Alternate Button Choice Vs. Air Button Use On Anglo

[lxnx]

I've been learning to play Irish tunes on the anglo for a couple of months now, and am trying not to develop too many bad habits as I go along.

 

So I've read up a lot on cross row playing, and preferred/default button choices for a lot of notes (mostly to avoid having to play consecutive buttons with the same finger).

 

One thing I'm coming up against in a few tunes is running out of air. I'm getting better at using the air button whenever there's time, but I'm finding this tricky in certain tunes, especially jigs, where the bellows pattern is e.g. push-pull-push, push-pull-push, etc., since the note duration seems too short to hold the air button while playing.

 

So I was wondering what the best way to deal with this is:

 

a) should I rigidly stick to the preferred buttons, and just get air whenever I can (even if it means pressing the air button a lot and for short durations)

 

changing my button choice for a particular tune to make managing air easier (e.g. using the draw G, 3rd button top row LHS sometimes, for example)

 

I can see advantages/disadvantages to both, but if there's a "more correct" way, I guess I'd be better off putting effort into that.

Edited February 18, 2014 by lxnx

[sqzbxr]

I always follow your option 'B' in my playing, selecting buttons based on chord needed, smoothness or bounce, and air needs. I have put up a couple of fingering charts that, among other things, show the press notes only and the draw notes only. You might find this helpful:

 

http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=16286&hl=

[lxnx]

Thanks for the link Marc, those are some very handy charts, I'll try and get them printed out when I can.

[bill_mchale]

Been a while since I have been on here (having two young kids will kind of keep you from keeping up with your hobbies), but, that said, I think in general you will find that as you practice more you will get more air efficient. That being said, different concertina players have different fingerings for the same tune, so I don't think it is too much of a big deal to play with your button choices to make it a bit easier to play the tune. I know Father Charlie Coen will double some notes and then add an octave to help with some air (Though that tends to be on slow airs).

 

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Bill