Anglo stuff: Bm scares me!

[Azalin]

Well, I brought the subject up before, but even after much more practice, being more comfortable with the anglo button layout than I ever was, I still find playing stuff in Bm much more challenging than any other key. I think having to use a mix of F#, B and C# together forces me to push/pull in an difficult way. Thank God I have two reverse C# on the accidental row or I'm not sure how I'd manage. I have an extra F# on the left side, on the push, but I'm always reluctant to use it because I become very dependant on a specific anglo layout... at the same time, I use the push F# in many tunes...

 

Anyhow, any other anglo player (playing irish music) find Bm (or the relative key if you don't play a C/G) more challenging than other keys? Maybe it's just because of the way I play? I think I play cross row, and I'm willing to use any button if it allows me to play a phrase more smoothly.

 

With most tunes I know in G, D, Am and Em, I can sit down and play a tune I haven't played for ages, and it will sound OK (to my ears) but I always need to rework a Bm tune a bit before I can play it relatively nicely.

[Fergus_fiddler]

Me too. But it's not because of the fingering, I think it's because Bm in ITM tends in a very annoying way to become B Dorian - F#, C# and G# - and I don't like very much the way the high G# is located in a 30b Jeffries layout.

 

On the other hand, what's the point of having some extra buttons if you aren't using, or avoid to use them? Instead you could have got a 30b concertina. I mean, if you have some advantage, go and use it!

 

Cheers,

 

FEr

[michael sam wild]

I love Bmin and like its relativity to D maj. I am currently playing a lot witha guitarist friend who has a nice open tuning for it. My 26 b Jeffries C/G copes fine and I find airs and jigs OK. Reels are trickier .Martin Wynne's no.2 is quite nice and goes down to the lowest A .

 

 

I transcribed Her Mantle so Green from Mick Bramich's book and The Session from Emin to Bmin. I think Jackie daly and Seamus Creagh did it in Bmin.

 

 

I first heard Margaret Barry sing it in the late 50s and loved it then as a song.

 

The 'B Dorian' modal feel is OK if you are an unaccompanied singer, as I am ,and are used to a free phrasing

Edited October 26, 2010 by michael sam wild

[Snorre]

For me, it's the same with every key, the more hours I put into it, the more fluent I get. Also there are synergies, practicing in A major got me used to using the high G#, which makes the transition to E major less painfull. A tip for practicing new keys: transpose a tune you already know into a new key. For Bminor you could probably use tunes like The Congress or the Star of Munster.

 

Fer: Long time! How is the Morse? I've wearing out the second pair of straps, the varnish is peeling and a note is "ringing":-( On the bright side I am giving it a good run for the money:-) Can't wait til I get my Sutner (or anything else I come across in the meantime:-)

 

Azalin: I know what you mean concerning layouts, but I think (and hope....) the transition between layouts is less painfull than I imagine. Last week I tried a Crabb (Wheatstone-layout), and I realized that, barring a few tunes with a lot of C#, G# and/or G(drawn) on the RHS, a transition between layouts is not that big a deal:-)

[Azalin]

Hmmm yeah I mostly meant reels in Bm. After practicing a bit, I noticed that I have to use the G row on the left side much more in Bm than other keys, and my 'standard' row is mainly the C row, so I think it's one of the reason I find Bm challenging. In the reels I play, there are not that many G#, but I often need to use the LH G row much more than I'd normally do, and maybe some of my fingers are not strong enough yet to be very comfortable with it.

 

I was experimenting with 'The Otter's Holt' the other day and was frustrated by a single little phrase, which forces me to push the B, then quickly pull the A and then F# all on the LH G row, and there doesn't seem to be any way around it, not with the way I play the tune, which I learned on whistle ages ago.

[david fabre]

go G/D !

[Michael Eskin]

Hmm... just ran through a few Bm tunes and didn't have any issues... tried The Banks Of Lough Gowna, Dr. Gilbert's, The Orphan. Which tunes are problematic?

[Fergus_fiddler]

Hi, Snorre! The Morse is OK, as you said a good run for the money! At first a bit slow...

 

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs142.snc3/16959_1291022446484_1557947578_734248_4186299_n.jpg

 

...but improving quickly, the LH pinky falling were it has to, and picking up tunes more easily. Not surprising your straps broke, that leather is quite thin... The brass fittings in the handels are slowly getting rusted due to the acidity of my sweat, and the paint is peeling around the most used buttons.

