Two English Concertina questions

[fred v]

21 hours ago, Ubizmo said:

Yes, it does come up pretty often in ITM. Last night, I tried to fumble through "Harvest Home" on the EC and it was quite a challenge.

Yes, that one is a hand full. come back to it later. Practice your scales every day to get your fingers moving.

[Ubizmo]

I just watched a video in which it was stated that Wheatstone's original intention was that the two last fingers of each hand should rest on the "finger rest" (I'm tempted to say "pinky rest" but I suppose that's an Americanism). This implies that he intended all notes to be played with just the index and middle fingers of each hand. Is this known to be true, and does anyone actually play this way?

 

Out of curiosity, I just tried it on my Jackie, and found it to feel much more stable in my hands. Moreover, holding the concertina this way seems to shift my two playing fingers so that they naturally land over the two center rows of buttons. But of course, I'm still just learning where the notes are, so my perception doesn't mean much. Obviously, to play this way entails reaching with those fingers to get to the sharps and flats. Since the buttons are so tightly clustered, this isn't inherently difficult, especially with my large hands, but I imagine that at some point this would cause difficulties in playing.

 

I find this interesting, having recently read in a different thread here that some well-known Anglo players favor a lot of row-crossing in order to keep the play in reach of those same two fingers, as much as possible.

[Don Taylor]

20 minutes ago, Ubizmo said:

I just watched a video in which it was stated that Wheatstone's original intention was that the two last fingers of each hand should rest on the "finger rest" (I'm tempted to say "pinky rest" but I suppose that's an Americanism). This implies that he intended all notes to be played with just the index and middle fingers of each hand. Is this known to be true, and does anyone actually play this way?

'Carlos' Wheatstone taught Bolivians to plays this way, see the first few minutes in this video:

https://youtu.be/WusMBHkCsW8?si=a1bR6Jy0UwmKir37

and another:

 

Also note that he often always plays two notes at the same time, one of the reasons that the buttons are small and close together.  Two vertical buttons played at the same time give you a fifth, two diagonal buttons give you a third.

Edited November 28, 2023 by Don Taylor

[Ubizmo]

27 minutes ago, Don Taylor said:

'Carlos' Wheatstone taught Bolivians to plays this way, see the first few minutes in this video:

https://youtu.be/WusMBHkCsW8?si=a1bR6Jy0UwmKir37

and another:

 

Also note that he often always plays two notes at the same time, one of the reasons that the buttons are small and close together.  Two vertical buttons played at the same time give you a fifth, two diagonal buttons give you a third.

That's really interesting! I wonder how it would go when playing something more chromatic, but just seeing those videos is impressive. 

[seanc]

Your going to find that the Jackie as a starter instrument has the buttons significantly larger and farther away then you are going to find on a Wheatstone or Lachenal.

 

You have to work and see what works for you. But the pinkie ring method seems to cheat you out of utilizing a perfectly good finger.

 

[Little John]

6 hours ago, Ubizmo said:

I just watched a video in which it was stated that Wheatstone's original intention was that the two last fingers of each hand should rest on the "finger rest" ...

 

Interesting. Note also that both players had their thumbs right through the straps. (Alistair Anderson does this too.) Also interesting is that they seem to play entirely in thirds (or very nearly so).

[John Wild]

11 hours ago, Ubizmo said:

I just watched a video in which it was stated that Wheatstone's original intention was that the two last fingers of each hand should rest on the "finger rest" (I'm tempted to say "pinky rest" but I suppose that's an Americanism). This implies that he intended all notes to be played with just the index and middle fingers of each hand. Is this known to be true, and does anyone actually play this way?

My music teacher told me she often found people picking up the instrument for the first time were not confident of holding it securely.

She introduced them to playing by "allowing" them to place the two fingers on the rest.

However, she was aware that, as they improved, their playing would be restricted, and she always encouraged them to use one finger on the rest as soon as they felt confident to do so.

[Don Taylor]

11 hours ago, seanc said:

You have to work and see what works for you. But the pinkie ring method seems to cheat you out of utilizing a perfectly good finger.

Or two fingers (actually four!) if you are Danny Chapman:

 

[Steve Mansfield]

18 hours ago, seanc said:

Your going to find that the Jackie as a starter instrument has the buttons significantly larger and farther away then you are going to find on a Wheatstone or Lachenal.

 

Wrong. The Jackie button spacing and size is exactly the same as a Wheatstone. 

[Gail_Smith]

Harvest Home is not an easy tune on the EC. Repeated notes...arpeggios with the hand in an awkward position.....