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New duet concertina


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Hi Guys It is my second day with my lovely wheatstone-duet concertina ,being a complete novice to concertinas (I do play piano)I found the button layout far more musically logical than I had anticipated from the information I have read on the internet and I can already see I am hooked LOL and the advice about buying a quality instrument was invaluable the wheatstones steel reeds are obviously a must and the sweet non shrill accordion tone is quite beautiful and has certainly inspired me to play her

 

The McCann system looked a little chaotic until I started playing but its far more user friendly that I expected the concertina is a also a work of art and is a little like the tardis with more inside than seems possible

 

The button spacing is perfect and the Chinese concertina I had a go on had larger buttons and bigger spacing that appeared easier but it’s not as several minor chords require one finger to depress two buttons but on the wheatstones its easy and natural and all notes can be reached with practice

 

I have started making up chord charts for Augmented ,9ths Diminished chords etc as ragtime/jazz is my passion and the jazz guitar version of "I can’t give you anything but love" sounds glorious and will be better when I can move fast enough to play it at speed LOL

thanks for all the advice

Tony

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Welcome to the wonderful world of the Maccann. I hope you do well with your (very wise) choice. Mind you, if you're playing jazz arrangements after two days, then it doesn't sound as if you're going to have much trouble.

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Hi Guys It is my second day with my lovely wheatstone-duet concertina ,being a complete novice to concertinas (I do play piano)I found the button layout far more musically logical than I had anticipated from the information I have read on the internet and I can already see I am hooked LOL and the advice about buying a quality instrument was invaluable the wheatstones steel reeds are obviously a must and the sweet non shrill accordion tone is quite beautiful and has certainly inspired me to play her

 

The McCann system looked a little chaotic until I started playing but its far more user friendly that I expected the concertina is a also a work of art and is a little like the tardis with more inside than seems possible

 

The button spacing is perfect and the Chinese concertina I had a go on had larger buttons and bigger spacing that appeared easier but it’s not as several minor chords require one finger to depress two buttons but on the wheatstones its easy and natural and all notes can be reached with practice

 

I have started making up chord charts for Augmented ,9ths Diminished chords etc as ragtime/jazz is my passion and the jazz guitar version of "I can’t give you anything but love" sounds glorious and will be better when I can move fast enough to play it at speed LOL

thanks for all the advice

Tony

 

Tony, any chance of a "just started" recording, then we can see how you progress and it may be an inspiration to people like me who feel a bit lost.

Andy.

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Hi Guys a recording LOL the chord changes at the moment are so slow I’m not sure if I have enough hard disc space for a single song LOL The only chord charts I have from the net are very limited but I’m trying to make up chord charts to various jazz standards obviously using my guitar /piano background for inversions and voicing’s ,and I think fingering charts are preferable to notation for me at the moment

Andy if you’re interested I could send you a chart but it Seems a bit presumptuous of me as a novice but I have been playing Gypsy jazz

For over thirty years so It might be something different or at least give you a laugh LOL This is a blank chart the right way up for me

I'm going to highlight the fingering root etc

 

tony

post-9757-0-05070200-1325883281_thumb.jpg

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Hi Guys a recording LOL the chord changes at the moment are so slow I’m not sure if I have enough hard disc space for a single song LOL The only chord charts I have from the net are very limited but I’m trying to make up chord charts to various jazz standards obviously using my guitar /piano background for inversions and voicing’s ,and I think fingering charts are preferable to notation for me at the moment

Andy if you’re interested I could send you a chart but it Seems a bit presumptuous of me as a novice but I have been playing Gypsy jazz

For over thirty years so It might be something different or at least give you a laugh LOL This is a blank chart the right way up for me

I'm going to highlight the fingering root etc

 

tony

 

Thanks Tony. I'd be very interested in any chord charts you come up with. I'm just about ready to give my Maccann a go but having looked at the blank fingering chart I can't even understand how you would do a scale in the key of C.

Andy

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Easy.

 

The outside columns of buttons are accidentals. Mentally assign a finger to each of the four inner columns. Then it's 13241324 moving slowly up for the middle C and up octave on the RH. This is the basic way of dealing with the keyboard; then any finger that needs to leaves its home column to play any accidental required.

