Gary Chapin
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Posts posted by Gary Chapin
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Nice. Not technically a drone, but very droney ... which I love. Also, love love love "A Man for All Seasons" which isn't an association I would 've made if not for Kautilya, but there you go.
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My review:
http://accordeonaire.blogspot.com/2011/04/review-bal-folk-tune-book.html
I had ignored this book, since I own the pink and blue books, but those have been out of print for nearly a decade and I thought I would check this out.
Thanks
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That is fantastic. An amazing wealth of good stuff. I have to say, the AMTA, in particular, really know how to promote their culture. There's a lot of good stuff to learn from them.
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You"re welcome. Why shouldn't everyone benefit from my obsession.
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Kitchen is best, but the five kids and dogs can get in the way. Yesterday I strung lights in the basement and went down there to play. It worked out fine for me, but the young'uns were a little put off, like "Dad has really gone off the edge now."
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Have to say, I am envious of events such as this. There's one such event within reach for me -- the Squeeze-in near Springfield Mass -- and I can't make it every year. I love reading journals of this sort of thing. Very inspiring!
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I've been writing a bit about the trip I took to Alsace in 2004 to visit my accordion teacher. The piece I just posted remembers one of the truly great nights of my musical life. Thought I would share.
http://accordeonaire.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-trip-to-alsace-part-three.html
Also, hey, just learned how to embed MP3s into the blog.
Sorry for the utter lack of direct concertina content.
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Don't forget the pipes. Isn't it interesting how many instruments are played in a particular way because they're trying to get the "natural" ornaments available to another instrument. The roll ... either the fiddle or the pipes are responsible for that one. A concertina player didn't come up with that! I remember an interview with Joe Burke saying that the B/C accordion was adopted because, bizarrely, it was easy to play pipe and fiddle style ornaments in D and G on the B/C box.
Even in French music, I find myself listening to pipes and hurdy gurdy to figure out a melodeon approach.
Maybe it's just my OCD ...
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Friends of mine organize this twice yearly event in Alsace.
http://accordeonaire.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-are-they-playing-in-alsace-this.html
Although melodeon-centric, all instruments are welcome, and it's a great little tune book. I won't be able to attend, but I'm proposing a holiday in exile on May 29.
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Thanks for the welcome.
Bourrees, mazurkas, schottisches and valses are amongst my primary 'relaxation' playing material on the EC - somehow they sit very nicely under the fingers ...
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And then when you move further North and get into Swedish polskas and the like, with all those wonderful 'odd key signatures' and rhythms, things really start getting interesting!
The first thing I thought when I played my first bourree was, "this feels so natural!" Under the fingers, indeed.
I'd love some suggestions on Nord and Swede tunes. I love the odd meters etc.
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Hey, folks, I've just posted two responses and realized I hadn't introduced myself, which felt rude. So I am Gary Chapin. I do NOT play concertina, but do play melodeon, and find I learn a lot around concertina players. My fascination is rural French music, and I've got a blog about this
http://accordeonaire.blogspot.com/
I'm not selling anything. Just engaging a very healthy obsession. Anyone out there playing the bourrées on concertina out there?
Thanks,
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What I do find useful however is to set myself a goal to work towards.
I couldn't agree more. I've been playing melodeon for twelve years, and do gigs, etc etc ... I'm very comfortable saying, "I play ..." But when I don't have a goal of improvement, I do not play as well. I find I just play a bit aimlessly. My practices are really just dabblings. So my goals might be new tunes, or techniques from tutorial books, or chords for accompaniment, etc. But if I don't have such a goal, my practice is not at all as valuable.
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Do you think it's attributable to the instrument, or is it part of the nature of sessions? I am not familiar with the PA sessions you are describing. It might be that with PAs and such, folks are more comfortable (and more skilled?) at playing accompanying figures. In a lot of sessions I've been to, the melody is the thing, if you don't know that then it's time to get a pint. If the nature of the session means that starting a tune no one else knows equals playing alone, then many won't start new tunes. It's an interesting question.
Mallinson's Bal Folk Tune Book
in Tunes /Songs
Posted
When I found these, pretty much the only French music I could get my hands on was a few AMTA cassettes that the Button Box stocked, and then what I could special order. Nobody where I was living (Maine, USA) was playing this, or at least no one I could find. Eventually, I did stumble onto a few players who turned me on to Bouffard and let me make tapes of their stuff. All the while I was learning from Sylvain Piron. Of course, those in France would find this idea amusing, but coals aren't that remarkable in Newcastle. To me they were a godsend. There was never a possibility that I could "immerse myself in the culture" and learn through some sort of osmosis.