Transfer of skills?

[Alan Day]

I was watching a young woman typing recently on a computer , she was using both hands, all fingers and the speed she was doing it was just incredible.

(certainly compared with my one finger approach). I was thinking that if these skills could be converted to concertina playing, or any keyboard instrument for that matter, she would be one of the greatest players of all time.

Al

[LDT]

I was watching a young woman typing recently on a computer , she was using both hands, all fingers and the speed she was doing it was just incredible.

(certainly compared with my one finger approach). I was thinking that if these skills could be converted to concertina playing, or any keyboard instrument for that matter, she would be one of the greatest players of all time.

Al

 

I can type and text pretty fast (I blame msn messenger), although my brother beats me with texting speed.

[Alan Day]

I was watching a young woman typing recently on a computer , she was using both hands, all fingers and the speed she was doing it was just incredible.

(certainly compared with my one finger approach). I was thinking that if these skills could be converted to concertina playing, or any keyboard instrument for that matter, she would be one of the greatest players of all time.

Al

 

I can type and text pretty fast (I blame msn messenger), although my brother beats me with texting speed.

Exactly what I thought you would say and you were one of the players I was thinking of when I was watching her.

Al

[LDT]

I was watching a young woman typing recently on a computer , she was using both hands, all fingers and the speed she was doing it was just incredible.

(certainly compared with my one finger approach). I was thinking that if these skills could be converted to concertina playing, or any keyboard instrument for that matter, she would be one of the greatest players of all time.

Al

 

I can type and text pretty fast (I blame msn messenger), although my brother beats me with texting speed.

Exactly what I thought you would say and you were one of the players I was thinking of when I was watching her.

Al

so is the reverse true can you type faster?

[Leo]

I was watching a young woman typing recently on a computer , she was using both hands, all fingers and the speed she was doing it was just incredible.

(certainly compared with my one finger approach). I was thinking that if these skills could be converted to concertina playing, or any keyboard instrument for that matter, she would be one of the greatest players of all time.

Al

 

I can type and text pretty fast (I blame msn messenger), although my brother beats me with texting speed.

Yeah but guess which one is fastest

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6n4zk_fa...nd-receive_tech

 

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...eoID=2025791097

 

Thanks

Leo

[Leo]

I was watching a young woman typing recently on a computer , she was using both hands, all fingers and the speed she was doing it was just incredible.

(certainly compared with my one finger approach). I was thinking that if these skills could be converted to concertina playing, or any keyboard instrument for that matter, she would be one of the greatest players of all time.

Al

Hi Alan

 

If that's a question, then yes I think the skills are directly transferable. Think about the odd keyboard layout of the typewriter and the logic behind it compared to a concertina. I'll bet the typing without looking, and the dexterity of the fingers accurately moving fast alone are two practiced traits that are desirable, whether Anglo, or English.

 

Thanks

Leo

Edited October 20, 2009 by Leo

[Alan Day]

It is the ability to split one's mind in half and do something different with the left hand when playing something on the right.The whole of my tutor is almost dedicated to teaching this ability, something I had and still have difficulties with. Typists take this for granted rattling away at top speed with no thoughts about their abilities. Finger speed identical to piano playing,superb touch and accuracy.

Many of you may remember the typing pools ,who typed all the letters and documents for large companies. Those girls were only employed if they could reach so many words per minute (was it about 120 ) some were much faster.

Al

[Hereward]

So LDT, with these skills you already possess, you might be surprised how quickly to manage to play the melodeon and the concertina - each also assisting the other. Just as soon as you let your conscious mind move out of the the way because your unconscious knows exactly what it is doing now.

 

Ian

[JimLucas]

I was watching a young woman typing recently on a computer , she was using both hands, all fingers and the speed she was doing it was just incredible.

(certainly compared with my one finger approach). I was thinking that if these skills could be converted to concertina playing, or any keyboard instrument for that matter, she would be one of the greatest players of all time.

