Bob Lusk

Is that a D/G?

I bet you could do it on computer and print to a sheet that would allow you to transfer it to the leather by rubbing.

That harp was great - wish the text was in English or that I had better German.

It says "service"., Did that include tuning? Does it have aluminum shoes?

The seller is very well known to the list. I have bought several items from him over the past 10 years. Selling concertina's is his full time business. If anyone has had negative experience with him, I haven't seen it mentioned on the list. It looks like a good deal and if he says it is playable, it is. That said, I believe most players prefer more than 4 fold bellows, but English isn't my strong suit. I guess you technically don't run out of air as easily as an anglo. It would fit your description of "good enough to be played live as soon as I am good enough to play it." I have paid more for worse.

There used to be a piano factory in Queens. Was it Steinway?

Do you feel it is because your hands are too big or too small? When I was 1st playing English - I'm not now - I felt the thumb strap was too tight - it felt claustrophonbic. I adapted in time.

So in theory, if you tuned a 12 notes scale to their scale, you'd be able to play along The question is though, what is their root note?

The lap dulcimer is called a Harmonium and is pretty widely now accepted in Indian Music. Most Indian traditional instruments are based on a single "Do". (They call it "Sa") Usually it is C#, but it can be anything. Also common are D, G# and A. The Do is the starting note of the scale. If you play in C#, you will usually never play in anything else. There are a lot of scales - they call them "Ragas". Within the Do the other notes are going to be slightly different frequencys than a western chromatic scale. More like "just" intonation. With a sitar, they move the frets if they are going from one scale to another. On the harmonium they can't and at one time this was very contraversial. One reason the keyboard is so well accepted is that in order to earn a living, musicians have to be able to play "Bollywood" music, which requires more chormatics. BTW, Harmoniums have drones. Harmoniums that are sold for the Indian market have their drones in C# and G#. Some harmoniums sold for western players have the drones in non sharp keys. And that's about as much as I know about it. Wonder how many mistakes I made? Bob

A small 48 bass piano accordion will do everything you want. Newer accordions are lighter and if you buy from someone reputable more in tune and hold more air. Buying an old accordion if you are starting out is a false economy unless you really, really know that everything works and that it is tuned well. Cheap accordions on the internet will probably have problems unless it is a known reputable dealer. Good luck. There are so many types of free reed instruments - if you get the right one for you on the first try, consider yourself lucky.

Note that the K-tone is "hand carved"

Thank you - yes that was what I wanted.

Question - You would think that the shop owner would need to contact the police if only to file a report for insurance purposes, or to take the loss off of his taxes?

I once played a 6 sided button accordion - mother of toilet seat, but with a good strong sound. It had 4 buttons on left hand side and 1 row button accordion on right hand. This was not a child's toy and was of recent manufacture. I remember it being called and "organ...." something. It was great for singing. Anyone know the real name and where to get one?

Claire - nice to see your post - this is the type of comments I was looking for. I haven't been getting to as many dance tune sessions as I would like recently. I've been using it more to accompany singing and it is slow working with the chords in D, but it is happening.

The whole DADGAD sound though does come from jazz. As does the piano accompaniment used by a lot of Cape Breton's. Most jazz guitarists are vamping, cutting the chords short, not letting them ring. A lot of DADGAD stuff can be played in standard tuning using what rock guitarists call them "power chords". Probably sounds best on a modern plugged in acoustic like a Taylor or Martin cutaway. I'm hopelessly old fashioned - have a Martin D-35S which could drown out a 30 person accordion session if I let it. - But I try and use my power for good.

Interesting stuff - I love the Uillean pipe stuff - part of what attracted me to concertina was that it sounded a bit like small pipes. That was the kind of response I was hopeing to get from my questions. Re the rest, I understand that Irish music is melody driven. More personally I come from a dance tradition. I started off playing guitar for Irish dances in places where we didn't use sound equipment or have pianos and a strong accompanimnet was welcome. I tended to play more drones, less 3rds quite naturally - Many times other guitarists criticized me for not putting in more chords, not understanding what I was doing. Now I usually use my cittern, which is tuned without 3rd's - and probably play more melody on it than accompaniment -keeps em guessing. The whole "session etiquette" I've seen on many forums over the years. My own feeling is that if you want to play with a tight knit group of people for yourselves, do it as a public performance or in your own kitchen - don't call it an open session. If anyone wants to come to a welcoming session we have one in Kingston, NY every Wed lunchtime 12-1 at a state historic site called the Senate House.

I could loan you a non-working concertina player....

OK, just cut out some copy paper and white glued it to the back of the label. It looks fine. Perhaps I'll regret it 20 years down the line, but cosmetically this concertina is rather battered and beaten - love the sound though.

Thanks for all the suggestions. It helps me map out a plan of attack. I am continuing to work on all fronts but realize that I am going to need to put some time in figuring out where all the chords are in the key of D. Is there any place online that gives crossrow fingerings to common dance tunes? Bob

Thanks - I do understand about session etiquette issues and the variety of opinions. I guess I'm asking does it ever get possible to just relax and play along in D crossrow fingering the way it is to chord along on a guitar. The past few days I've been at a few friendly sessions where I have been trying to do this and am getting a hint of a feel of it.

I just noticed that the maker label on my Jones anglo is torn. Probably I poked with a finger at some point. Any suggestions on how to fix it? I know how to disassemble it. I'm not sure if I should tape the back or use some sort of glue. The tear is square in the middle of the label. I'm thinking some sort of white papeer to reinforce the back with white glue. Or would scotch or packing tape work as well? Bob Lusk

I consider myself an advanced beginner (slow fingers) on the Anglo although have messed around with them for years. On the other hand I played guitar, bouzouki,banjo and fiddle for years in dance bands, both Irish, English and American so I have some understanding of how this stuff works. On those instruments I don't have any problem playing along at a sessun or dance even if I don't have the tune memorized. I know that is frowned on by a lot of musicians but although I read, I am primarily an ear player and my experiance is that the audiance or dancers enjoy it a lot more when the music is coming from people that know how to jam, rather than those who have just memorized their tunes. Change topic - on bluegrass banjo "Scruggs" style is relativly easy to learn and once you get past the beginning stages very easy to use to jam with. You can pretty much use a variety of right hand rolls to vary the sound and change your left hand chords easily if you know how to chord along. On the other hand "melodic" style bluegrass banjo plays the melody note for note- it has to be memorized exactly - and it takes a long time, if ever to be able to jam along in melodic style. Perhaps another analogy would be folk vs classical guitar or chord along styles on the piano vs classical style. Origional topic - On a C/G concertina it is easy to chord along on songs and tunes in C&G using the root rows. What I have seen on Irish crossfingering has been memorizing note for note. Payoff question - Do you ever get to the point where you can just play along in D (or G crossfingered)on Irish dance tunes even though you don't have the tune memorized note for note? I would expect to be able to use a combination of drones, chords and apreggios. Does anyone ever do this? Any tips? As I'm writing this and reflecting, I imagine this would be a similar to providing a second part to another melody instrument if you were playing as a duo.

Thank you - It's starting to come to me now. I have to work on the mp3 business but thanks for the offer. I do wish there was some place to find fingering indications on paper though.

I was a beginner in Noel Hill's class last summer and an intermediate in Edel Fox's East Durham class recently. I am still having trouble with cross row playing especially when a tune ends on A and then goes to D or visa versa. It seems hard to avoid playing on the same column. Is it acceptable to play on the same column going from the end of an A or B part to the beginning not of the nezxt part? Is there anyone here who was in her E Durham class who could help me with the fingering on some of the tunes she gave? Thanks - Bob Lusk