Concertina Songs For A Beginner

[darticus]

Concertina songs for a beginner

Not sure if I would be a beginner or intermediate or what as I have studied music for 50+ years but only playing the concertina about 4 months. I now play a dozen songs and need some suggestions of songs to try or a way to hear some songs. I do like the jigs and reels but need to hear them to see what I would like to try. Is there a way to hear songs on the Anglo 20 and 30 button? I do have a group of music books but still would like to hear how the songs go first. Any suggestions? Thanks Ron

 

[Don Taylor]

You would get a lot of benefit from learning to use one of the ABC editor/players.

 

You do not really need to learn how to write ABC 'code' to get an immediate payback. There are hundreds of thousands of songs and tunes already coded in ABC that are freely available on the Internet. You just need to learn how to copy and paste the ABC code from an Internet page into your chosen ABC player. The result is a page of standard music notation corresponding to the ABC code and a play button that lets you hear the melody.

 

If you can already read standard music notation then you will find ABC easy to understand.

 

As far as editor/players are concerned: I like EasyABC but there are others to try that you may prefer.

[darticus]

You would get a lot of benefit from learning to use one of the ABC editor/players.

 

You do not really need to learn how to write ABC 'code' to get an immediate payback. There are hundreds of thousands of songs and tunes already coded in ABC that are freely available on the Internet. You just need to learn how to copy and paste the ABC code from an Internet page into your chosen ABC player. The result is a page of standard music notation corresponding to the ABC code and a play button that lets you hear the melody.

 

If you can already read standard music notation then you will find ABC easy to understand.

 

As far as editor/players are concerned: I like EasyABC but there are others to try that you may prefer.

Thanks for that I will have to look into it. Ron

[KevinBradfield]

Do a search for Paul Hardys basic tunebook. It has a lot of really good tunes in it, and it is free. He also has a number of other books. As a brand new beginner, I am enjoying his basic book very much, as it has a lot of popular songs i it, so it is nice to learn stuff right off the bat that most people will recognize.

[darticus]

Do a search for Paul Hardys basic tunebook. It has a lot of really good tunes in it, and it is free. He also has a number of other books. As a brand new beginner, I am enjoying his basic book very much, as it has a lot of popular songs i it, so it is nice to learn stuff right off the bat that most people will recognize sounds like fun. Are you using a 20 anglo or 30 button anglo? Thanks Ron

Sounds like fun! I did go and get it. How do you make chords or bass to fit. The melody line is music I can read and convert to Anglo keys using numbers. Do you use a 20 or 30 button anglo? Thanks Ron

Edited August 22, 2016 by darticus

[KevinBradfield]

 

Do a search for Paul Hardys basic tunebook. It has a lot of really good tunes in it, and it is free. He also has a number of other books. As a brand new beginner, I am enjoying his basic book very much, as it has a lot of popular songs i it, so it is nice to learn stuff right off the bat that most people will recognize sounds like fun. Are you using a 20 anglo or 30 button anglo? Thanks Ron

Sounds like fun! I did go and get it. How do you make chords or bass to fit. The melody line is music I can read and convert to Anglo keys using numbers. Do you use a 20 or 30 button anglo? Thanks Ron

 

I am making way way with a hayder duet ( Elise), can't help ya on the anglo question!

[Will Moore]

Also, if you are looking to hear others play - YouTube can be a fantastic inspiration. I use it to learn most of the songs I am trying to play. Twinned with sheet music, it's a great combination.

 

Gary Coover, who makes some great books for beginners and intermediates alike posts many of his songs on YouTube to help players learn.

 

This playlist for example features many from his book, "Anglo concertina in the harmonic style" http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDAFAr6LGkx39G50Zl2L3OssL2o9T_kBn

 

Gary is fairly active here, so he might even respond

[darticus]

Also, if you are looking to hear others play - YouTube can be a fantastic inspiration. I use it to learn most of the songs I am trying to play. Twinned with sheet music, it's a great combination.

 

Gary Coover, who makes some great books for beginners and intermediates alike posts many of his songs on YouTube to help players learn.

 

This playlist for example features many from his book, "Anglo concertina in the harmonic style" http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDAFAr6LGkx39G50Zl2L3OssL2o9T_kBn

 

Gary is fairly active here, so he might even respond

Thanks some nice stuff. I have about 4 of his books and have to remember this one. Thanks Ron

Edited August 23, 2016 by darticus

[SteveS]

What we talking about here? Songs or tunes? In my mind a song is not a tune per se.

[darticus]

What we talking about here? Songs or tunes? In my mind a song is not a tune per se.

I like I guess Tunes. Jigs, Reels etc. Ron

[lachenal74693]

You would get a lot of benefit from learning to use one of the ABC editor/players.

.

