Fast Runs Up Or Down The Scale On An Anglo

[Sue W]

I'm learning to play a G/D anglo. I'm mostly playing English tunes and looking to play in a harmonic style with the melody mostly on the right hand and any harmony on the left. I'm also mostly self taught so it's a bit of a bumpy journey!! At the moment I am playing a few tunes OK and beginning to put in some chords or a simple base line. I am finding though that it is hard to play well a fast run up or down the scale that involves a number of quick bellows reversals.

My question is whether I should be trying to play such runs across the rows, where this is possible. I have had a go at this. My attempts were not very fluent and it certainly feels different and I suspect will always sound a bit different, but is it what I should be aiming for? or should I just work at improving the bellows reversal. I would love to know what experienced anglo plays of English music think, especially if you play a G/D.

Thanks.

Sue

[gcoover]

Sue, since a G/D will be a little slower to respond, if you're looking for smoothness and speed then use all three rows and as many of the alternate notes (on either side) as possible. You still might have to do a few bellows changes depending on the run, but you can probably find a way it won't sound too choppy.

 

Gary

[Don Taylor]

Gary did not give you his best advice - buy his tutorial book.

[Sue W]

Sue, since a G/D will be a little slower to respond, if you're looking for smoothness and speed then use all three rows and as many of the alternate notes (on either side) as possible. You still might have to do a few bellows changes depending on the run, but you can probably find a way it won't sound too choppy.

 

Gary

Thanks. It's not that I'm worried about it being choppy, and I do like the bounce of the anglo especially playing dance tunes, but some runs which require a number of fast bellows reversal in succession are hard to play quick and crisp enough - at least for me. I'm not sure which way to go for the type of music I want to play. I'm not aiming to play fast Irish tunes.

Sue

[Theo]

I think you should aim to learn both on the row and cross row fingerings then you have a choice about how the music feels.

[StuartEstell]

I agree - it's worth learning all available techniques and then decide what works best for you in any given situation!

 

A great piece of advice I was given early on was not to rely solely on the bellows for achieving bounce, and it's certainly true that with work on articulation you can get plenty of lift into a tune when playing across the rows.

[hjcjones]

If you're playing harmonic style then rapid bellows reversals may disrupt your chord accompaniment. If you want to hold a chord against the run then you'll need to play across the rows to avoid a change of chord resulting from a change of bellows direction. The same applies to bass runs - I find it is often easier to work these out first, then match the right hand melody fingering to the bellows directions imposed by the basses.

 

Theo is right, learn the different fingerings and then you'll have a choice. There are several permutations in both directions, but given time they become second nature.