Up and down the rows for the long haul

[David Colpitts]

Hello. I am now about 6 weeks into Anglo concertina obsession, starting at NESI last month with a lovely (to me) 15 year old Stagi 30 button Anglo, with the black shiny ends. I love the sounds, and take to it naturally (in the "home" rows of C and G) after years of fiddling with harmonicas. However, I am not very optimistic about cross row playing (by way of example, in 30 years of harmonica, I can't play cross-harp, but just straight up and down in the native key of the particular harp.) While I know I should, and may, stretch my consciousness, my question is really, "Is there any future for straight up and down" with the 30 button Anglo? I want mostly folk, Americana, and probably old-timey, which is what I play on the harmonicas (and more importantly, in my head.) If I had to pick an inspiration (sound-wise only; I don't know how he fingers the tunes) it would be Mr. Kruskal, so far. Any suggestions?

 

And, further (perhaps for another thread) would a Rochelle be an upgrade, or more of a parallel move? I could probably add one to my small "fleet" but wonder if waiting til I can rub 2000 USD together will speed or retard my progress?

 

Thanks for any and all suggestions, and regards,

 

David

[Ken_Coles]

I wouldn't jump to a Rochelle right now...that Stagi was fairly serviceable, IIRC. Getting out of home key in the rows will open possibilities when you are ready for it. Remember how Frank Edgley showed us a tune at NESI? He does a lot along the rows, but in the key of D (say) on a C/G anglo you have to cross rows a little (and get C# in the third row), so a simple tune in D might be a way to experiment. It worked for another beginner that I met who started with Frank's book.

 

Ken

[Mikefule]

Playing across the rows on a concertina and playing "cross harp" on a harmonica are two totally different and unrelated things.

 

Yes, you can play along the row on a 30 button Anglo. This will have some advantages - for example, you can play the same tune in either of two keys without changing your fingering. This would be a bit like playing a 2 row melodeon in the most basic style.

 

However, it misses the point.

 

There are at least three reasons to cross the rows:

1) It often makes the fingering easier even for simple tunes in the major key. You don't have to "walk" your hand up the row to get the high notes.

2) It certainly makes fingering easier if you can cross the rows to play several notes in the same bellows direction.

3) It opens up a whole world of new harmonies if you play chords, basses or other accompaniment with your left hand.

 

My background: I used to play diatonic harmonica in the straight folk style, along the row with no bent notes: Morris music, jigs, reels, hornpipes. I also had a few blues lessons and learned to play cross harp with bent notes, but I never really took it seriously enough to get any good.

 

I then "upgraded" to 2 row melodeon, which is basically a pump action harmonica. I learned to play along the rows with a very basic oom-pah bass. I found it mechanical and tedious. I was playing tunes rather than making music.

 

I then learned a few simple tricks of crossing the rows on the melodeon which brightened up my playing a little, but I never really took to it.

 

When bought my first Anglo - a Rochelle - I made a solemn vow to learn it properly, and to cross the rows from very early in my career. I experimented and soon found several "routes through the maze" to get a C major scale. (It was a C/G box.)

 

I then started lessons and soon upgraded to a Marcus G/D box. My teacher taught me some really useful little tricks for crossing the rows to make playing easier and smoother, and to fit in some basic harmonies that were not available without crossing the rows. I was playing mainly in G but borrowing notes from both the D row and the accidental row.

 

For unrelated reasons, I then changed teacher and this one has shown me no end of new ways to cross the rows. The basics are now well embedded, and my teacher is adding a new "shortcut" or "embellishment" to my repertoire every lesson or two. I am now playing mainly in G, borrowing heavily from the D row and accidental row. I also play in D, borrowing heavily from the G row with my right hand for the lower notes of the tune, leaving my left hand free to provide accompaniment. This is in addition to the related minor keys ("playing on the pull") and a few forays into phrases in A or C when a tune modulates.

 

One of the things that my teacher has taught me is that sometimes playing along the rows is the best way to do it for a particular tune, but crossing the rows is nearly always the key to getting the most out of the box.

 

Did you know that if you have a C/G box, you can play a scale, C to C, with only 3 fingers and without changing your hand position? How is that more difficult than playing along the row?

 

I urge you in the storngest terms, for your own enjoyment and satisfaction, not to set unnecessary limits on what you are prepared to try on this wonderful instrument.

