Mike Franch

Echoing Wolf. Hope you'll hop back into the forum.

David, you've got a good beginning, buying yourself a good concertina. That will make learning easier, and you've saved money by not starting with something cheaper and having to upgrade. I don't have advice, other than to enjoy each level of proficiency as you go along. I was thrilled to be able to play "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" (hey, the tune was good enough for Mozart!), even as I aspired to do better and experienced frustration along the way. The frustration moved along as I moved along, of course, but a helpful realization is that my sense of frustration was not saying, "damn, this is too hard for you," but "this is a challenge that you'll surmount and is part of the fun, part of the sense of accomplishment." That by and large, has proven true.

Wolf, please feel free to picture me wherever you like. I'm pretty much always here in Baltimore--Maryland, US, not the one in Ireland that we're named after. Thanks for remembering my interest in English country dance (ECD), which, in some ways, is done differently in the US than in Britain. There also seems to be an interest in ECD in Russia; you can find some nice YouTube videos of dancers in St. Petersburg. Maybe it's my turn to do some imaginative relocating, and to think of you in England because you always write so effectively in English. Someday, perhaps, I'll become sufficiently adept in the language of music to be able to follow all your finer points of musicianship!

Seconding this. A few weeks ago, Greg gave me a quick turnaround on my Wheatstone Model 21, did some tweaks, and I'm a happy camper. I should also say that I was very happy with the U.S. Postal Service with their track-able two-day delivery. It worked fine both ways. I suspect that the concertina traveled faster than the envelope with my check (for a reasonable amount) to Greg.

How does one know it was made in 1946?

Lovely! It looks like so much fun.

I liked it. Is that you floating down from the sky?

Very lovely. But I thought of it as the other way around: concertina + bagpipe!

A consistent theme in this forum (and borne out by my own experience) is that you are wise to buy the best instrument you can afford, even if just starting out. Maybe, especially if just starting out. I think you made a wise move, one that will save you money and speed your development on the concertina.

Do I remember correctly, Jody, that it was so cold at one Botanical Garden gig that your concertina and Michael Gorin's fiddle stopped working?

Discovered these delightful Russian animations featuring a concertina-playing crocodile. There are a series of them at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUBNtYixTSs&feature=youtu.be. Edited to change "alligator" to "crocodile" (although I think it might use both).

Regarding the Tradewinds Ted post above, I agree on the importance of what we might call the pan-concertina approach of this site. I play EC, but I find myself reading about anglos and duets with interest, if not always comprehension. Someone in a recent discussion said that they're different instruments that just happen to look quite similar; there's truth to that, but they're pretty much the same inside the box, and an issue for one is often an issue for all. Dammit, it's all so interesting!

What are these things called "smart phones"? I see them mentioned in discussions quite often.

Must have been a pretty pricey concertina to take down into a mine! Pretty pricey for a collier to buy, I'd imagine.

I loved them all, especially the 9th photo. Irish music is for everyone, and being Irish is an expanding concept.