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playing topsy turvy


wunks

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I recently took my Jeffries duet from it's case without noticing it was reversed and upside down and after some absentminded noodling I noticed something was different.  Although the finger patterns were much the same I was playing in the higher register.  As I realized my "mistake" I played around with it a bit more and didn't flip it over because there was something pleasing to my ear going on.  The same notes on the same keys which sounded thin, lifeless and rather harsh when played with the right hand suddenly came to life with the left.  Additionally, I discovered that when playing tunes in the overlap zone, being an ear musician, switching hands produced an entirely different result.  I realize that playing in this way may seem "over bold" to some but the duet and possibly the anglo don't seem particularly prejudiced as to orientation.  EC's would seem limited by the thumb straps and pinky rests.  I think this is a Left Brain/Right Brain phenomenon that could be of great value in expanding the range of expression for some players of these instruments.  What say you?

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I would say ' If it suits you , go for it'.

 

  I have done this  with duets  but  also with the English, albeit in a different way.  in that changing octaves ( on the EC)  throws   each note onto the other hand.   It  appears that  one hand is  dominant  and the  other  follows it  . The results  of this ,on  the English,  are that  playing a tune  in one octave can  feel more natural  than in another octave.  Practice, of course ,overcomes the difficulties  but  the  movement flow ( of the tune)  remains   affected  by  this shifting of  'control' from one hand to the other.

 

More recently I have  been learning the chromatic accordéon  and  there it appears I am  'left hand dominant'  though not left handed as such.

Edited by Geoff Wooff
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21 hours ago, Geoff Wooff said:

I would say ' If it suits you , go for it'.

 

  I have done this  with duets  but  also with the English, albeit in a different way.  in that changing octaves ( on the EC)  throws   each note onto the other hand.   It  appears that  one hand is  dominant  and the  other  follows it  . The results  of this ,on  the English,  are that  playing a tune  in one octave can  feel more natural  than in another octave.  Practice, of course ,overcomes the difficulties  but  the  movement flow ( of the tune)  remains   affected  by  this shifting of  'control' from one hand to the other.

 

More recently I have  been learning the chromatic accordéon  and  there it appears I am  'left hand dominant'  though not left handed as such.

Thanks for your supportive post Geoff.  It encourages me to expand a bit on the idea.  It has been expressed that the concertina was intended to emulate the violin, however on that instrument, the notes are selected with the fingers of the left hand.  We agree that "handedness" makes a difference in feel and flow of a tune.  It seems to me that the concertina as conventionally played is more suited to the range of the viola with the left hand lead.  Because the instrument is roughly bilaterally symmetric and has an overlap of notes in the mid range, (duet), turning it over allows for a left hand lead in the range of the violin.  I'm envisioning an instrument with a little more overlap in the middle, a new hand strap arrangement and perhaps some more thumb key low notes so I don't have to buy a Bass au Pieds☺️

Edited by wunks
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