Learning To Play The Concertina

[Greg Jowaisas]

Here's a lovely video I stumbled across. Enjoy!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55VGG7Gjcec

 

Greg

[gcoover]

Absolutely brilliant! Best video ever about Irish concertina. Especially loved the interview and playing of Kitty Hayes.

 

Gary

[cboody]

This was a project where several people learned several instruments and then after their learning period was over they come back together and played with their teachers. All of the videos are fascinating, on youtube, and worth the time.

[David Barnert]

Forgive my ignorance, but would folks like those in the video (and, evidently, its audience) really use Gaelic as their every day spoken language? I thought it was more of an ancestral language (like Yiddish, or American Indian languages) that few were fluent in and people were trying to resuscitate.

[wayman]

David, I can't speak with experience about Irish Gaelic, but as for Manx Gaelic, yes, quite a number of the teen and twenty-something Manx musicians and dancers seem fluent in Manx Gaelg and speak it amongst themselves as their primary language (but readily switch to perfect English when speaking with adults who don't speak Gaelg, or with foreign visitors). Since 2003, there's even been an immersion school where Gaelg is the sole language of instruction. Needless to say, I've been studying up prior to my next visit