"... greatest ... of all time"?

No.

Not even "one of".

Well, perhaps she could be, but hardly just because she could press the buttons accurately and in rapid succession.

 

I've never understood why people seem to think that a particular skill is somehow superhuman, based only on the fact that they themselves haven't learned it... especially if they haven't ever put any significant effort into trying to learn it.

 

Alan, you yourself said,

Many of you may remember the typing pools ,who typed all the letters and documents for large companies. Those girls were only employed if they could reach so many words per minute (was it about 120 ) some were much faster.

And I don't think every one of those typists would have been a candidate for "one of the greatest [concertina] players of all time", unless you meant "one of the million best...."

 

I myself am a reasonably good typist. In eighth grade I took a typing course, because I thought it would be a useful skill, and I've never regretted it. In fact, it was a major asset when I became a computer programmer, because my thinking wasn't interrupted by stopping to find the letters on the keyboard one by one.

 

But is typing even taught these days? (I actually don't know. I should have asked some of my younger frieds, but now I'm asking here.) I've always thought that it should be a prerequisite for anyone learning to use a computer... especially those who are not programmers, but are using computers for internet access. I'll bet it takes me seconds to enter a post that might take Alan minutes, if he really does use only one finger. (Imagine trying to play fast reels on the concertina using only one finger. )

[drbones]

Just as soon as you let your conscious mind move out of the the way because your unconscious knows exactly what it is doing now.

 

Ian

Whoa! That’s heavy.

I go unconscious sometimes after a few scotch & waters but I don’t think it helps my playing. Then again, I’m not much of a typlistt typeist .....Oh never mind.

[Irene S.]

If that's a question, then yes I think the skills are directly transferable. Think about the odd keyboard layout of the typewriter and the logic behind it compared to a concertina. I'll bet the typing without looking, and the dexterity of the fingers accurately moving fast alone are two practiced traits that are desirable, whether Anglo, or English.

 

Thanks

Leo

Whether Anglo or English, eh? What about the other systems then ? [grin]

I think the fact that I could touch type (and had for years) was of assistance in coming to grips with the keys of the Maccann - there is now a perverted logic to their arrangement as far as I'm concerned. (Mind you, that doesn't mean I'm necessarily any good at playing them yet!)

Edited October 20, 2009 by Irene S

[Leo]

Whether Anglo or English, eh? What about the other systems then ? [grin]

I think the fact that I could touch type (and had for years) was of assistance in coming to grips with the keys of the Maccann - there is now a perverted logic to their arrangement as far as I'm concerned. (Mind you, that doesn't mean I'm necessarily any good at playing them yet!)

Hi Irene

 

I couldn't say for sure, since I've never had one in my hands before, although if I were to speculate, I would include it also. I've only looked at button/note placement diagrams. Same learned skills as a touch typist with it's own peculiar logic like Anglo/English. Useful skills to transfer, but not the end all to the difficulties. Like Jim says, there's a lot more to it.

 

Thanks

Leo

[LDT]

I can type fast but only by looking just at the keys. I can't look at the screen and type. I use both hands and most fingers. I generally have to go back and correct mistakes...inverted letters etc. This I may say is only possible when I'm typing something from my own mind, if I type something someone else has written I slow to snails pace.

[Anglo-Irishman]

I was watching a young woman typing recently on a computer , she was using both hands, all fingers and the speed she was doing it was just incredible.

(certainly compared with my one finger approach). I was thinking that if these skills could be converted to concertina playing, or any keyboard instrument for that matter, she would be one of the greatest players of all time.

Al

Well, Al, if you could convert your concertina skills to typing, you wouldn't be using the one-finger approach, would you?

 

Come to think of it, if I had spent as much time at the conertina as I have at key punches, typewriters, terminals and PCs in the course of a long lifetime as a programmer, technical writer and translator (plus communicating via e-mail and posting to more forums than are good for me ) - I reckon I'd be a really top-notch concertinist!

