[Its Rather Loud]

You're joking, but I'm serious.

 

No, I was serious about the sweatshirt, it just seem to be a good idea. I'm not familiar with darkroom bags, so I accept you opinion on that.

 

I was joking about the duffle coat though

[Its Rather Loud]

Luckily for you , there are such. They are called "Heavy Duty, Double Lined, Photo Processing, Dark Room bags"

 

Probably easier and closer to hand, how about putting your concertina in a sweat shirt and playing it with your hands up the sleeves.

 

If it's really heavy duty muting you're after, try a duffle coat

[Itchy Fingers]

Why the necessity to muffle the sound come 11pm ? Play alone, play softly, very softly, very very softly. No problem on my instrument. Excellent practice without the risk of driving others round the bend and sweeter tone into the bargain.

 

You're right Rod, but me being new to the instrument didn't fully realise the full dynamic range of the concertina. DW has only ever heard concertinas played full chat for morris dancers and as a result, had visions of me waking the whole street.

 

I've been practicing all aftrnoon. The tone is beautiful and sweet, not too loud at all

[Clavichord With Wicki-hayden Button Keyboard]

Can you substitute a URL link to a photo "remote hosted" on your own Web site?

 

That's a great way to save your own personal web space. I host my pics in Photo Bucket and linked them to my site (The site is not up and running at the moment). I also do that with Myspace.

[Itchy Fingers]

So, I'll be able to report back to Anne whether you've been giving it enough execise by looking at how much time you've spent posting on here?

 

Well, if my time spent posting on the Fiddle Forum is anything to go by it's suprising that I find time to Practice anything

[Itchy Fingers]

Thanks all for the welcome and the encouragement

 

I was up early this morning. Sat for a while just noodling around the buttons trying to get a sense of direction, feeling the rows and spaces. I eventually managed to get a C major scale starting at middle C. After an hour or so I worked it up to two octaves. I also worked out the G major scale but my right thumb is getting sore. I've made an adjustment to the thumbs straps and it's much more comfortable now.

 

I've been watching a tutorial on Youtube where the first tune is Go Tell Aunt Nancy so I'll give that a shot this aft. Any suggestions for other beginner tunes? What was the first tune you played on your conc?

[Itchy Fingers]

Yay! I've just got my first concertina!

 

I've been looking for an English concertina for a few weeks now and I've been snooping around on this forum looking for tips and advice. Today I went to visit an old friend I met whilst playing fiddle for a morris side, she has lent me a Wheatstone 48 key treble concertina that she feels needs playing to keep it healthy. I'm as chuffed as a cat with two tails . I arrived home and was just getting it out of it's box to see if I could manage to play a scale in C, but DW has reminded me that it's after 11pm so I'd better not.

 

I can't wait 'till morning

[First Purchase - English Choices - Appreciate Advice]

You will also have to adjust to Jackie not having the duplicates, and for more common keys it is not a big deal.

Something with four flats will present a challenge.

 

The tunes I play at the moment are in the keys of F, C, D, G and A, anything else is beyond me on the fiddle. So I can't see me wanting to play in any others unless I need to make adjustments for a singer, but that's way in the future.

 

Edited to make more sense

[First Purchase - English Choices - Appreciate Advice]

The difference is barely perceptible, if anything the Jackie gives you a fraction of a millimetre more room but you'd be hard pushed to tell.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

I was recently lent a beginners concertina by a friend, the playability of the instrument put me off ever buying anything less than a fully restored vintage model. The bellows are stiff, the buttons are not level, some need to be pressed right into the hole in the ends before they play and there is a double note on one of the keys. But reading the reviews and opinions on this forum of the Jackie, I am begining to think that buying one may make good sense.

[First Purchase - English Choices - Appreciate Advice]

I've read this thread with great interest since I've had the same thought as the original poster.

 

May I revive this topic and ask one more question? Are the buttons on the Jackie spaced the same as the vintage Wheatstones (I find it difficult to tell from the pics) making the change from one instrment to the other easy?

[Loking For Shops/dealers In The Uk]

Oops! two more post while I was typing

 

Jubilee have a few loaners if you want to try out a concertina (I think Angie has a couple of english and at least one anglo, but I'm not sure there are duets, though there should be one or two of these at the session.

 

That's an interesting idea. I've just missed this months session (last night) so I may give it a try next month if my shifts work out right.

 

If you can get to Whitby Folk Week Aug 16-22 you will find many concertinas on offer in the trade fair. I'll have some, and a selection of Chris Algar's, though he will not be there himself, and Hobgoblin and the Music Room will have their stock there too. Its a good opportunity to talk to several dealers under one roof.

 

You took the words right out of my mouth Theo.

[Loking For Shops/dealers In The Uk]

Seriously you need to TALK to Chris Algar at Barleycorn, he has without doubt the largest array in the UK of English system concertinas known to man!

 

I've just recieved an email back from Chris at Barleycorn Concertinas. He has a large amount of English concertinas in stock, but as with most dealers, his stock is being sent to Whitby in time for the folk festival. Looks like I'm going to have to wait a month or two before making a purchase.

 

Or I could always go to the Whitby Festival

[Loking For Shops/dealers In The Uk]

Thanks for the replies

 

I went to the Music room last week but they had no stock and the staff new very little about concs. To be fair, they are all away during festival season, but I was a bit disapointed.

 

I'm hoping to get to Hobgoblin in Leeds next week sometime.

 

I've emailed Barleycorn Concertinas just now, so hoping for a reply soon.

 

 

Check out the buy and sell forum on here, there's a link to a very tasty Wheatstone 48 key Æola on ebay at the minute

 

Hmm just a little over my budget atm

 

and you might also be interested in going along to one of the Jubilee Concertina workshops in Chorley, 2nd saturday of the month

 

Great stuff, that's just down the road from work. How come I didn't know about this already.

[Loking For Shops/dealers In The Uk]

Hello, I'm new to this forum and as yet, do not play the concertina. I'm looking for a good quality English system instrument. Can anyone suggest a shop or a dealer where I can buy one. Most of the musical instrument shops I visit only have cheaper beginers outfits. I'm located in Lancashire but prepared to travel to buy.

 

Thanks in advance,

Martyn