Search the Community

Do any of you all fancy collaborating on a book of English Session Tunes for G/D Anglo? There's been a lot of discussion here lately about preferring G/D Anglo for English sessions, but as you know there are no books out there to help others play along who might have these instruments and are just learning. I'm thinking G/D Anglo players could submit their favorite session tunes and how they play them, then I'll put the ol' Coover Tab on 'em, give everyone credit (can even plug their local session), and then package it up into paperback and Kindle. And here's the best part - all proceeds would go to CNET. A nice way for all of us to give back and help others at the same time. Arrangements wouldn't need to be fancy, single note melodies would be just fine. You could mark up printed music in whatever notation/tab system you use, or even send an mp3 that I can pick apart. How about photos too? You or your session. Let's make it something like the old "Readers Tapes" from the days of yore, and with luck, we'll get a nice geographic spread from all across the UK and elsewhere. What say ye? Let's crowdsource this thing! Your humble scribe, Gary PS - I might even do a follow-up book for the same tunes arranged for C/G...

I've been taking a rest from the concertina to strum a stringed instrument. As and when I return to it I hope to have improved both my timing and my feel for chords. In the meantime I did take my Crane duet out on May Day with Fowler's Troop in Greenwich, and very enjoyable it was too. As the procession was fairly 'free-form' I had enough space to hear myself without being drowned out and I was more-or-less able to keep up despite the novelty of playing whilst walking. Anyway, the experience has to some extent rekindled my interest in playing English country dance tunes on a concertina, but not with the Crane. I am now seriously considering the acquisition of a Marcus G/D Anglo. Although it's a controversial issue, I do believe that it is easier to play an Anglo at the required speed (more fingers, less travel). I also know that Anglos tend to be louder. But I have two questions. (1) Do most players of English country dance tunes prefer the G/D to the C/G? (2) Will a Marcus Anglo be significantly louder than my Crane? It's not that I want to drown other people out, just that I want to be able to hear myself in a session. If it's not going to be appreciably louder I will dust off my melodeon instead. Rik