Qote:
Well whether one considers a concertina a sub-type of accordion or not I think will in large part depend on what your definition of an accordion is.
Lets see, a simple definition of an accordion is a musical instrument that uses metal reeds to produce notes and the reeds are fed air via bellows.
And a simple definition of a concertina is a musical instrument that uses metal reeds...
If we take a slightly narrower but still broad definition of what an accordion is, the only thing that distinguishes a concertina is the fact that it can play melody on both sides of the instrument and that the keys are pressed parallel to the bellows movement........
Ah! Mm.mm..mmm That depends on whether you know about the more modern accordions which are a true free reed instrument in that the buttons on the left hand play single notes and not chords. There are a few good exponents of this instrument who have really mastered it, one of whom when on a tour of the U.S and found himself on or near the Mason-Dixon Line played "Yankee Doodle" with his right hand whilst simultaneously playing "Dixie" with his left.
I've heard it all before. You can slag off any instrument you like. There's no one universally hated instrument, only poor players who give it a bad name. As well as playing the accordion I also play the bodhran, an instrument many people advocate playing with a penknife! Take fiddles for example, badly played the instrument becomes a "vile din" rather than a violin.
The instruments that suffer from loud raucous sounds are the concertina, whistle and mandolin. Being basically quiet instruments their contribution to a session can easily get swamped by an over enthusiastic accordionist, bodhran player or banjo player.
Question: What's the difference between a banjo player and a terrorist?
Answer : You can negotiate with a terrorist!
But seriously, getting the offending player to contribute to the session sensitively and not playing too loud or at 100mph, is the answer. Everyone has a reasonable amount of control over the sound which comes out of his/her instrument. Getting them to understand that they can exercise this control is the problem - not the instrument.......
bocsaciuil