 

BTW, wich colour is yours? It's funny that under the black painting of my Ceili (#407) there's not raw wood, but a WHITE sealing stuff that gives a curious B & W look to some areas of the 'tina...

 

Cheers,

 

Fer

[Azalin]

Hmm... just ran through a few Bm tunes and didn't have any issues... tried The Banks Of Lough Gowna, Dr. Gilbert's, The Orphan. Which tunes are problematic?

 

Well, it also depends of how you expect to be able to play the tune, and if the way you play it is the way you want it to sound.

 

I'm not very satisfied with the Otter's Holt, with the first part (second part is a breeze) but I could also say 'The Curlew', 'The Man of Aran' (I hope you spell it this way) and 'Sweeny's Buttermilk'.

[david_boveri]

Hmmm yeah I mostly meant reels in Bm. After practicing a bit, I noticed that I have to use the G row on the left side much more in Bm than other keys, and my 'standard' row is mainly the C row, so I think it's one of the reason I find Bm challenging. In the reels I play, there are not that many G#, but I often need to use the LH G row much more than I'd normally do, and maybe some of my fingers are not strong enough yet to be very comfortable with it.

 

I was experimenting with 'The Otter's Holt' the other day and was frustrated by a single little phrase, which forces me to push the B, then quickly pull the A and then F# all on the LH G row, and there doesn't seem to be any way around it, not with the way I play the tune, which I learned on whistle ages ago.

 

Are you talking about fBBA FEDF part (like at the opening)? I would play push B on the G row, but then the A on the C row. It's basically the same difference, but a stronger finger.

[Azalin]

Hmmm yeah I mostly meant reels in Bm. After practicing a bit, I noticed that I have to use the G row on the left side much more in Bm than other keys, and my 'standard' row is mainly the C row, so I think it's one of the reason I find Bm challenging. In the reels I play, there are not that many G#, but I often need to use the LH G row much more than I'd normally do, and maybe some of my fingers are not strong enough yet to be very comfortable with it.

 

I was experimenting with 'The Otter's Holt' the other day and was frustrated by a single little phrase, which forces me to push the B, then quickly pull the A and then F# all on the LH G row, and there doesn't seem to be any way around it, not with the way I play the tune, which I learned on whistle ages ago.

 

Are you talking about fBBA FEDF part (like at the opening)? I would play push B on the G row, but then the A on the C row. It's basically the same difference, but a stronger finger.

 

Yeah, exactly! It's quite a coincidence that you write this, because just yesterday I was practicing and switched to that pull A on the C row instead of G row, and it made a big difference! As you're saying, it's a stronger finger. It's not as easy for me to switch from the third to fourth finger, instead of the index to the fourth finger.

 

But that's the type of experimenting I don't need to do with most other keys (I guess A major would be problematic too, but I don't play many A major tunes).

[david_boveri]

Hmmm yeah I mostly meant reels in Bm. After practicing a bit, I noticed that I have to use the G row on the left side much more in Bm than other keys, and my 'standard' row is mainly the C row, so I think it's one of the reason I find Bm challenging. In the reels I play, there are not that many G#, but I often need to use the LH G row much more than I'd normally do, and maybe some of my fingers are not strong enough yet to be very comfortable with it.

 

I was experimenting with 'The Otter's Holt' the other day and was frustrated by a single little phrase, which forces me to push the B, then quickly pull the A and then F# all on the LH G row, and there doesn't seem to be any way around it, not with the way I play the tune, which I learned on whistle ages ago.

 

Are you talking about fBBA FEDF part (like at the opening)? I would play push B on the G row, but then the A on the C row. It's basically the same difference, but a stronger finger.

 

Yeah, exactly! It's quite a coincidence that you write this, because just yesterday I was practicing and switched to that pull A on the C row instead of G row, and it made a big difference! As you're saying, it's a stronger finger. It's not as easy for me to switch from the third to fourth finger, instead of the index to the fourth finger.

 

But that's the type of experimenting I don't need to do with most other keys (I guess A major would be problematic too, but I don't play many A major tunes).

 

Glad you figured it out! I found myself getting tripped up when I used 3rd finger A, too.