Guest Allan Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 Hello Forum Over the past few days I have practised almost an hour every day. Same melody over and over but trying to concentrate on holding the instrument the way I felt was correct. However I know that may change as my repertoire goes to the "roof" (lol). I have also searched these pages for advice and came across something I did not think very much about. U see.....One of the books I purchased along with my Stagi 20 was the "concertina book" by Frank Converse. page 12 "To repeat a tone, lift finger and repress the same key ...." So thats what I did untill I saw one advice which I think was from a gentleman named Frank Edgley ?. He mentioned a student doing what Converse describes in the book with the result that his play became rather "staccato" and that his student did have a problem to readjust his style of playing. I believe Frank's opinion was more in the direction of pressing the key but NOT lift ur finger IF playing the same note. I must say that only 10 minutes trying that suddenly made an extremely different impression on me . Suddenly I felt I was playing a melody. So my second question is really to other beginners but also to others that feel they have some words of advice/ or just an opinion. Did most of u end up doing the same thing after a while or do u keep to the Converse advice on how to play ? Best Allan++ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 One must be careful about making assumptions. If someone recommends lifting a finger, but they don't say how high, they don't necessarily mean to lift it as high as possible. My general advice is to move the finger as little as possible, while still getting the desired result. In the case you refer to, that means lifting the finger only high enough to let the pad close the hole and stop the sound, and then you want to immediately reverse the finger's direction (start pressing with it) to get the repetition of that note. So really, you shouldn't have to lift your finger off the button, since when the top of the button reaches as high as it can, the hole will be closed, even if your finger is still lightly touching the button. (On most instruments the note will stop sounding even with the button slightly below its top-stop. I give the same advice about pushing the button. It's not necessary to jam it down to the bottom, but only depress it enough to open the hole fully and get a clear sound from the reed. BUT, there's another technique for playing the same note twice (or more) in succession: Use different fingers. I do this regularly, especially where I can shift among the first 3 fingers (the little finger isn't as flexible or as quick). If you can get used to this, your playing should become quicker, because the finger for the second strike will already be moving downward as it hits the button, immediately after the pad has closed the hole after the first note. Using the same finger requires stopping its upward movement and starting it in the other direction (downward) before it's able to begin pressing the button downward, again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Dickey Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Allan Since no-one's mentioned it already, I strongly suggest you get in touch with Alan Day for a copy of his Anglo Tutor CD. A heck of a lot of folk have used it and found it really useful. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alblak1940 Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 Since no-one's mentioned it already, I strongly suggest you get in touch with Alan Day for a copy of his Anglo Tutor CD. A heck of a lot of folk have used it and found it really useful. Hi Pete Tks for the advice. I have already sent Alan a few words and he has promised to send me his Cd. I have also ordered the CD rom from Vallely? which I will get in a few days. That shud keep me busy for a while. Have a great day Best Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alblak1940 Posted June 4, 2004 Share Posted June 4, 2004 One must be careful about making assumptions. Hi Jim Tks for ur wise input. The switching of fingers u describe I will keep in mind but it makes sense. After all obtaining speed is part of the "game" as long as it does not hurt the musical value. Have a great day Best Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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