The "english" Style Of Anglo Playing

[Dan Worrall]

FOLKS: to reconsider the statement at the end of my last blurb. . . . . .

 

i said that the teenage player says nothing that would contradict our imagining that he used a "harmonic" style of playing. . . .yet perhaps he does. . . . . he says that when he and his fiddler brother play together (that is, just the two of them), it doesn't sound that good. . . . .could that be because the overall musical texture was too thin???. . . . . .this being a result of his playing single-note melody only. . . . .things got better, however, when a harpist came along. . . . .was it the harpist's function to fill out the texture????. . . .i have no idea. . . . .

 

in the end, much of what we have in the way of evidence (for anything) is double-edged and admits of more than one interpretation. . . . . . . .still another reason constantly to go back to the SOURCES in order to have as much evidence as possible.............Allan

 

Good, Allan...so go back to the source once more!

Paragraph five: "I like the concertina, because it's like a full band. It's like having the fiddle and the harp together. " I think that says he is playing in a harmonic fashion. He wouldn't have said that if he was just playing melodies.

For those wondering what source we are looking at, there is a lovely piece in PICA from the 1850's, an in depth interview with a young boy who made his living playing on the steamboats on the Thames: http://www.concertina.org/pica/pica_2004_1...ayhew_atlas.htm

Edited July 11, 2006 by Dan Worrall

[allan atlas]

DAN: you're absolutely right. . . .i missed that one. . . .thanks............my eye fell upon the latter statement, and i simply didn't go back. . . . .i think the quotation you offer certainly does testify to his playing in a "harmonic" style. . . .no doubt about it............thanks again...............and that likely would support the contention that the tutors do in fact reflect what people were playing. . . . . .allan

[Chris Timson]

When this thread was started, the question was on the origin of the 'English' style of playing. I think we established that Chris meant the 'chords left, melody right' way of playing the instrument.....not any sort of national thing, nor was it intended that all players of English nationality would play in either a chorded style or any sort of completely homogenous way. I think it is best to say 'harmonic' style for 'chords left-melody right', tho an imperfect term...at least it gets the national culture thing out of the way. Some non-English play in a harmonic style, and not all English players play or would wish to be pigeonholed as playing in narrowly-defined 'English' style.

 

So, with that out of the way,

Indeed so, thanks for that Dan. It was not my intention to make any teritorial grabs for the 'harmonic' style when I used the phrase English style - England's imperial days are long over - but it is a term that was and is bandied about very loosely, and not only on this forum.

 

The rest of that posting was most interesting too.

 

Cheers,

 

Chris