pauline de snoo
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Posts posted by pauline de snoo
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Today I have had a midi concertina made by Roy exactly one week and sofar I have used it connected to my computer in order to experiment and mainly to write music. I love it. Great work by Roy, very clever indeed.I will tell more about it in a few months time when I will have been able to use it on it's own in my teaching too.
And I love the possibility to use the different sounds of different instruments. Since I am not good at the normal piano type keyboard this is ideal for me.
Pauline
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As promised here are new exercises. Conac 4-7 in a new key. Last month in C now in F and new exercises Conac 8-10. Pdf file for the sheetmusic and mp3 for soundfile. concertina-academy
Click right on your mouse to download and enjoy.
Pauline
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How about trying one of Jamey Aebersold's books for jazz improvising. To start with i would suggest number 24 called Major and Minor.
His books can be used for any instrument.
Pauline
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To develop ones own style is sometimes difficult when one is being taught music. But I found that if you open your ears ?? to all music you hear around you and especially live performances, this may help you to find your own style.
I play a lot of newly composed music
and find that it is an advantage that the pieces have not been played before which leaves me to discover how to play them. When I play a piece that has been written for another instrument people start to compare 
and then forget that often the same piece on for example piano or clarinet or violin sounds different even or especially when played by a musician who is considered very good on his or her instrument. I believe it takes time and experimenting on your instrument and then stick to what you like best for yourself 
. I am still experimenting.Pauline
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When I was in Swaledale I had the opportunity of playing Roy's midi concertina and I was very impressed. It feels almost exactly the same as playing the ordinary concertina. The pressure of the bellows does have the same effect on the sound volume. I look forward to using the midi concertina with my computer and in some of the general music teaching that I do.
Pauline
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The donwloads should be working oke now on the website. So please check out www.concertina-academy.com
remember that the mp3 files may take some time to download depending on the speed of your connection.
Best download the pdf files with music first.
Have fun
Pauline
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I wonder and may be wrong but nowadays it seems that more men play it than women.
At the various concertina events I have attended, there is a mixture of male/female attendance, which varies from place to place and time to time. I have not tried to compile statistics, but a quick check of ICA membership shows 70% Male, 26% female, and 4% joint membership. It should be noted that there are a number of cases where both members of a partnership play, but only a single membership is registered.
John Wild
Myabe it is time that the ladies became members of the ICA since there seem to be so many. Can we do something about that? Some PR for the ICA and the ICA can give some special attention to the female players?? Without forgetting about the male players ofcourse. In the workshops in the Netherlands I ususally see more men than women and if there are many more female players than men it does not show in the concertina weekends I visit in the UK. I seem to see just slightly more men in general. Not really having counted them I know there are always more than enough men in the Ceilidh in Swaledale to keep the present women dancing all night. And then there are still men sitting around the dancefloor during the dance. Would there be a difference in number for Anglo , English and Duet players?
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Yes that seems to be so John. I wonder and may be wrong but nowadays it seems that more men play it than women. To every concertina event I go I seem to see more male players than female. Or do the women stay away from these events for all sorts of reasons. No time (children, work etc?)?? I wonder.
Pauline
PS An afterthought. For those (women) who do not get to concertina weekends like Swaledale where often new music is handed out. Have a look under "teaching and learning".
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Chris wrote: I've been trying to spend a few minutes a day with these - they have GOT to be good for me (like medicine!). I thought I was making progress till I hit number 6. Should I be trying get 3 fingers on those 3 note groups (I can't
) or is it allowed to try and get a couple of buttons with one finger? (I have small fingers but I think I can just about manage the chords that way). CERTAINLY do use one finger on two buttons if comfortable. I tend to do that in this case. There are places in music where I do use three fingers on such chords, but my hands are small, and I do it if necessary due to whatever follows or comes before.Oh yes.... number 7 makes my brain hurt and I think I've got my eyes crossed by the time I've played it tthrough a few times (See earlier threads on "concertina face"!) CERTAINLY it will be a matter of getting used to reading more than one note at the time.
Go on practicing Chris and the next ones will be easier although I will also make some more complex ones.
Pauline
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Thank you all. I will tell my webbuilder about the mp3 files. Sorry for that but I do hope you enjoy the exercises. Anyway every month there should be some simpler and some more difficult ones in no particular order.
Pauline
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Once a month new exercises will be published for English Concertina players. This is the first time. You can download the music, print it (and practice) and the mp3 files to listen to them. Free of charge. Enjoy.
They will be replaced once a month by new ones.
Any questions....mail me.
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I use a neckstrap all the time and have special very small inserts in the instrument to attach it. So it is hardly noticable. For some time I used a saxophone strap that I had adjusted but now I am back to a very nice cord. But I take care never to let the concertina hang from the strap. I always support it with my hands, even when I am not playing. And so the weight never is fully on the strap. It just takes some of the weight off my hands and thumbs. If you would like to see me play concertina, using a neckstrap you can have a look at the documentary "Playing the concertina". Preview on my website www.concertina-academy.com
Pauline
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Is anyone checking that there are no copyrights involved when publishing tunes on one site? I had a lot of work just checking for 4 tunes if somehow there was someone out there I had to ask permission and pay for the use of a tune. Sometimes quite difficult.
