all the various intervals that I had sampled on the guitar. In theory it seemed like it would be a very simple process and I was certainly motivated - hoping the ability to recognize intervals would allow me to better play by ear. In practice however, it turned out to be very difficult - I suspect because when I listened to the notes, I was also hearing the harmonic series of the strings and it became very confusing to reliably identify the notes themselves or the interval between them. I do however have an instinctive ability to pick out the notes of a song on the guitar without too much trouble, so maybe I'm doing it in a less analytical way. As for reading music, I can decode it - but why use a notation that changes the distance between lines and spaces every time you change keys? A major 3rd is a major 3rd in any key.

Your comments reminded me of my struggles to comprehend the guitar (12-string no less). After many years I finally realized that if you pay attention to the "intervals" between notes - the guitar fretboard becomes almost trivial. For example: The (standard) tuning of the guitar is EADGBE. If you look at the intervals (half-steps) between strings, you're looking at 55545. If you combine that with knowing the intervals between the notes of a chord or melody, it's easy to "do the math" and find your way around the entire fretboard. For a major chord composed of a root, major 3rd, and perfect 5th (0, 4, and 7 halfsteps): start with the root on the lowest string. The major 3rd is 1-fret down (+5 -1) on the next string. The perfect 5th is 2-frets below that on the third string (+10 -3). Maybe not the preffered example or fingering, but it's easy to visualize all the various intervals and inversions that can be found with some simple math. Unfortunately, this system isn't quite as straight forward on the concertina. But I'm learning!!!

Does anyone know what % the import tax might be for this from Canada to US?