 

Transfer the hands-on time, and you'll tansfer the skill!

 

Though, come to think of it, when we acquired a piano, and I started tickling the ivories a bit of an evening, my typing speed did improve a little, and I began to use more fingers. I doubt if it would work the other way, though. For typing you just need dexterity; for playing you need dexterity plus musicality.

 

So unless that young lady at the computer is musical, forget skill transfer!

 

Cheers,

John

[LDT]

I was watching a young woman typing recently on a computer , she was using both hands, all fingers and the speed she was doing it was just incredible.

(certainly compared with my one finger approach). I was thinking that if these skills could be converted to concertina playing, or any keyboard instrument for that matter, she would be one of the greatest players of all time.

Al

 

I can type and text pretty fast (I blame msn messenger), although my brother beats me with texting speed.

Exactly what I thought you would say and you were one of the players I was thinking of when I was watching her.

Al

I wondered who it was lurking in the bushes outside

[Anglo-Irishman]

But is typing even taught these days? (I actually don't know. I should have asked some of my younger frieds, but now I'm asking here.) I've always thought that it should be a prerequisite for anyone learning to use a computer...

Jim,

Yes, my daughter and son both took touch-tying courses as students (of Law and Business respectively). Nowadays the courses are computerised, of course. The courses were not compulsory.

 

Me? When I was teething and woke up my parents with my crying during the night, Dad would carry me to his study, set me at the typewriter, and let me hammer away. Apparently this quietened me (typing is not nearly as annoying as a bawling child). I haven't looked back since. (True story!)

 

Cheers,

John

[Leo]

Way back in the olden days, in the BC (before computers), and before electric typewriters, I took a high school typing class, and am glad I did. We didn't have spell checkers or whiteout, We only had an eraser, and it was tough to correct a mistake without messing up the paper, and it still showed. So to pass the class we had to submit the results for grading with no mistakes. It was tough in the beginning, but found it was easier to do it right the first time. I passed the class with 60 words per minute. To this day, I use those skills, and occasionally use my old portable manual typewriter for forms and odd things that I can't do on a computer (no electricity, or batteries). I now type words, not letters. When I bought my concertina, the first thing I did was find out where the notes are, and went up and down a lot to learn the notes/keys/keyboard, without looking. Scales.

 

Yes, scales come to mind as an aid. Yes they're for typewriters also. Typing a few sentences work for skill and speed.

1. The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy white dog.

2. Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party.

are two that come to mind. The first includes all the letters of the alphabet, and the second uses all the fingers. Typing them quite a few times helps the skills fast.

 

I've still a good bit of high frequency hearing loss, but I can still push the buttons on my concertina almost 30 measures a minute, depending on the tune, without mistakes, and am getting faster working on phrases now, not notes. Typing helped.

 

Thanks

Leo

[CaryK]

It is the ability to split one's mind in half and do something different with the left hand when playing something on the right.The whole of my tutor is almost dedicated to teaching this ability, something I had and still have difficulties with. Typists take this for granted rattling away at top speed with no thoughts about their abilities. Finger speed identical to piano playing,superb touch and accuracy.

Many of you may remember the typing pools ,who typed all the letters and documents for large companies. Those girls were only employed if they could reach so many words per minute (was it about 120 ) some were much faster.

Al

 

 

There is a difference though, Alan. When typing with both hands and all fingers you are not pushing anything simultaneously. As you know, old typewriters and modern keyboards don't really allow for that when typing words. So typing is more akin to playing a simple melody line on an anglo that goes from left to right and and back. I'm a good typist and I can play single line melody on the concertina (with some ornamentation) though not as well as I can type. What is really difficult is what you've stated in this post and that is splitting the brain-hand coordination to play right and left hand notes simultaneously and not at necessarily the same speed. I don't think typing proficiency helps with this . . .not noticeably with me at any rate. Interesting topic.