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Hello everyone! I'm thinking of signing up for the Noel Hill concertina school in county Clare in March 2020. I did some searches on the forums here to find more info about it, and found an old thread that i originally started in 2008.. incredible how time flies. I'm now what I think should be intermediate - at least that's where I most fit in according to the level description in the info letter about the concertina school 2019. I know a couple of tunes and can join in on many more tunes, I play in sessions (although not in every tune) but I don't play particularly well at speed and I'm just beginning to look at ornaments. My priority for the moment is to learn my tunes better, to increase my repertoire and learn to play in more keys (I mainly play in G and I'm beginning to be more comfortable with D), but I would like to get further when it comes to technique, since I'm almost completely self taught (I do what seems to work) and I don't know what I should do next to improve my technique. I haven't been near other Irish style anglo players until this year when I moved back to Ireland, I've taken a few lessons here during spring/early summer, but haven't heard back from the teacher yet about the autumn. When I read about the Noel Hill school, I see that there are those who found it amazing and highly recommend it, but I also read from some that he teaches his own fingering system that he insists that everyone in the class has to use. This worries me a bit. The fingering that I use works quite well, although I definitely don't mind doing modifications if that means it will help me play better, more smoothly, get better phrasing, or whatever. I've already expanded my fingering after I've taken a few lessons from a local player, and of course I want to do what it takes to increase my playing skills. But I worry about going there, investing that time and money, and then spending all week learning a new fingering, and not having the time to learn so much more than that. Am I exaggerating or overthinking now? The C row is my "home row" (starting with index finger left hand on the G push and index right hand on the C push) but I use all rows, including accidentals, as needed. I use most higher notes on the G row right hand (unless I need the F instead of F#), but I'm beginning to explore the higher notes on the left hand too. As for lower notes, I'm not very familiar with them yet because I just recently got myself a concertina that actually allows me to play them without too much trouble (my old concertina was too slow to respond on larger reeds)! I'm comfortable with cross rowing but I still have lots to explore when it comes to alternative buttons. Should I stop worrying and just go ahead because it will be a fabulous experience that will help me get to the next level? Has anyone else been there as an intermediate self taught player? What were your experiences? Please brainstorm...

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Dear All, The latest Gallery from the Irish Traditional Music Archive (ITMA) is "Concertina Pictures, with a Clare Bias" Regards, M.