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Concertina Support


Richard Morse

When playing seated, how do you support your concertina?  

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This should proove to be an interesting poll. My experience is that people tend to root the frame which has the most decerning stuff going on - namely the melody side.... I wonder if this poll will confirm that or not.

 

In commenting here, please let us know what type of concertina you play.

 

I play Hayden duet with my right frame on my left thigh. Probably as I was used to playing BA that way. I couldn't play BA off my right thigh because the bellows was so long I'd hit my left leg! Not such a problem with a concertina, but habits die hard!

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Great idea Richard. I had to go for some other method than mentioned in the poll. Because of the different styles of music I play, It's always been a mix of standing (for bluegrass, jazz, western swing, sing-a-longs) and seated (celtic).

 

When seated I don't switch to banjo or guitar and the fatigue of supporting the concertina in the air can get my hands shaking over time, so I mix it up and lower it to my left knee when it's time for the concertina to do a little backing. Once my forearms calm down and I'm ready to bring her back to the forefront of the melody it's back up I go.

 

While on the knee, I go between the bellows on my knee and the left end frame secured. All over the place I am :blink: .

 

Edit: forgot to say what kind of concertina: EC

Edited by Mark Evans
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I'm a left endframe, left thigh guy. Since I play EC there isn't a melody side. At this point I doubt I'd change if I start playing duet or anglo. I almost never lift the concertina off my thigh and play with it unsupported. I do occasionally take my pinkies off the rests and use em to push a button, which is a whole different kettle of fish.

 

bruce boysen

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This should proove to be an interesting poll. My experience is that people tend to root the frame which has the most decerning stuff going on - namely the melody side.... I wonder if this poll will confirm that or not.

 

I root the least decerning stuff (left end).

 

In commenting here, please let us know what type of concertina you play.

 

Crane duet.

 

but habits die hard!

 

That is exactly right. When I first got a duet I concentrated on the right side. For several months I played it with just one hand (not that I'd recommend that to a beginner) with the right end facing my face. That is, I was trying to see what studs were being pressed and to visualize the relationships. My left hand just held the idle end down. (My 11-year-old who just started playing this week, plays the same way).

 

Perhaps it could be said that the left end became the decerning end at the time I started to play two handed and began holding the instrument in my lap. In which case your first notion would apply.

 

Another factor might be handedness. That is, I'm pretty strongly right handed -- so that may contribute to the facts that the left end is anchored and the right end is still decerning. On the other hand ;), the left side can get pretty decerning and I certainly wouldn't change the anchoring side because of that as I play.

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This should proove to be an interesting poll. My experience is that people tend to root the frame which has the most decerning stuff going on - namely the melody side.... I wonder if this poll will confirm that or not.

 

In commenting here, please let us know what type of concertina you play.

 

I've clicked L/L for playing EC. I'm very right handed, so even if both hands should be doing the same level of stuff, I expect I'm giving the right hand the bellows work.

There are certainlly ornaments the my right hand can do and the left really struglles with

I have somtimes try restting the bellows rather than an end frame, I think it may sound clearer having both the singing ends in the air, but then I may be kidding myself.

 

Chris J

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I voted, "I usually play it in the air when seated," because that's the truth. (Now where is the link to photo of me doing just that with DoN's contrabass English? :unsure:)

 

Actually, I prefer to to stand while playing, but I do play seated when playing with others who are seated. In those cases, I still hold my concertina above my lap (sometimes well above) much of the time, though for variety I do sometimes rest it on my leg(s). If/when I do that, it's most often right end on right leg, but sometimes left on left, right on left, left on right, and occasionally but rarely R-on-R and L-on-L (the reverse would be difficult ;)), or even resting on the insides of both thighs, with not quite enough room for it to drop through. But even in those cases -- and especially the last -- I'm really supporting the concertina more with my hands than with my legs.

 

If there's any difference between what I do in this respect with the Englishes -- my main squeeze -- and the anglo or duet, it's that I find control in the air more difficult with the bar-and-strap "handle" of the latter.

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I voted R on R, which is how I rest the box when practicing, but when I'm playing for my Morris side, I'm standing....but I find my Jeffries can get a bit heavy when holding it above waist height for long periods, so I occasionally let it 'drop' a bit to give my arms a rest!

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This should proove to be an interesting poll. My experience is that people tend to root the frame which has the most decerning stuff going on - namely the melody side.... I wonder if this poll will confirm that or not.

not for me - left frame on left thigh!

 

In commenting here, please let us know what type of concertina you play.

 

30 key C/G Anglo - which I mainly use for Morris and English tunes and the odd Irish one - G, D, A minor, E minor typically,

 

Peter

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Right on right, purely out of habit, not just because Noel Hill insists on it.

 

Standing, of course, for Morris playing -- but i usually have a foot stool nearby so I can periodically put up my leg and brace the concertina to avoid aggravating my tendonitis.

 

I also find I need more support when playing a tricky passage. In Morris, I play just fine standing/marching, but when there's a harder section coming up or a change in tunes, I try to be close to my stool so I can prop up the instrument. SOrt of a security blanket.

Edited by Jim Besser
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I voted right and right. I've only been playing for about 10 days, and the stability of anchoring the right side helps me find the keys. I always pictured myself holding the thing up in the air, so I've surprised myself a bit by keeping in on my leg. I may switch as I get more confidence. I play a crane, Richard, so your assumption holds in my case. :)

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I had never seen anyone play concertina when I took it up, so I did what seemed to be most natural, and played the [anglo] instrument suspended in the air in front of me as I still do.

Anyone who has played a full-double French horn (as I also do) will know that the concertina is not a heavy instrument to hold in this position, even for extended periods of time!

Samantha

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Standing or seated, I hold mine in the air. If I put it on my lap or on my knees, my 1yr old tends to run over and start "helping" daddy play.

 

Necessity dictates that I mostly stand and play if I want any decent length of play time in.

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Seated, I root my Hayden's right frame on my right thigh. For a parade, I once rigged a pair of suspenders as a harness and liked it very much, for strolling. But for seated play, putting the weight of the instrument on my leg spares my back.

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L / L

 

jackie ec

 

 

Jim suggested I tried both frames on a leg each but I couldn't get the hang of moving my legs to follow the movement of the bellows

 

 

plus I keep thinking of how unsightly this method would be if I'm wearing a kilt... :o

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