Experiences with Elise and Rochelle - new member

[highplainsman]

Greetings ya'll from West Texas. My name's Rick Todd and I'm a beginning concertina player.

 

First, a thanks to all on this forum whose experiences and willingness to share helped me decide my concertina direction.

 

Four months ago I bought a Hayden duet Elise from Concertina Connection. It's been challenging and fun figuring out this new way of musical expression. I play guitar and have ventured into flute and whistle, so playing a concertina and working with the Hayden keyboard has joyfully fired a whole new network of musical neurons. I've been woodshedding at least an hour a day and think about playing even more often - in other words, I'm hooked. The concertina is fitting in wonderfully with the acoustic folk trio I play with and in jam sessions. I think my girlfriend will stick with me as long as I don't play works-in-progress around her. She's merciless when it comes to critiquing the errant sounds of a developing piece.

 

Listening to as much concertina music as I could find reintroduced me to traditional Irish music. I wanted to explore the possibilities of playing Irish music on the Elise, so I listened to lots of reels and jigs, found sheet music for several and plotted out the fingering. I've really enjoyed that process, listening to some great music, learning to read music and coaxing some half to two-thirds tempo Irish tunes out of the Elise. I've also listened to a lot of fiddle music and fiddle accompaniment because it feels like the concertina can play that role in a lot of the music we do. All this fired up my curiosity about Anglo concertina, so last month I was able to pick up a pre-owned Rochelle from the good folks at Concertina Connection. We've been getting to know each other - a whole new world of neuronal challenges.

 

Here are some first impressions of the Hayden Elise and the Anglo Rochelle.

 

1. The arrangement of buttons, unisonoric reeds, and the consistent patterns for scales are big pluses for learning the Hayden system. Once you understand the system, it's very adaptable. For example, I can learn a song in one key, then readily change it if needed - important when playing with others or transposing a song to suit a better singing key.

 

2. The Hayden learning curve is relatively gentle. I started out using fingering gleaned from discussions on the forums. As I gained more familiarity and confidence, I found I could easily adapt, modify and bend the fingering "rules" to suit the needs of a song. I am especially keen on developing a more balanced interplay between left and right hands beyond the chord-left, melody-right model; being left-handed helps that.

 

3. Every so often I run into the limitations of fewer buttons on the Elise for some flat and sharp keys. Another ten buttons under each hand would be nice to have, but at the entry cost of the Elise, it's a minor issue. You can do so much with what's there. As one of my bandmates wisely told me, music is as much about what you leave out as what you put in. Less is often more.

 

4. I'm a newbie and haven't played any other concertina, but it seems to me that the Elise is well-made. The tone tends toward a little hard for my ears in the mid and high ranges. Wim Wakker has suggested a dampening modification to cut some of the high overtones and I will try that. Overall, the Elise is great value for the money and highly recommended for entry level concertina players or as a camping instrument.

 

5. Anglo concertina is a whole 'nuther cat. Two things have jumped out at me: first, it will take more work (compared to Hayden) to develop fingering patterns for songs because there are often several possibilities for a given phrase. Which one is best? I'm sure experience will help answer that, but it's a challenge right now. Second, bellows technique is really critical. With the Hayden, bellows technique is mostly for expression. But with the Anglo, it's that AND integral with getting the right note and figuring out the best way to play a song. Another level of motor coordination-integration is required.

 

6. Karen and Wim at Concertina Connection are great folks, very helpful and responsive. They run a good shop and I offer a hearty recommendation.

 

Reading over this, I realize much of what I've said could be applied to any concertina. Practice hard, learn the character and personality of your instrument, and have fun making music. Again, thanks to all here who share experiences and affection for the concertina. As one of our great Texas songwriters sings, "The road goes on forever....."

[inventor]

Hi Highplainsman

 

First of all - Welcome to concertina.net. It's nice to hear from New members who enjoy playing a Hayden Duet.