If it is composed by yourself and played and then published there is no problem if you are alright with it.
Mentioning this just in case.
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Yes Alistair is definitely even if not always really "dancing" while playing, he always does move as if dancing. Another classical musician told me after a concert in Witney in September that he felt embarassed by it but then after a little while he understood that Alistair's moving during playing was functional.
And ideed it is. It is like I have mentioned in another thread very similar to Jacqueline Du Pré's movement in her performance on cello in classical music. Lots of people did not understand that. That is the way they very naturally perform and play their music with a lot of feeling and it is real not for effect. They just have the music in their body; internalized as we would all wish for. At least I do.
And one clogdancer told me that when Alistair plays for them it is as if he lifts them off the floor.
Pauline
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Quote:
Thank you for taking notice of my contribution Ian. I've not been here for a few days and am just picking up the threads. I think ornamentation is the key isn't it. What is really interesting is to hear how other instrumentalists tackle a tune - I find particular inspiration from a couple of albums of Northumbrian pipers who seem to take ornamentation to the nth degree.
How about trying to vary? Sometimes adding ornamentation and sometimes for example playing in thirds or sixths or fifths. This can be varied even within a tune and will make it very interesting. And maybe try other possibilities.
Pauline
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When/where is it to be held?
It is always in Swaledale in the UK. Mail to jedwards@wrenbeck.u-net.com for info. There are always some people from far away countries. It is in a Youth Hostel and this is situated in a very picturesque spot on a hill with a view over the dales. So besides the concertina playing great walking too. Wonderful atmosphere and a ceilidh on Saturday night.
Pauline
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There is now a possibility to order a videotape if you do not have a dvd player. For this please send a request by email.
Pauline
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If coming from a piano background you might be interested in Regondi' s New Method and some new compositions that use polyphonic playing on the English Concertina. Not just chords but two melodies going at the same time. And a combination of chords and melodies. It then sounds as if there are two instruments playing. So it is possible to do a lot more as Jim Lucas said before.
Pauline
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I also understand that another unfortunate thing is happening in the North-East of England. 25 years ago Northumbrian tunes were commonly played in most sessions in the NE alongside a mix of other tunes. I no longer live in the area but understand that Irish tunes have more or less taken over which is a great shame.
I do not have the opportunity to visit all the gigs in the North East. But the students I heard play did not just play Irish tunes. They played hardly any Irish actually but they certainly still used the familiar older styles, also from Norh England. It just was that some of them started to use different sounds, different notes. Which means a change of tonality but the tunes were still very recognizable in style. As far as I can see it they are allowed a large amount of freedom and are not forced to do anything. They are just learning to look around, broaden their skills and knowledge and find their own way for the future.
There is always a danger when teaching something and in some cases it does occur that one believes that the teacher's word is law but I think that goes for anything that is taught . One needs to find a balance somehow and that is never easy I think.
Pauline
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The last couple of months I have heard quite a bit of folk musicians or rather students of the Folkdegree at the Sage ( the University of Newcastle), The young players seem to develop the original folktunes in such a way that I hear now similar use and changes in sound (chords and so on) as in modern jazz. So there is quite a development going on. And it seems (as far as the use of tonalities)almost similar to the development that happened from classical jazz to modern jazz. And through this similar changes it appears to me to bring modern folk and jazz and modern classical music very close together in this use of sounds. Though still keeping their other characteristics.
Very interesting. Has anyone else noticed this??
Pauline
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I've worked on focus with songs. Total involvement with the "moment" rather than worry about what does the audience think about what I'm doing.
That is right Mark and Andy. It has to do with focus. That is one of the elements you can train through Dynamic rehearsal (movement), as I mentioned before. You learn to focus on what you are doing rather than on worrying about possible mistakes, technical difficulties, the notes, the words etc. It then just becomes music making.
It needs training but works really well.
Pauline
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Additional useful information you may find in Dave Elliott's Concertina Maintenance Manual. Available through My Webpage
Pauline
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Very nice website It is always useful to find tunes for single line music practice on concertina. And even better with the play along possibility.
Pauline
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Yes Andy. I am myself inclined to cose my eyes when I am concentrating very much and when I play by heart. However I am starting to believe that an audience likes it when a musician communicates also by looking at them. Pietro Valente has inspired me there and the photos he showed me of his and his mother's performance. And singers usually look at the audience as if they are telling their story to them especially. It makes the audience feel part of it maybe.
So I am now getting used to looking at the audience while playing. That too needs practice.
Exercises For English Concertina
in Teaching and Learning
Posted
Hello Malcolm
Sorry about the late answer but I was away for a couple of days.
You have not missed much sofar. I just started publishing exercises in June. Eventually I will collect them and add more in a book with cd or dvd. Just start with these and between 10 and 17 August I will publish new exercises.
Have fun playing
Pauline