As far as editor/players are concerned: I like EasyABC but there are others to try that you may prefer.

 

Don is far more musically literate than I am, and he is far more knowledgeable about music software than

me, but for what it's worth, I agree with him. EasyABC is pretty good.

 

You will find lots of other ABC software described briefly at:

 

http://abcnotation.com/software

 

On my PCs, I have tried:

 

EasyABC

ABCExplorer

ABCEditor

 

and (for me) EasyABC is the 'best'. It has an interface which is relatively flexible/sophisticated, but does

not over-gild the lily.

 

ABCExplorer has a user interface which is (to me) a bit 'fiddly'. It does however allow the 'automagic'

generation of chords for ABC scripts which do not already have them (I think you mentioned chords in

one of your posts). If I use this facility, I generate the chords in ABCExplorer and then do any other stuff

(adding fingering details, transposition, etc.) in EasyABC.

As far as I can see, ABCEditor has not been updated since 2008, so I didn't pursue this one other than

confirming that the program did indeed load and display ABC code files (please correct me if that is wrong!).

 

I have also looked at MuseScore which is fine but doesn't quite do what I want - basically, it's a bit advanced

for a numptie like me...

 

If you wanted something for an Android tablet, TradMusician is a good all-encompassing ABC player (and for

'phones?) - I haven't tried the built-in editing facility as I do all my editing within EasyABC.

 

I use EasyABC and TradMusician.

 

Be aware that EasyABC and TradMusician seem to parse and process ABC code slightly differently, resulting

in a slightly different-looking score when displayed using the two programs. You would need to experiment

and develop your own 'style' of ABC coding to produce a 'compromise' which displayed scores to your

satisfaction with both programs.

 

Roger

Edited August 23, 2016 by lachenal74693

[darticus]

 

You would get a lot of benefit from learning to use one of the ABC editor/players.

.

As far as editor/players are concerned: I like EasyABC but there are others to try that you may prefer.

 

Don is far more musically literate than I am, and he is far more knowledgeable about music software than

me, but for what it's worth, I agree with him. EasyABC is pretty good.

 

You will find lots of other ABC software described briefly at:

 

http://abcnotation.com/software

 

On my PCs, I have tried:

 

EasyABC

ABCExplorer

ABCEditor

 

and (for me) EasyABC is the 'best'. It has an interface which is relatively flexible/sophisticated, but does

not over-gild the lily.

 

ABCExplorer has a user interface which is (to me) a bit 'fiddly'. It does however allow the 'automagic'

generation of chords for ABC scripts which do not already have them (I think you mentioned chords in

one of your posts). If I use this facility, I generate the chords in ABCExplorer and then do any other stuff

(adding fingering details, transposition, etc.) in EasyABC.

As far as I can see, ABCEditor has not been updated since 2008, so I didn't pursue this one other than

confirming that the program did indeed load and display ABC code files (please correct me if that is wrong!).

 

I have also looked at MuseScore which is fine but doesn't quite do what I want - basically, it's a bit advanced

for a numptie like me...

 

If you wanted something for an Android tablet, TradMusician is a good all-encompassing ABC player (and for

'phones?) - I haven't tried the built-in editing facility as I do all my editing within EasyABC.

 

I use EasyABC and TradMusician.

 

Be aware that EasyABC and TradMusician seem to parse and process ABC code slightly differently, resulting

in a slightly different-looking score when displayed using the two programs. You would need to experiment

and develop your own 'style' of ABC coding to produce a 'compromise' which displayed scores to your

satisfaction with both programs.

 

Roger

 

Thanks will check this out. Ron

[Daniel Bradbury]

Hello Ron,

 

If you are looking to hear some jigs and reels, go to Florence Fahy's website concertinachick.com .

Under the tunes section she puts in a tune each month. They are all wonderful tunes. She plays them through slowly and very cleanly, as well as up to speed.

 

She is a fantastic teacher, who gives lessons and workshops. Her skype lessons are also very good. I can't recommend highly enough.

 

Here is a direct link to the tunes page.

 

http://www.concertinachick.com/tunes.html

 

Dan

[darticus]

Hello Ron,

 

If you are looking to hear some jigs and reels, go to Florence Fahy's website concertinachick.com .

Under the tunes section she puts in a tune each month. They are all wonderful tunes. She plays them through slowly and very cleanly, as well as up to speed.

 

She is a fantastic teacher, who gives lessons and workshops. Her skype lessons are also very good. I can't recommend highly enough.

 

Here is a direct link to the tunes page.

 

http://www.concertinachick.com/tunes.html

 

Dan

Thanks very much going to site. The Alan Day site and music I seem to like but I don't know what type of music it is. Thanks Ron

[jggunn]

please look at the website The Session. Multiple tunes in music notation, abc, and midi and in various versions of each.