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I don't know the name of the tune she starts playing in the minute 1:20, but It belongs to the Asturian Traditional Music Repertoire! very surprised of listening that one! she plays it very well

Hi! you are right, I'm one of those that are living in Ireland and want to prove that Irish Music can be played on the English System. I play Irish Music as well. This is the eternal discussion, a lot have been written about this. I still think that It can be done. I'm trying to use the bellows in the Anglo style, I'm not using them like a Piano Accordion. Anyway, with his own distinct style of playing, I think Simon Thoumire has already proved it. Me, I'm 33 years old now, I started a bit late, and I only play when I feel like playing, I don't think I will get to prove this way of playing on my own, but I hope I'm giving ideas to people and maybe they can be useful to them. Once I saw one American concertinist, playing the English System, doing with the bellows exactly the same as me, I don't remember his name now.. Hi! La Musgaña and Milladoiro, are bands that are very important to me, I enjoyed listening them a lot and many times I've been trying to play their music. I like English Music as well, I have a few tunes that I play with the concertina Steve, lovely music indeed.

Hi Sam! I don't know the meaning of the word muñeira. But I doubt it there are some of these in Catalonia, they have their own distinct music the catalans. The word muñeira is associated to Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria. The gralla is a beautiful instrument, I know better the dulzaina, It is the one they play in Castille. I tried to play one of those and I had to gave up, I couldn´t cope with the pain I had in the lips!

Hi Geoff! Actually, I found a video of the Asturian band I learnt the tune from, they start playing it in the minute 0:47: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN4pAnFGf7U&feature=related I would say that in the North of Spain (Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria) they play very similar to Irish Music. The difference are the melodies, they are different, you can tell It is not Irish Music. Best Regards, Fernando

Hi everybody! I hope you like this, this is me playing a Wheatstone model 22. I'm trying to play a Muñeira, this is a 6/8 type of tune that they play in different places in the North of Spain, this one is from Asturias. I hope you enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDEMbO4slxM

In case your question is still open: Sounds like F Mixolydian, which has just one note differing from the Major (or "Ionian") scale/mode: the minor seventh, i.e.: Eb (playing in G Mixolydian would thus need no flats or sharps at all, just the natural notes = white keys or EC middle rows). edited to say: sorry, just missed page 2... Thanks! that is nice thing to know! to know the keys is sometimes so difficult...

Yes you are right Geoff!

Concertina repairs in Ireland? Well there's always our very own Stephen Chambers at McNeill's Music Shop, Kilkee Thank you a lot for the information. But I usually go to Brendan Mulhaire in Galway City, I used to live there, I know him well. I was wondering if there was someone here in Cork, that would be nice. I didn't know that Geoff! very nice! You made my day with that piece of information! Because I bought the concertinas as a way to keep the money as well, instead of using the bank. I'm not rich at all, and I need that at least the prices don't go down. Best Regards, Fernando

Hi Geoff! Lovely instrument! there is no wonder I say this because I have another one hehehe But wow! what a price! I paid 2,000 pounds for mine! without a case! two years ago! What happens I think is one out of four possibilities: - The price of these concertinas is going down. - Maybe it depends of the concertina, I must admit that I try a few model 22 in the house of the dealer and I could see a difference, I took the loudest one, that was a bit more expensive than the others. - The dealer sold my concertina at a higher price. - Your price is an especial offer. And by the way, strap of the case of the concertina a bought from you broke the other day, what a pity! I'm going to leave it as it is because I don't know how to repair it... Now I'm going to have problems repairing my concertinas, because I moved, I'm in Cork now and I don't know if there is someone here that I can go...

Thanks for the explanation Tomo! I see now! I don't know if there is one that is right. Personally I prefer the version that Sean Ryan plays, I suppose It's because the speed is the same in both parts, and they last the same. Any more strange tunes let me know! Cheers, Fernando

Hello, Leo! I learned this set dance from The Final Round by Kevin Joyce. It's an unusual Irish tune. A part is a slip jig and B part is a double jig! I love unusual Irish tunes. Tomoyuki http://irish.cocolog-nifty.com/flute_concertina/ Very good Tomo! I like that tune, I heard it before from Sean Ryan (the tin whistler). From listening your playing, I can tell that there is a difference from the way Sean Ryan plays it. I would need a confirmation of this, but I have the feeling that you are not playing a rhythm of double jig in the second part, If I'm not mistaken, you are playing a rhythm that is not ternary. I think that for playing slip jig / double jig, you have two options: play the first part slower or play the second part faster. Of course this is just my opinion, I would love to get more opinions on this because I'm not completely sure. And Tomo, I also love unusual Irish tunes! I'm always trying to analyse them. Another video I liked very much is the last one, thay guy is doing very well with the harmonica and concertina toguether. I subscribed to his videos straight away, his playing looks very promising, a future new player to the likes of Mick Kinsella and Rick Epping.

Very nice the model 22, I have one and I'm quite happy with it. It has a good sound, this is me playing it: Sometimes I have to open it because there must be something obstructing the reeds, for that I take the reed, blow through it, put it back, and It goes back to normal. The only advise I can give is to have a look at the felts, when I bought mine I didn't realise that they were the original ones (from 1917) and I've been changing them. I didn't do this myself, I had to pay each time. If you don't put new felts, as the concertina is metal ended, and the buttons are made of metal, you get a clacking sound that interfieres with the music. I'm going to see closely that auction of that model 22 on ebay. I paid 2,000 pounds for mine two years ago, the case was not the original, was a cheap one that the dealer gave me for free.