[David Colpitts]

I wouldn't jump to a Rochelle right now...that Stagi was fairly serviceable, IIRC. Getting out of home key in the rows will open possibilities when you are ready for it. Remember how Frank Edgley showed us a tune at NESI? He does a lot along the rows, but in the key of D (say) on a C/G anglo you have to cross rows a little (and get C# in the third row), so a simple tune in D might be a way to experiment. It worked for another beginner that I met who started with Frank's book.

 

Ken

[David Colpitts]

Thanks, folks.

 

I am grateful for your opinions, and know you are right. Mikefule, what a succinct and compelling argument you make for banishing my fears and (dare I say) laziness, and trying not to limit in advance what I might get from the instrument. And, Ken, thanks for the observation about the utility of my Stagi. I think it might be akin to when I learned to type; at some point my fingers went faster than the (old, slower IBM) Selectric could respond, and I'd be waiting at the end of the line for the last couple of characters. Will something like that happen with the Stagi, and let me know I need something more responsive or faster?

 

And, I'll get Mr. Edgely's book. Is there another that treats cross-row for the ham-headed in a simple way?

 

Thanks again, and regards,

 

David

[michael sam wild]

Frank's book is an excellent tutor (there's a DVD too) He was influenced by Chris Droney who plays 'left handed' ie mainly along the G row but going to other rows for D and A. Chris Sherburn also plays that way essentially. Most of the old timers played along the rows and there is a lot to persuade us that Willy Mullally who made the first recordings of concertina in the 1920s played a D/A concertina along the middle D row.

 

 

 

Mick Bramich has a useful cross row tutor .. I'd get familiar along the rows then progress via Bertram Levy and the more 'tricky' ' two handed' players who cross rows eg John Williams DVD and see various post on conc.net on Noel Hill's method . But if you keep an open mind you will go for the notes where you need them I woud always remember that the chords on the left and the tune on the right is a good discipline, used by John Kirkpatrick, Brian Peters et al and now being developed by Irish players too who like the pipes influence.

 

 

 

G/D will get you a long way but I'd still plug away at C/G as it is so versatile and the tone is great for Irish Music

Edited November 13, 2012 by michael sam wild

[Mikefule]

Is there another that treats cross-row for the ham-headed in a simple way?

 

 

Here's your first lesson, to show how simple it can be.

 

On a CG box, starting on the middle © row, right hand:

 

Push 1/ Pull 2/ Push 2/ Pull 3 then move to the near (G) row:

Push 1/ Pull 2/ Push 2/ Pull 3

 

Hey presto! A scale from C to C using only three fingers, exactly repeating the finger and bellows movements, and no need to shift the basic hand position.

 

 

Now try:

On a CG box, starting on the middle © row, right hand:

Push 1/ Pull 2/ Push 2/ Pull 3/ Push 3/ then move to the near (G) row:

Pull 2/ Push 2/ Pull 3

 

Sounds exactly the same, but slightly different fingering.

 

 

 

Now, for some basic cross row harmony:

 

On the middle © row, right hand:

Push 3 (the note G) and with the LEFT hand push any 3 on the middle © row. You get the note G accompanied by the chord C Major.

 

Now: Keep pushing 3 (the note G) with the right hand and then with the LEFT hand push any three on the near (G) row. You get the note G accompanied by the chord of G major. A different sound for a different place in a tune.

 

Now, instead of using button 3 on the right hand C (middle) row, try the same two chords with button 1 on the right hand G (near) row.

[David Colpitts]

Thanks, Michael Sam Wild and Mikefule. I will pursue your suggestions (and, Mikefule, have tried your "lessons" and am impressed.) You are, as I suspected,entirely correct. I just have to find a way to stop, for a bit, and learn alternate fingerings before I am even deeper in with the "up and down the rows" route. It just seems so natural to me that it's seductive. It feels like four harmonicas, but with built-in accompaniment and rhythm. But, only in 2 keys, which is the real "rub" for me. In other words, I believe I could eventually play any tune I know (in my head, of course...no reading music for this old fool) fast enough, but not in any multiplicity of keys.

 

Again, thanks to all....What a nice group of helpful, friendly and kind folk.

 

Regards,

 

David