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Posted (edited)

Anglo Concertina in the Harmonic Style

New tutor now available!

 

If you’re interested in learning to play the Anglo concertina with full chords and harmonies, as of today there is a new tutor that will get you well on your way by showing you how to play 60 tunes with a variety of different accompaniments.

 

The tunes are mostly from the folk traditions of Great Britain, Ireland and America, but also include some classical, blues, oldtime, newly composed tunes and even a movie theme or two.

 

Written for the 30-button C/G Anglo with Wheatstone/Lachenal accidentals, the tunes start out very easy but get difficult fairly quickly, especially if you are accustomed to just playing along one row. However, as you know, playing across the rows and utilizing the third row on top are essential for learning how to play the Anglo in the full harmonic style. This book will give all of your fingers a good workout, including the pinkies on both hands.

 

This book also includes bios, discographies and transcriptions of tunes recorded by the top Anglo players of the last several decades: John Kirkpatrick, Jody Kruskal, Bertram Levy, Brian Peters, Andy Turner, John Watcham and many others. I’ve enjoyed their music for so many years and it’s a real thrill to have them a part of this project.

 

Perhaps the best feature of this book is the super-simple and super-easy button numbering and tablature system that is very straightforward and very easy to understand. This is probably the easiest tablature system ever for the Anglo concertina.

 

Many of the tunes are in the key of C, but you’ll also learn to play in G, D, F, Dm and A Dorian, and just for fun, Burchard’s Hornpipe is presented in 4 different keys.

 

Instead of including a CD with the book, I will be putting videos of the tunes into a playlist on YouTube.

 

The book is available right now at www.createspace.com/4109594, and within a few days at:

 

www.amazon.com

www.amazon.co.uk

www.amazon.de

www.amazon.fr

www.amazon.it

www.amazon.es.

 

A pdf version may be available someday assuming I can figure out how to set it all up.

 

Basic specs: 108 pages, 60 tunes, price is $30 / £20 / €23.

 

I’ve attached an excerpt, feel free to PM with any questions. If you're coming to the Old Palestine Concertina Weekend in a couple of weeks I'll have copies available at a special introductory price. Enjoy!

 

Gary

Edited by gcoover
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Posted

This looks to be a truly wonderful resource. Well done!

I look forward to the book becoming available and I would hope to use it in my teaching! Do let us know when it is available. (the createspace link doesn't work for me)

 

Thanks indeed :)

Posted (edited)

PDF sample looks good! I've put it on my Wish List.

 

I know personally how hard it is to publish a new book. I publish books for ukulele or anglo-concertina.

 

Good luck with the new book!

Edited by Ondrej
Posted

Ok, everything is 100% set up for all the different Amazon.com's. But I just noticed today that a reseller is already offering the book (new) on eBay at a jacked up price, so if you're interested be sure and check with Amazon first!

 

Gary

Posted

As a newcomer to the concertina from various instruments including keyboard, flute and melodeon, this looks very useful - I've already learned lots just from looking at the Amazon preview - which accidental layouts are the most likely, what the range is, what notes are duplicated on different buttons...

 

I'm not sure I'll work through it cover to cover, but it will certainly be useful to have as a reference for when I'm trying to find some tricky note or other. As I say, I've got a bit of a musical background - enough to know what notes go in what chords on a piano keyboard, but translating that to other instruments often requires something to refer to. I'd say this looks like an ideal book for someone who knows a bit about music but very little about the concertina - will give it a go, as a new player, and report back to you.

Posted

Erratum: page 11, D major scale. Tab for the first E is given as 3 push but I think it should be 4 push?

 

Nice book though. Looking forward to getting some of the tunes off pat!

Posted

This book sounded very interesting so I ordered from Amazon UK on Saturday. With customary effeciency it arrived on Tuesday by standard post. I have only managed a cursory glance so far, but I doubt I will be disappointed from what I have seen. Well done to Gary. Chas

Posted

Erratum: page 11, D major scale. Tab for the first E is given as 3 push but I think it should be 4 push? Nice book though. Looking forward to getting some of the tunes off pat!

 

Excellent catch, "Strig", let's hope that's the only one, or at least nothing else terribly major! Keep me posted on how you get on with the tunes and the tablature. Enjoy!

 

Gary

Posted

I'm probably an ideal proofreader. New to the concertina but has played other instruments and can read music. I just kept trying to do the D major scale and wondered why I couldn't do it. I eventually stopped assuming I was doing it wrong and actually cross-referenced the tab with the other scales. :)

 

I'll keep my eyes open. I don't know enough about the concertina to know the right answer for everything, but I might pick up a few things.

 

I didn't know Amazon published books as well?!

Posted

Thanks for the kind words about the new tutor!