Hi everybody! I'm trying to play chords with the English Concertina, first time I try to play chords with any instrument, this is another world! I did this the other day: Chord Generator It is an Excel file that gives a diagram of Major or Minor chords, in any note. A few easy instructions for those who may be interested on this: 1) When you go to the link, press the button that gives the option Download. 2) Once the file is on your computer (if you see that It's a "read-only file", you must save it to your computer) open it and go to the first spreadsheet. 3) At the bottom of this page there are two boxes. One for entering the Note, and the other for entering the Mode (Major or Minor). 4) You can find the diagram for the chord in the second spreadsheet. The notes of the chord are in green, the optional note that gives the "7" is in yellow. Note that this file is done taking into account that the concertina is in that tuning where D#=Eb and Ab=G#, and the concertina has 48 buttons. I hope this is of some help to you! Fernando

The Valiant! It will be always in my mind, I find myself many times humming it when I'm happy

My god Leo! for me the best collection of videos so far! That band of the video called "Tigididum" is incredibly good, vey accomplished musicians, with very good ideas. That video called "La Concertina enBoivia" (this is clearly a mispelling, this should be La Concertina en Bolivia) is an interesting documentary of the English Concertina in Bolivia. And the video called Radio "Fous de Folk #4 (29/05/11) Nouveaux instruments chez les Blossom" It's very good to me because It's a good oportunity to keep learning French and getting to know about the concertina music in France. Keep it up Leo!

The sessions are the story of my life! In my opinion, there will always be a clash between two groups: - Well experienced musicians, that had always people to play with outside a session. They decide to go to an open session in a pub to be listen to or to work. - Musicians that had not the chance to play with people, and therefore with a much lower level, or with high level but everything or part of what they learnt is wrong. These people decide to go to a session to learn or to make friends. I'm from the second group. This means that at some time in the past I've done all those things that many people are complaining here. Well, we learn I can tell you, we learn how to behave with time. And to play? well, to play well I don't know if we get there. When you see a "blow in" as they are called in Ireland, and this person is making you feel uncomfortable, my advise is: 1) Talk to him for a while, in a friendly way (what's your name, where are you from, why did you come here, etc.) 2) If you see that you can talk with this person, and that there is nothing wrong with him/her, you can directly explain what is happening.

In Spain the concertina is not known at all, it is not part of the instruments played in Spanish music, but everybody has an image of a sailor playing a little accordion with an exagonal shape. I have the feeling that this could be because an old movie or something like that. I think that for younger generations this image is going to disappear and then very few people is going to know this instrument. But I'm living in Ireland, everybody knows the concertina! they don't know the system I play, but maybe that is too much to ask

You are deadly right! I love that tune he's playing in that video, never heard before. He is a very good player and if he shows the instrument so much the better! Fernando

Great these videos! as usual. I'm writing just to clarify that all the videos with the heading Spain are from Bolivia. There is a living tradition of concertina music in this country, as many members of these forum know. In Spain there is no tradition on this instrument. But a there are a few of us that want to start it! give us some time, maybe 50 or 100 years, you will see hahahahaha

In my opinion it is very important to keep the motivation high. And sometimes, when you are trying a tune again and again, the motivation goes down. Solution: change of tune!. With time, you end up having lots of tunes, and none of them played well. But you are still learning. One day, suddendly, you start playing them pretty well. I would go first for slow tunes, and jigs. I spent years playing these. I would leave the reels to the end. I go 100% by ear, when I get a tune using my ear I feel really happy. First I have to listen the tune many times. When I go for the tune, I do this: I play the recording, listen a few notes, stop the recording, and quickly try to play the notes with my instrument. I do this all the way till the end of the tune.

Thanks David! good to know! Fernando

I have a model 22 Wheatstone English concertina, 48 buttons as well. But I see that this one looks bigger, why is that so? is this a baritone concertina? or it has more reeds per button? and the seller says that this concertina is loud and it's perfect for sessions; I've never seen an English Concertina that is half loud than an Anglo, is this an exception? is there a difference between aeola and concertina? Sorry for my unculture, I hope to learn with the help of the members of this forum Fernando

Hi Ido! I have plenty to learn about chords! but I'm going to try to add something new to this topic, something very simple you will see. You can get the tune you want to play, the Bear Dance for example, and do this: On the beats of the tune, you play another note at the same time: the same note of the melody, but an octave lower. This is not a chord, it is just the same note. But you will see that sometimes you can keep this note for while, it fits to the next notes in the melody, making an effect similar to a chord or a drone. I recorded a video time ago trying to do this, it is I hope this is of some help to you! Fernando

Thanks Geoff! Thanks Ron! I liked what you wrote in here, I would love to have one of this concertinas. I cannot wait to play one of these, for sure I would have to look for a suitable tune, and I'm sure I would have to change the octave in the middle of the tune. Maybe Scottish pipes tunes can be played, as these bagpipes have only one octave. I saw videos in youtube with a person I think is a member of this forum, Goran: With what looks like an exactly identical one! with added straps for the thumbs But I've just bid now (thepineplanter), and I've been outbid straight away! It is the first time I bid in Ebay, I'm not sure if I'm going to continue... I don't think because I didn't make enough research on this. More than 500 euro for this is an unknown territory for me for this type of concertina. I suppose I had better wait till I get to know more about this... But I'm still learning about this matters thanks to this forum, which is a very nice thing! Fernando

An English! miniature concertina! and Wheatstone! I'm going to join the bidding! Fernando