 

The keyboard layout varies as you go up. You've got 1324 1241 on the left for starters like all the Maccans I've ever seen, but you are lacking the low D (the 3). (I got a 46 recently and had my restorer put a low D in the G sharp slot. Well worth doing)

 

This inconsistency upsets beginers but as your playing improves you begin to really appreciate not having every octave note above its relatives. My personal view is that Chidley, who made it consistent all the way, was on a dumbing down exercise.

 

One unsolicited tip: the Eb is the weird one; it seems to float in the middle of nowhere; all the other accidentals are next to their natural. I found that by calling it D sharp to myself it suddenly had a logical place to be and it somehow helped to find it.

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Easy.

 

The outside columns of buttons are accidentals. Mentally assign a finger to each of the four inner columns. Then it's 13241324 moving slowly up for the middle C and up octave on the RH. This is the basic way of dealing with the keyboard; then any finger that needs to leaves its home column to play any accidental required.

 

The keyboard layout varies as you go up. You've got 1324 1241 on the left for starters like all the Maccans I've ever seen, but you are lacking the low D (the 3). (I got a 46 recently and had my restorer put a low D in the G sharp slot. Well worth doing)

 

This inconsistency upsets beginers but as your playing improves you begin to really appreciate not having every octave note above its relatives. My personal view is that Chidley, who made it consistent all the way, was on a dumbing down exercise.

 

One unsolicited tip: the Eb is the weird one; it seems to float in the middle of nowhere; all the other accidentals are next to their natural. I found that by calling it D sharp to myself it suddenly had a logical place to be and it somehow helped to find it.

I concur with what the venerable Dirge says.....

But, basically just muck about with it. I'm right handed, so that side came fairly easily...Had to work harder on the left side.

Then it's a case of joining both hands together.

It's that old routine..Practice Practice Practice. Don't get disheartened though, One day soon the light bulb will click on, and it will feel really like wearing an old pair of slippers (?)

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Easy.

 

The outside columns of buttons are accidentals. Mentally assign a finger to each of the four inner columns. Then it's 13241324 moving slowly up for the middle C and up octave on the RH. This is the basic way of dealing with the keyboard; then any finger that needs to leaves its home column to play any accidental required.

 

The keyboard layout varies as you go up. You've got 1324 1241 on the left for starters like all the Maccans I've ever seen, but you are lacking the low D (the 3). (I got a 46 recently and had my restorer put a low D in the G sharp slot. Well worth doing)

 

This inconsistency upsets beginers but as your playing improves you begin to really appreciate not having every octave note above its relatives. My personal view is that Chidley, who made it consistent all the way, was on a dumbing down exercise.

 

One unsolicited tip: the Eb is the weird one; it seems to float in the middle of nowhere; all the other accidentals are next to their natural. I found that by calling it D sharp to myself it suddenly had a logical place to be and it somehow helped to find it.

I concur with what the venerable Dirge says.....

But, basically just muck about with it. I'm right handed, so that side came fairly easily...Had to work harder on the left side.

Then it's a case of joining both hands together.

It's that old routine..Practice Practice Practice. Don't get disheartened though, One day soon the light bulb will click on, and it will feel really like wearing an old pair of slippers (?)

 

 

Sounds like I am wearing the Slippers on my hands at the moment.... but it is getting better every day and exciting discoveries crop up all the time like; "wow! I might really be able to play Maccann soon".

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Hi Andy I am taking a sort of Ukulele vamp approach using standard substitutions to C –Dim-Dm7-G – Gaug obviously

substituting the B7 with the diminished ,the Eb for me seems set up perfectly for the style I want to play

 

these are the first four chords of “i cant give you anything but love ” simplified (i’m working on it LOL)

you arpeggio the right hand notes and I,m working out the gypsy jazz scales (pentatonic etc) to embellish

 

sorry cant add the picture used up my qouta on the forum send me you email we can chat

 

tony

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Hi Andy I am taking a sort of Ukulele vamp approach using standard substitutions to C –Dim-Dm7-G – Gaug obviously

substituting the B7 with the diminished ,the Eb for me seems set up perfectly for the style I want to play

 

these are the first four chords of “i cant give you anything but love ” simplified (i’m working on it LOL)

you arpeggio the right hand notes and I,m working out the gypsy jazz scales (pentatonic etc) to embellish

 

sorry cant add the picture used up my qouta on the forum send me you email we can chat

 

tony

Blimey Tony...You speak in forked tongues!!

