Playing An Imaginary Anglo Concertina

[Jody Kruskal]

I’m flying high on my way to the Old Pal festival at 30,000 feet. One of my favorite duos, Spencer and Rains are on staff this year and I’m listening to them on my head set. I would really like to play one of their Old Texas Fiddle Volume II tunes, called Waterloo. I remember how much fun it was to play it with them at Clifftop last year.

Should I beak out the Anglo and practice along with the recording and serenade the plane? Tempting... but no.

I’m bold, but not that bold. So instead, I’m sitting in the center seat of my row and playing air concertina. For a while I was tapping on the edge of my folding table, but I got nervous about disturbing the person in front of me. I’ve never done this before, but it seems that with a little practice I can also play silent Anglo against my legs.

I visualize the buttons and just play along. In some ways, it’s better than hearing the concertina, because I can concentrate on the fiddle nuances without hearing a concertina distraction. The feedback loop is there. Even though I can’t hear my thigh, I can feel it. When I press or draw, that is distinctly felt by both the finger and leg as being at two levels of pressure.

I’m amazed at how satisfying this silent play is. It’s also quite a workout. After 20 minutes of this my hands needed a rest. I guess playing imaginary concertina uses new muscles.

Wow! How come I never tried this before?

[Mikefule]

Many's the Saturday night I've spent at Rock City head banging and playing air concertina accompaniment to AC/DC. People laughed at me until the air brass section arrived, then a fight broke out between two air trombonists.