Anglo vs English concertina, diatonic vs chromatic: which one should i

[chas]

Have you seen the video of the Stone the Crows, Sligo, session on Livetrad? There's someone playing English concertina and harmonica simultaneously. Now that does take some doing. And that's an English being played, and obviously accepted, in the home of some of the ITM greats. Does anyone know who the player is? (Maybe someone on concertina.net??)

 

Chas

[Tootler]

 

And how do you play "cross row" on a pair of harmonicas?

 

You play "cross harp". Ask any blues player: you play in G on a C harp and in D on a G harp.

 

Simples

 

P.S. I personally find the anglo far easier to play than even a single harmonica.

 

I'm the other way round. I choose my harmonicas over my anglo for tune sessions. I mostly use my anglo to accompany singing.

[gcoover]

Have you seen the video of the Stone the Crows, Sligo, session on Livetrad? There's someone playing English concertina and harmonica simultaneously. Now that does take some doing. And that's an English being played, and obviously accepted, in the home of some of the ITM greats. Does anyone know who the player is? (Maybe someone on concertina.net??)

 

Chas

 

 

It's probably Rick Epping.

[JimLucas]

And how do you play "cross row" on a pair of harmonicas?

You play "cross harp". Ask any blues player: you play in G on a C harp and in D on a G harp.

 

Simples

'Tain't the same... except maybe for the use of the word "cross".

 

"Cross row" on a concertina is would be like using at the same time two (or more) harmonicas in different keys (like C and G), and switching between them on a note-for-note basis, regardless of the key of the tune. It seems to me that might be possible, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone try it.

 

P.S. I personally find the anglo far easier to play than even a single harmonica.

I'm the other way round. I choose my harmonicas over my anglo for tune sessions. I mostly use my anglo to accompany singing.

You and Steve Mansfield; probably many more.

 

Nothing wrong with that; it just demonstrates that what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another, which is the point I was trying to make.

 

And the detail of my point is that sucking and blowing with your mouth doesn't necessarily transfer to sucking and blowing with a bellows, nor vice versa. Even more so, selecting individual notes with your lips and tongue is quite different from selecting individual buttons with your fingers, and that's where I have difficulty with the harmonica. But failing to gain facility with the harmonica definitely didn't prevent me from coming to grips with the anglo, and demonstrates that starting with harmonica doesn't necessarily ease the way to learning the anglo.

[Geoff Wooff]

Have you seen the video of the Stone the Crows, Sligo, session on Livetrad? There's someone playing English concertina and harmonica simultaneously. Now that does take some doing. And that's an English being played, and obviously accepted, in the home of some of the ITM greats. Does anyone know who the player is? (Maybe someone on concertina.net??)

 

Chas

 

 

Probably Mick Kinsella, who does this to great effect.

[Peter Laban]

Considering the location, Sligo, my guess is Rick Epping is the more likely suspect

Edited August 15, 2011 by Peter Laban

[chas]

Thanks for that. Rick Epping it is. In fact I see now he's identified on some other Livetrad clips. What a great musician. His combination of EC and bluesy harmonica is a revelation. Having played/recorded with the likes of Frankie Gavin and Seamie O'Dowd, he's also a sound argument against the "only an anglo for ITM" brigade.

 

Chas

[Peter Laban]

In fairness, Mick Kinsella does pretty much the same as Rick and they play together often. As for the argument with the 'anglo for irish only brigade' as you prefer to call it: both Rick and Mick only play very simple chordal accompaniment on the concertina to the harmonica playing, what type of cocnertina they use is hardly relevant to that particular debate.

Edited August 15, 2011 by Peter Laban

[JimLucas]

As for the argument with the 'anglo for irish only brigade' as you prefer to call it: both Rick and Mick only play very simple chordal accompaniment on the concertina to the harmonica playing, what type of concertina they use is hardly relevant to that particular debate.

Agreed on that,

but

...

I remember Ken Sweeney (American) playing dance tunes simultaneously on harmonica and English concertina at NESI (the NorthEast Squeeze In) more than 15 years ago, and I'd be surprised if he couldn't do at least as well today.

 

Unfortunately, I haven't yet discovered any videos of Ken doing that, though I think

(you may need to turn your monitor on its side) nicely displays his harmonica playing (a slow air, then a reel), which he augments near the end with the bones. His concertina is sitting on a table at the side.

 

If anybody can point me to more videos -- or even audios -- of Ken, aside from this one and those songs on his web site, I'd love to know about them.

[Leo]

..........

 

If anybody can point me to more videos -- or even audios -- of Ken, aside from this one and those songs on his web site, I'd love to know about them.

Hi Jim

 

This video says he played the background music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af0XCYkLUMc&fmt=18

 

Thanks

Leo

[Frank Edgley]

You can play virtually any music on any type of concertina, and some people do, very successfully. But there are reasons why certain types of music are played, predominently, on certain types of concertina. To ignore that would be a mistake.

[JimLucas]

You can play virtually any music on any type of concertina, and some people do, very successfully. But there are reasons why certain types of music are played, predominently, on certain types of concertina. To ignore that would be a mistake.

And to argue about what the "real" reasons actually are seems to be one of the favorite topics here on concertina.net.

[Shas Cho]

 

And yet I, as a contrary example, can play harmonica perfectly happily, but am rendered completely helpless by anglo concertina and melodeon.

 

 

Isn't that odd.

And I have wrestled with a mouth harp regularly since I was a kid hitch-hiking across the country

and it was only when the anglo clicked for me last week

that that harmonica made the slightest bit of sense.

Finally.

What fun!