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My wrists have had a hard life and now are not so strong as they used to be .I love to play standing it allows me to direct the sound better than sitting .For the Morris I always stand and for a while used a foldable Guitar type step to allow me for short periods to rest the concertina on my knee.We have just returned from *Trevithick Day in Camborne  the step just got in the way .For the first time ever I managed to play with my fore arms vertical so the concertina was level with my face no strain on the wrists and because it was a noisy festival ,the sound carried really well. I am going to practice using this position more often. How do others cope?    * (Richard Trevithick the first Steam Engineer)

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20 minutes ago, Kelteglow said:

My wrists have had a hard life and now are not so strong as they used to be .I love to play standing it allows me to direct the sound better than sitting .For the Morris I always stand and for a while used a foldable Guitar type step to allow me for short periods to rest the concertina on my knee.We have just returned from *Trevithick Day in Camborne  the step just got in the way .For the first time ever I managed to play with my fore arms vertical so the concertina was level with my face no strain on the wrists and because it was a noisy festival ,the sound carried really well. I am going to practice using this position more often. How do others cope?    * (Richard Trevithick the first Steam Engineer)

 

Many fiddle players go deaf or partially so in the left ear over time, so you might want to use some soft ear plugs as a precaution when playing this way.

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I have always struggled to play standing up without resting the concertina on my knee.  I tend to use my hard case as a foot rest when I do this.

 

I can play several tunes in the "single line of melody" style by bracing the ends with my little fingers.  However, my preferred style is harmonic, and relies heavily on the left little finger for bass notes.

 

A member of our Morris side has constructed a strange bondage-style harness which straps one end of his concertina firmly in place.  Seems t work for him.

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1 hour ago, wunks said:

 

Many fiddle players go deaf or partially so in the left ear over time, so you might want to use some soft ear plugs as a precaution when playing this way.

 

Yes I don't think I could play that way near my ears especially indoors .Where I think I still have to use some form of footrest if standing ,.in order to give my wrists  a rest.. Even though I wear hearing aids it was ok outside where the music tends to disappear into thin air .Bob

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John Kirkpatrick braces his concertina with his little finger, but he has hands like shovels.  I can just about reach, but find that it constricts the movement of my other fingers.  Brian Peters seems to manage just relying on the hand straps.  I prefer to have my straps loose enough to reach all the buttons, but they are then too loose to support the instrument comfortably. I find it very difficult to play standing.  For gigs I take my own high folding stool.  Otherwise I'll use the case as a footrest or brace it against the top of my thigh, around the area of a jeans pocket.

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I also play Morris standing and have my fore arms vertical, but I tend to move the concertina around with the music style which allows my hearing a break from being that close. I have looked at neck straps but haven't found one which is suitable for me. If anyone comes up with other ideas to you please let me know

 

 

 

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I find that to play standing up, which I mainly do when playing for Morris, I need the wrist straps 1 notch tighter than I use when sitting down. The simple mechanism Dana Johnson uses on his Kensington Concertinas makes changing this wonderfully easy.

Martin

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The problem with the binocular harness, I have found, is that the harness straps are further apart then the ends of the concertina when it's closed, so they pull the concertina bellows open when it's at rest, which reduces the airtightness.      For this reason I'm thinking of getting a neck strap, as the width of my neck isn't much wider than the width of the concertina when the bellows are closed, so the bellows won't be forced open.  

 

Cheers, 

 

Joy

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I prefer to play seated, when possible, especially complicated arrangements. Holding the weight of the instrument becomes one less task my hands have to do (it rests on my right knee). But I find I can (and must) play morris tunes standing. I haven’t found a need for a strap or harness yet.

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I play with the instrument hanging down. Straps fairly loose the same as when I'm sitting. This was originally recorded to illustrate the shape of the bellows in response to a question, but it serves equally to demonstrate the overall hold on the concertina. Much more comfortable than with forearms horizontal or upright. The only downside is that it can be hard to hear yourself if you're surrounded by melodeons!

 

 

LJ

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talking of different systems I can say that (albeit my Crane‘s being a larger one and thus not well-suited for playing while standing up anyway) the Anglo (be it 2 or 3 row) is the only type I really love to just hold in my hands, and move around (picturing myself as a performing bear then) - however it gives the muscles a bit of a „workout“ (which is not a bad thing either I suppose). Even the 30b rosewood is rather a lightweight, or at least feels like that.

 

best wishes - ?

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