Exercises For Speed?

[Guest Michael Eskin]

I'm interested in recommendations for exercises I can do to increase my bellows change speed in the context of playing traditional Irish tunes. I'm finding that as I putting more and more tunes on the instrument (already a session/step dance band player on Uilleann pipes, mandolin, etc.) , I'm hitting a wall around 75 bpm in my reels, not so much in the pressing of the keys, but in getting enough speed in the bellows reversals to not have it impact the sounding time of the notes. Sort of hard to describe, but since there are no local players I can talk to or much discussion of this in the available instructional books I can find, I'm hoping that there might be some specific exercises that would help me get greater speed in my bellows changes.

 

Thanks for any suggestions,

 

Michael

[Henk van Aalten]

It is all a matter of F=m.a (Force = mass * acceleration). A quick change of bellow direction means a high acceleration. As a consequence:

1. Increase F: increase your own force (muscles)

2. Reduce the mass to be accelerated (= the mass of your concertina)

 

What really helps me is reducing change in bellow direction as much as possible, by using alternate fingering (cross row).

 

have fun!

[JimLucas]

I'm hitting a wall around 75 bpm in my reels, not so much in the pressing of the keys, but in getting enough speed in the bellows reversals to not have it impact the sounding time of the notes.

A question (and it is a question, not an assumption): Is it really the speed of the bellows changes that's the problem, or is it coordinating the bellows reversals with the buttons? I know I have difficulties with the latter, though I'm slowly improving. Coordinating the muscles of the two separate processes can be tricky.

 

One reason for the trickiness -- and also something to be aware of if speed itself really is your problem -- is that it takes much less time to depress a button than to reverse the bellows. The bellows movement/pressure has to peak when the button is depressed, not start moving at the same time the button starts moving. I.e., your muscles need to start the movement/change before you're ready to hear it. (Tuba players experience a similar but more severe problem. They have to play every note a little before they hear it, because it takes the sound a noticeable time to travel through that long tube between their lips and the bell of the instrument.) At high speed on an anglo, this difference can be virtually imperceptible, and most people learn to do it without even being aware of it. But you might want to try becoming aware of it, to see if that helps.

 

One simple thing to try is to play more quietly, moving the bellows as little as possible. Concentrate on short, quick movements; avoid strong pushes and pulls; try to make it feel like gentle "fluttering", rather than separate pushes and pulls. Overdo the gentleness; then later find a compromise between that and what you're currently doing, to get both the speed and the "punch".

 

Another possibility could be that your reeds just don't respond quickly enough. Being that you play a Tedrow, though, I doubt that's the problem.

[Henk van Aalten]

A question (and it is a question, not an assumption): Is it really the speed of the bellows changes that's the problem, or is it coordinating the bellows reversals with the buttons? I know I have difficulties with the latter, though I'm slowly improving. Coordinating the muscles of the two separate processes can be tricky.

I fully recognize this.. especially after drinking

[Michael Eskin]

Thanks Jim, the suggestion to play gently is worth its weight in gold, really makes a huge difference... Sometimes the most obvious is the least obvious... :-)

[Tina]

This post made me think for a while so here is the result, bear with me if it comes across a bit unsorted.

 

I thought maybe it is not a problem of slow reacting bellows alone simply because all is connected.

 

Part of the bellow or folds might touch the underground (= your leg) without your noticing it so make sure they are free.

 

There might be a slight difference in the synchronity of left and right side too – should you use both sides equally to move the bellows. If you prefer one side relax the fingers, hand and whole arm as much as you can, and don't do big movements and don't push … make sure they too are free.

 

Let go at the same time you push a button or even before (approaching light speed).

 

Try and test different movement patterns of changing direction and/or buttons to get a better flow, and system of emphasizing and do not overload the tune with ornamentations either. And just take the effort out.

 

Maybe another good start to improve speed is to play slowly while 'speeding up' awareness … imagine you play fast (without speed bumps).

 

There were those guys – when asked why they played so fast - who replied: " … because we CAN!" (was it the Fureys?)

 

Hope this adds to help !

[JimLucas]

It is all a matter of F=m.a (Force = mass * acceleration). A quick change of bellow direction means a high acceleration. As a consequence:

1. Increase F: increase your own force (muscles)

2. Reduce the mass to be accelerated (= the mass of your concertina) 

This is hardly correct. The mass has got (almost) nothing to do with the speed of push/pull,...

Not quite so.

 

As I think you implied, Jos, the pressure needed to force air through the reed(s) is a major constraint on the force applied to the bellows. But it does also take force to reverse the movement of the end of the concertina... not to maintain its speed, but to change its speed, i.e., to accelerate it. I find that on my super-light-weight Ceili anglo this effect -- proportional to the mass of the end -- is completely swamped by the pressure effect, but on my 38-button Jeffries and other heavier instruments (including Englishes and duets) it is noticeable (and quite distinct from any force needed to support the instrument).

 

The above is true when I'm moving -- and reversing -- the bellows gently. If I try for strong bellows movements on the Jeffries, the pressure effect strongly opposes the movement, and that pretty much overwhelms the mass-dependent effect. On my big contrabass English, though, the two effects are easy to separate, because the acceleration of the massive end comes first, causing the movement which generates the pressure change.

[Henk van Aalten]

What really helps me is reducing change in bellow direction as much as possible, by using alternate fingering (cross row).

 

I can now nicely illustrate my point by referring to a part of my mail in another topic

 

Looking at the two finger patterns of the same scale of G it can give you an idea to avoid quick push-pull sequences.

 

 

G major all pulling!

It's really a zig-zag so EC players will like it .

Note: this pattern is valid for a 30b G/C with a Wheatstone lay-out

 

 

G major almost all pushing:

Note: this pattern is valid for a 30b G/C with a Wheatstone lay-out

[JimLucas]

You can not move the bellows of the instrument without opening a valve and when doing so being depending on the ‘pumping’ forces.

Well, one can't really change the compression without allowing air to flow, but one can move the entire instrument (including the bellows) back and forth. The advantage to this is that there's no pressure effect, but only a mass effect. So, if you try rapidly reversing sideways movements of the instrument, do you feel any resistance? If so, how much?

 

That experiment is so simple that anyone can do it, so I'll let each person answer it for themself. Besides, maybe everyone else will agree with "Jos".

[Jonathan Taylor]

Edited to remove a comment no longer relevant to this thread

Edited October 7, 2004 by Jonathan Taylor