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English Concertina Music


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My current project is collecting some of the tunes on Kathryn Tickell's On Kielder Side LP in abc format, printing them out in standard notation and learning them on EC. My current favorites are The Crooked Bawbee, Da Slockit Light and Sweet Hesleyside.

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During the past 6 months or so, I have been doing gigs with my wife. I've been playing English concertina,bodhran,bones and 5-string banjo,and Ruth plays celtic harp and fiddle. We play a fair amount of English Country dance (Playford-type ) tunes,some O'Carolyn tunes and some Irish/Scottish hornpipes, jigs,etc; and old time Appalachian fiddle -banjo tunes. It's been a wonderful treat,and cool how much variation of arrangements,and sounds we can get. I think the combination of harp and concertina is a great sound. We both play in a few larger bands,but this duet thing has been a special treat for us.--Steven

 

----Also, Waltz tunes of all musical genres work well on English Concertina.

Edited by Steven Hollander
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Well, last night John Roberts and Tony Barrand graced the town of Nelson with a wonderful concert of song, stories, and their usual brand of humor. I brought my Lachenel for John to peek at, as he had graciously expressed an interest in seeing it the last time I had seen him.

The verdict- it's shot. :( I had suspected as much, but not being a very good player of English I didn't know if it was the bellows, buttons, etc, or just me being bad at the instrument.

So I'll join the gang to get together and play, but it'll be with my Anglo, not the English. And don't be surprised if a Lachenel "fixer-upper" shows up on Ebay sometime soon!

(Maybe I'll get enough for a down-payment on an English Stagi, at least!) :P

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...don't be surprised if a Lachenel "fixer-upper" shows up on Ebay sometime soon!

(Maybe I'll get enough for a down-payment on an English Stagi, at least!) :P

Well, did John tell you the details of "shot"? And does it have steel reeds, or brass?

 

Considering where you live, you really should take it to The Button Box for evaluation. If it really is a "fixer-upper" -- rather than a "box of spare parts", -- then I think you would do well to have TBB restore it for you. I would guess that the restoration still wouldn't cost more than a new Stagi, but would leave you with something far superior for playing. Anyway, they should be able to tell you for sure.

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The verdict- it's shot. 

 

So I'll join the gang to get together and play, but it'll be with my Anglo, not the English.

 

I have a spare English you are welcome to use when we meet - a 1957-ish Wheatstone 48. Works fine, but when my new/old Lachenal arrived a couple months ago, it hasn't gotten much use. Sounds like there will be another Anglo there as well, so you won't be alone using that, either. :)

 

Jay

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Unfortunately, John only confirmed what Doug had already suggested. Bellows leak like crazy, and several buttons don't want to move. It's a bottom-of-the-line Lach and not worth my investment. Someone else with knowledge and tools could probably make it playable!

 

Thanks for the offer of your Wheatstone, Jay- you'll be hearing from me!

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Sorry to miss Tony and John. I only heard about the concert last night ... when I was many miles away at the dance in Greenfield. I can lend you my English too, since I can hardly play it yet. Keep going, all you EC players!

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I play anglo, but I can tell you that with every newsletter from the International Concertina Association you get a booklet full of tunes and arrangements for all systems. Worth joining for that alone, I think. They also have a very large library of arrangements of all sorts of music available to members. Their site is here.

 

Chris

The latest issue of the ICA Newsletter, Concertina world, is almost ready to go to the printers.

 

The content of the music supplement varies to cover most styles and systems. Sometimes the pieces are extracted from the library, but some pieces are contributed by members.

 

There is information about membership on the website, but I would happily receive emails for further information.

 

Best wishes,

 

John Wild

ICA Treasurer

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John,

 

A question I've long had, I'll ask here in case it boosts membership interest. If I am joining from the U.S., can I send a U.S. cheque in USD? The last time I had to find a bank in this parochial nation to write a draft in GBP (to send a deposit to Colin Dipper) it was a headache I'd rather forget. When I last looked at the ICA site (some time ago), it wasn't clear. All this (and neglecting to ask about it) has procrastinated my membership application.

 

Thanks.

 

Ken

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A question I've long had, I'll ask here in case it boosts membership interest.  If I am joining from the U.S., can I send a U.S. cheque in USD? 

Yes. The ICA has a bank account denominated in USD especially for Americans and anyone else who wants to send dollars. There's also one in Euros I believe.

 

Chris

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John,

 

A question I've long had, I'll ask here in case it boosts membership interest.  If I am joining from the U.S., can I send a U.S. cheque in USD? 

Yes. I believe the current page on the website quotes dollar rates. However, these are:-

 

USD

Single membership $29

Family membership $43

Junior membership (to age 18) $6.75

 

EUROS

Single membership 23

Family membership 34

Junior membership (to age 18) 4

 

These were based on conversion from UK pounds at rates applying near the end of 2003.

 

Sorry if this seems a slow response. I have just returned from the Kettle Bridge Clogs 20th anniversary tour of - Lancashire! We were taking our dances back to the tiowns and villages where they originated, and linked up with local dance teams in these areas. A great time was had by all.

 

Best wishes,

 

John

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Hi John,

 

Thanks for the quotes on the prices of membership.

 

Did you take pictures of the dancing? And if so, could you start a new thread and post some?

 

I know nothing about posting pictures, but others do, and the pictures are always fun.

 

Helen

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Hi John,

 

Thanks for the quotes on the prices of membership.

 

Did you take pictures of the dancing? And if so, could you start a new thread and post some?

 

I know nothing about posting pictures, but others do, and the pictures are always fun.

 

Helen

I was not taking pictures, but I expect to get copies from others' cameras. But there may be a problem with file size, as the maximum allowed here is 120k.

 

Regards,

 

John

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...there may be a problem with file size, as the maximum allowed here is 120k.

If you don't know how to make smaller copies of the photos, I do. You can contact me.

 

Not smaller dimensions on screen (I can do that, too), but smaller file size, which gives the same picture with less resolution, but still good enough for posting here.

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Jay and I got together this evening (remember Jay? He started this thread asking about music for EC and about other players in central Massachusetts area). Before long we had six concertinas and a melodeon scattered about the room and variously played polkas we both knew, pieces we had individually learned, and tackled a classical piece as a duet (I played my baritone anglo - verdict: I need to learn to read bass clef better). The last piece was from a source you too can tap: contact Geo Salley for your own Concertina and Squeezebox back issue Cd-Rom. Jay's Lachenal is indeed very nice, but his 1950s Wheatstone is too -- very light, must have the aluminum reed shoes.

 

A good time had by all; hope to see some others at various get togethers. This is a big deal for those of us outside of Britain, meeting with other players. We can be the Leo-West et al. chapter of the ICA, perhaps?

 

Ken

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