 

Regards (2) fingering: There is no set in stone "correct" fingering on this type of concertina, play it which ever way you feel comfortable with. Any suggestions that I and other people have made are merely reccomendations, not "Rules".

Regards developing the left hand a couple of suggestions for the moment: When you have worked out a sequence of chords for the left hand, consider changing a major chord to its relative minor, or vice-versa. this only involves moving one finger to the next adjacent button along the same row, or turning the triangle of the chord upside down, (eg G major [gdb] to E minor [geb]). Or play a small run of notes instead of a chord, (eg for G major play the notes g, a, b in sequence); again it only involves moving the middle finger to an adjacent button. With both of these you have the fingers hovering over the standard G major buttons.

In April there is the North East (USA) concertina meet (details from Button Box) where you can meet other players of Hayden Duets, Anglos and other types of concertina, which you should go to if you possibly can.

 

Very best wishes,

Inventor.

[Greg Jowaisas]

Hi Highplainsman,

Congratulations on your successful entry to the world of concertinas! Yes, a never ending road of concertina adventure indeed.

 

If you find yourself enraptured with Irish Trad and feel the anglo is the way to capture that fascination let me recommend attending Noel Hill camp this summer.

Noel has a wonderful default system (which button to try first and which button follows another best) for setting Irish music. Noel is very adament about the basic rules of his system and some people have interpreted that to mean everyone who attends camp is supposed to play like Noel Hill. Quite the contrary, Noel's system gives one a framework to use the anglo to individually decipher and express Irish Trad. In the end his system imparts a lot of confidence that the technique will be there to combine with one's own practice and choice of ornaments and setting to be successful.

 

I believe this year's Noel Hill Midwest (in northern KY) is in the middle of August. The setting is beautiful and comfortable, the students friendly and receptive and the instructor inspirational. The weather can be a bit hot and muggy but the facility is air conditioned, and perhaps overall a relief from Texas in August. There are also Noel Hill camps the preceding weeks in NY and Oregon.

 

Best,

 

Greg

Edited February 18, 2012 by Greg Jowaisas

[highplainsman]

Inventor,

 

Thanks for the words of welcome and advice. For you, I offer a bow of respect and admiration for the gift of the Hayden system.

 

It is indeed a simple move to go from a major chord to the relative minor. One can play, say, the root and fifth of a chord using the third and second LH fingers, then play the relative minor, either two or three notes, using the index finger only, kinda like a barre on the guitar. That makes for a 'relatively' quick change. The possibilities are so interesting. I'm left-handed, so I find myself using the LH side of the Elise a lot.

 

A lot of the fun of learning a new song is figuring out the best fingering. Another situation where the Hayden system shines is when accompanying other musicians, using anything from simple riffs to sustained chords.

 

The Northeast is a ways to go from West Texas, but I am planning to attend the Old Time Festival in Palestine, TX next month. I'm really looking forward to interacting with living, breathing concertina players. I've made contact with one Hayden player already.

 

Thanks, Inventor. Your thoughtful reply is much appreciated.

 

highplainsman

[highplainsman]

Greetings Greg,

 

Thanks for your thoughtful reply. I am indeed enraptured by traditional Irish music. It's almost all I've been listening to lately. I started working up tunes on the Hayden Elise and that process has worked well so far. It's got me more deeply into the music and given me several pieces to practice on that have been a joy. My compadres and I have worked up a set of reels and jigs and raucous drinking songs for St. Paddy's day. Pressure's on, since I'm carrying most of the songs on the concertina. I'll play those on the Hayden Elise, but I recognize that the Anglo will be the way to go with the Irish tunes. I don't seem to have a problem switching between the two button layouts, and can see that I will end up playing both, whatever suits the song.

 

I've read much about Noel Hill's camp on this forum and his approach to the instrument, and yes, I would definitely love to attend. I'll have to see what life has lined up for me come summer. But it would be something to aim for.

 

Greg, thanks, again. I appreciate the welcome.

 

highplainsman