 

I just found a huge boo-boo on Page 57 - instead of Burchard's Hornpipe in D, what got printed was Burchard's Hornpipe in G, just like the one on Page 58. Fear not, swift measures have been taken, the responsible party duly punished, and all has been set right and restored. Within a few days all newly ordered copies will have the tune in the correct key. Gotta love print-on-demand publishing! If you've got an earlier copy, just send me a PM with your email and I'll send out the correct page.

 

Gary

Posted

There may be a mistake in bar 12 of Fieldtown Processional on page 94 regarding button numbers. I reckon the pulled 2 should be a pushed 8. This is just a piece I picked up at random - I haven't worked my way through each page this far yet! Chas

Posted (edited)

Marshall, you need that pulled 2 for the full D chord in the left hand (that F# is only in one direction). I know it puts the melody an octave lower than what you expect for just that one note, but when it's all played together it works just fine (

) - just one of the many concessions that sometimes need to be made when transcribing to the 30-button Anglo. It really needs that full D chord on the left, since on the push you only have a fairly thin 7-4a chord that also puts you at risk of running out of air in that phrase. John Watcham proofed the transcriptions of his tunes, and although he made a few tweaks here and there he made no changes to that 2 pull.

 

There will often be alternate buttons or directions you'd rather play, and that's perfectly ok - the book just shows one way of playing the tunes, not the only way!

 

Gary

Edited by gcoover
Posted

Thanks for the explanation which makes perfect sense. The stave line represents the "normal" tune; the button numbers an adaptation for the anglo which sometimes may differ. I think JW plays a 39 key, so he may well have that D on the pull. By the way, I have enjoyed your Youtube offerings before, so it is nice to be able to put a name to Angloconc! Chas

Posted

Any idea when this will (again) be available to purchase?

It's currently out of stock everywhere.

Posted

Marshall, you need that pulled 2 for the full D chord in the left hand (that F# is only in one direction). I know it puts the melody an octave lower than what you expect for just that one note, but when it's all played together it works just fine (

) - just one of the many concessions that sometimes need to be made when transcribing to the 30-button Anglo. It really needs that full D chord on the left, since on the push you only have a fairly thin 7-4a chord that also puts you at risk of running out of air in that phrase. John Watcham proofed the transcriptions of his tunes, and although he made a few tweaks here and there he made no changes to that 2 pull.

 

There will often be alternate buttons or directions you'd rather play, and that's perfectly ok - the book just shows one way of playing the tunes, not the only way!

 

Gary

 

I find this problem with the pull high d is the main drawback of the Wheatstone 30 button layout and it's standard issue on the 'accidental' row of the Jeffries 31 layout (and of course on all 30 button+ layouts). If you're only playing melodies, it's not much of a issue, but when you want a full chord there, it's a real pain.

 

Gary, I was lucky enough to have your tutor delivered in time for the German meeting last weekend where I was teaching. Although I've not really had time yet to study it closely, it looks a huge improvement on everything else I've seen and I really wish it had been around when I started learning the anglo...

 

Adrian

Posted

I find this problem with the pull high d is the main drawback of the Wheatstone 30 button layout and it's standard issue on the 'accidental' row of the Jeffries 31 layout (and of course on all 30 button+ layouts). If you're only playing melodies, it's not much of a issue, but when you want a full chord there, it's a real pain.

 

Early in my anglo playing, I "solved" this problem on my 30-button Wheatstone-layout by dropping the D# on button 4a-draw to a D natural. (I say "solved" because of course this solution creates other problems down the road. But at the time, I really wanted that D natural on the draw for precisely the reasons discussed here and didn't yet have tunes in my repertoire which might use the D#.)

 

I've since solved the problem another way, by just switching to the Jeffries-layout :rolleyes: Of course, now my playing has advanced to where I periodically want that D#, which is lacking on the 30-button Jeffries-layout... so I just fake it in the lower octave.

 

Gary, as a fan of John Watcham and of your youtube videos in his style (especially Glorishears), I've been eagerly awaiting this book for some time. I'm delighted to hear of its official publication.

Posted

Ok, it should be available at all the amazons any minute, just approved the revised version with known issues tweaked and updated. It's pretty cool how they do it - they just temporarily take it offline while a new proof is being reviewed.

 

Thanks for all the feedback and proofing! It's a lot of dots and a lot of numbers and although I ran through it a million times before hitting that "send" button, a couple of hiccups managed to sneak through. With luck, everything is good to go now.

 

I'm curious how everyone gets along with the Anglo tablature system. I think it's the easiest one out there by far. I initially tried pretty much all the others out there, many of which were created with a lot of thought and effort, but this one just makes the most sense to my simple brain and makes tunes really easy to learn.

 

Gary

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