I did study music back in the 70's but, never got my head around the "terms"

I just feel the music now. Am too old to get to grips with the minutiae of it all. That is definitely not knocking anyone who takes a different path. I just play by instinct. Sometimes It's right, sometimes It's wrong...But, Hey..Does it matter, as long as it sounds good?

Good on you mate! Upwards Upwards! Regards Ralphie

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Hi Ralphie you’re never too old ,I bought my first concertina and I’m in my fifties LOL an arpeggio is playing a chord or scale one note at a time ,substituting chords is almost mandatory in gypsy jazz and usually creates a similar or neutral voicing to the chord substituted

Example C to B7 on the duet is a big fingers jump with no pivot finger but the substitute diminished chord plays from the C

ease of movement

I am also more of an instinct player that a notation person and have busked my way through various bands for over thirty years but

an old fiddle player told me once “you can’t make a decent cake if you don’t know the right ingredients” he also thought the London Underground was a political movement LOL what sort of stuff do you play on your McCann ?

this was the first simple chart for me to practice , but with lots of possibilities walking the bass between chords and obviously additional scale fragments ,the guitar arrangement has almost a chord per beat

I’m working on it LOL

tony

post-9757-0-02576400-1326104480_thumb.jpg

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Hi Tony....

I did put out a CD a year ago. ELOISE, with lots of tina stuff on it. You can listen to various bits at www.the-attic-tapes.co.uk Plus other bits and bobs!!

 

He certainly did Tony, and it's well worth getting a copy of. As a taster you could try this recording that Ralphie posted up on this forum over a year ago

http://www.onmvoice....lay.php?a=11838

 

As Ralphie hasn't provided the full link to his website,you could try this ... http://www.the-attic-tapes.co.uk/

Enjoy!

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Hi Guys a recording LOL the chord changes at the moment are so slow I’m not sure if I have enough hard disc space for a single song LOL The only chord charts I have from the net are very limited but I’m trying to make up chord charts to various jazz standards obviously using my guitar /piano background for inversions and voicing’s ,and I think fingering charts are preferable to notation for me at the moment

Andy if you’re interested I could send you a chart but it Seems a bit presumptuous of me as a novice but I have been playing Gypsy jazz

For over thirty years so It might be something different or at least give you a laugh LOL This is a blank chart the right way up for me

I'm going to highlight the fingering root etc

 

tony

Hello, have you seen the article by Robert Gaskins how to play chords in any maccann duet?

The link is above

http://www.concertina.com/gaskins/chords/Gaskins-How-to-Play-Chords-on-Any-MacCann-Duet-Concertina-3.pdf

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Hi Thanks I have that chord pdf its a good starter but most of the stuff I want to play requires more chord voicing’s I,ve started work on a concertina jazz chord chart

This is a wonderful rendition of Nuages by the wonderful Django reinhardt and stephane grappelli

 

Db9 Db7b9 Bbm6 C7b9 Fmaj7

Db9 Db7b9 Bbm6 C7b9 Fmaj7

A7/5 A7#5 Dm

Dm7 G7 Gb7 G7 C7 Gm Db9

C7 Db9 Db7b9 Bbm6 C7 Fmaj7

Gb9 Gb7b9 Ebm6 F7b9 Bbmaj7

I’m transposing it into D9 as the duet fingering is more logical but it’s very time consuming and some of the fingerings are shall we say “ambiguous” LOL

 

Tony

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Found the website but exactly on which page are the press and listen buttons for the samples ? :blink:

 

Kautilya - scroll down the page to Attachments, and download each of the files to play it. There are some samples from Eloise on the appropriate page, but also collaborations and mixes - all samples of Ralphie's work (but not necessarily with a Maccann ... or indeed as a musician - some are examples of work that he has recorded for others).

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Found the website but exactly on which page are the press and listen buttons for the samples ? :blink:

 

Kautilya - scroll down the page to Attachments, and download each of the files to play it. There are some samples from Eloise on the appropriate page, but also collaborations and mixes - all samples of Ralphie's work (but not necessarily with a Maccann ... or indeed as a musician - some are examples of work that he has recorded for others).

Ta! My gnat attention span - I did not even get far enough to see those right at the bottom......... :blink:

Edited by Kautilya
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