Earl Cameron

so what if the reed is steel but the frame is brass?

I can't really find a handy note to cut between the two G's in the last measure but I find that I can hang onto the Bb an extra eighth note and cut it and it sounds ok, or play like a Bb A G instead of Bb G G. Also found some other great variations in the process.

Well traditionally we play this one at a session in G minor with another reel in F major I have no trouble with the one if F major so it's not the tonality but the trouble is what to do with repeated notes. I'm finding that I can cut the low F's. I can also lead into some of the G's with F notes. So I guess I'm figuring it out just wanted to know if there was some sort of known solution.

I won't say that I can sight read on the concertina, but I can work out the notes to a tune using the sheet music as a guide. On fiddle sight reading is very easy. As a concertina player I've relied on learning tunes that I already play on fiddle by memory on the concertina. But I find that even if I can remember how I play on the fiddle I'm really translating a finger position into a note and then processing that into concertina fingering, so It's become faster to start reading on concertina from the same notation. I monkeyed around with concertina tablature and is still something I would like to work on as I want to build a program much like those programs that show you the keyboard note when a midi file plays but it will light up a button on a concertina diagram as the notes play, or it might light up several buttons if there is more than one option.

I'm just learning to play myself, over the past few years I have dabbled. Because I've always loved these keys I have tried to learn them on the anglo and to me it's easier than trying to play in D major. I'm on the lookout for D major tunes that don't use very much c# but I don't mind Bb in fact it adds life to my playing since I moved low Bb to the center pull of left hand accidental row, the high one is in the standard spot, the center pull of right hand accidental row.

Oh and if the diad is a minor sixth, either the top note is the root of a major chord or the bottom note is the fifth of a minor chord. if the diad is a major sixth the top note is the root of a minor chord or bottom note is the fifth of a major chord.

Just when you are playing a melody that is going higher, try to hold out some of the previous notes and find which ones sound nice when you sustain them. Of course theory knowledge helps. I think of most chords as being made of a major third and a minor third and are interpreted based on which interval comes first. Any diad can be interpreted harmonically one or two ways, depending on the interval making up the diad. If the diad is a fourth, the top note IS the root, no question. If the diad is a 5th, then the bottom note is definitely the root. If the diad is a minor third, either the bottom note is the root and it is a minor chord, or the bottom note is the third and it is a major chord. And if the diad is a major third either the bottom note is root of a major chord or it is the third of a minor chord. Musically you can do a lot with diads alone, meaning you are playing one note below the melody, thirds are usually really easy as it is the adjacent button most places you go.

Yeah I meant the G row so if they were playing in A dorian it would make sense. To my ears it sounds like G dorian still. But maybe they are playing Bb/F instruments, then it would make perfect sense if they were in G dorian on the F row. Anyway I'm playing a cheap stagi that was given to me. Never had the pleasure of playing a handmade instrument. It sounds great I should probably upgrade soon because I'm probably being held back by my instrument at this point. Do you know anything about the Morse concertina? How about their "custom" option? Thanks, Earl

I didn't find any advice by searching the site for this. Some tunes have a note that recurs twice in a row, in a sequence of eighth notes. One particular tune is Eileen Curran. There's recurring notes all over the place. This puts me in an awkward position on the concertina in that I'm trying to accent the repetition of the note more often than not. I'm releasing and repressing the button and also using coordinated bellows activity to try and make it sound good. But when I'm playing at faster speeds this breaks down and it's generally a lot of physical work. Another solution is to play F before G instead of GG and it gives the tune a better flow. Generally I don't worry too much about this on other tunes but this tune is just full of repeated notes and it makes my concertina feel wonky and slow to try and reiterate notes in Irish reels at a lively pace. I saw some concertina players here http://comhaltas.ie/music/detail/comhaltaslive_327_5_aoife_ni_argain_ann_mcauliffe_and_maura_walsh/ and their finger patterns looked wrong to me. I don't see anybody using their accidental rows nearly as much as I am forced to for this tune. The player at stage right seems to be all on the A row, is she using an Bb/F instrument? maybe that is the real answer but it still doesn't answer how to handle these pesky double notes. X: 1 T: Eileen Curran M: 4/4 L: 1/8 R: reel K: Gdor |:BAGF DGGB|AFcF dFcA|BAGF DGGA|BABc dgga| |bgaf gdde|fdcB AFFA |BAGF DFGA|1 (3Bcd cA BGGA:|2 (3Bcd cA BGG^f| |:g2 g^f gbag|=f2 fe fgaf|g2 g^f ~g3 a|bga=f dgga| |bgaf gdde|fdcB AFGA|BAGF DFGA|1 (3Bcd cA BGG^f:|2 BdcA BGG2|

I almost got a 26 button version on ebay for $900 and then one with the simple fretwork for 600 pounds sterling. Got outbid both times. It looks like this one has 6 fold bellows, the usual lachenal is 5 fold and lots of people update them to 6 or 7 fold. This one looks like 6 fold bellows although they also look original to my eye. A bit above my price range. I hope to get lucky on ebay sometime in the near future. I lost two of these in a 4 day period how long can it be before they start popping up again?

Hey, thanks for the responses! I must have forgot to mention that they appear to be accordion reeds (I looked at some pictures???) they have square casings (the metal piece the reed is attatched to) so that's the only thing I can really recognize that makes it an accordion reed. A buddy has a busted concertina that's garbage to him so maybe he'll let me use it for parts for a small fee? hmm, this is quite a good hobby I am finding, very satisfying to learn new things!

Hi, My name is Earl, relatively new to this forum. I have a very cheap concertina that I got for free. and something in me has always wanted to change the "helper row" the third row on my C/G Anglo into an an F row. so I am starting by moving around any of the reeds that I have (mind you I just figured out how to take the darned thing apart) but I want the F row to go like F/G A/Bb C/D for the left side. the closest reed I seem to have is an E/F key at the far left of the row, what I want to to is flip it around so the F is on the push and file the E up to a G. would it be better to use my G/B key (which is possibly broken) and try to weigh down the B with solder to sound an F note? I am so green to this you wouldn't believe but my fiddle's in the shop this week and am playing with this concertina now. It's basically a toy and has accordion reeds so I'm not too concerned with messing up the reed (I don't ever play that key in it's current position anyway) but I just thought maybe somebody would have some insight to which would be better, I don't have a soldering gun (yet) or solder so it would be easier to file, but I was worried about how the reed would vibrate through the slot if I filed it too much. but of course I read that you should file the top of the reed and not alter the width or length so it shouldn't be an issue. unless i end up turning the reed into a piece of paper from filing too far.