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Posted (edited)

Just published by Rollston Press - a collection of 65 tunes especially arranged for the Anglo concertina, from 16 historical tutors written between 1837 and 1889 for the 20-button German concertina and the diatonic chromatic Anglo-German concertina. 

 

Scans of the original tunes are included along with updated notation in the same easy-to-learn tablature used in the other Rollston Press concertina books.

 

53 of the 65 tunes can be played on a 20-button Anglo concertina, and several can be played on only one row. And then there are some that are in 4 sharps!

 

The attached example is "Isle of Beauty" from Jefferys's German Concertina Tutor published in 1885.

 

THE TUNES: As Welcome as the Flowers in May, Beautiful Star, Belle Mahone, Black Tea Polka, The Blue Bells of Scotland, Buonaparte’s Grand March, Bonnie Dundee, Comin’ Through the Rye, Dodworth’s Original Lancers, Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes, Eulalie, Favorite Hornpipe, Fred Wilson’s Clog Dance No.1 and No.2, Gentle Annie, God Save the Queen, Had I a Heart for Falsehood Framed, The Harmonious Blacksmith, The Harp that Once Thro’ Tara’s Halls, The Hercules Hornpipe, Hold the Fort, Hunting the Hare, In My Cottage, Isle of Beauty, Jefferson & Liberty, Kelvin Grove, Kind Words Can Cheer the Heart, Kleine Waltz, The Lass O’Gowrie, The Last Rose of Summer, Logie o’ Buchan, March in “Guillaume Tell”, Men of Harlech, The Minstrel Boy, The Mother’s Evening Song, My Love, She’s but a Lassie Yet, Nelly Was a Lady, Oh! My Love He is a Saileur Boy, Old Continental March, On the Beautiful Blue Danube, Only a Pansy Blossom, Pet Robin Polka, Red White and Blue, Rose of Allandale, Rosefield, Roslyn Polka, Santa Lucia, Schottisch, Scots Wha Hae Wi’ Wallace Bled, Shall We Gather at the River, Shule Aroon, The Sicilian Mariner’s Hymn, Silver Moonlight Winds are Blowing, Silver Threads among the Gold, Skylark Polka, The Star Spangled Banner, Tyroler Walzer, Under the Willow She’s Sleeping, Vesper Bell Mazurka, The Victory Hornpipe, Villikins and his Dinah, White Wings Waltz, Write Me a Letter from Home, Yankee Doodle, Ye Banks and Braes, Young May Moon.

 

Available through Red Cow Music in the UK, and Amazon.com. $25, 20 GBP, 23 Euro.

 

Isle-of-Beauty-19c.pdf

19c-cover-small.jpg

Edited by gcoover
  • Like 5
Posted

The example looks similar to the octave style of playing house dances/bush dances. Only the notes look in thirds above or below the melody note. Interesting.

I noticed the price of 1 shilling on the cover has been crossed out. Another example of inflation. 

Posted

Yes, a lot of the tunes in the tutors are harmonized in thirds, fifths, and sometimes octaves. Surprisingly, very few utilize the oom-pah style of accompaniment.

 

I was very surprised to find that one tune, the Hercules Hornpipe from Charles Roylance's Anglo-German Concertina Players Companion (1889), had every note (all 122 of them) on the pull!!! And with no gaps for grabbing air. Not sure what he was thinking at the time, since some of his other arrangements are quite nice and obviously made by someone who played Anglo. Needless to say, in this instance I made a few button number edits to allow for some much-needed notes on the push.

 

Gary

  • Like 1
Posted

Isle of Beauty as played by the Band of the Irish Guards (first tune): 

 

Somebody in the comments said that they thought it was played too fast!

 

Looking at the score I see mostly 3rds and 6ths with a 4th near the end.  I would have called this style of playing 'double stopping' but maybe I have got the wrong idea about the meaning of double stopping?

Posted
5 hours ago, Don Taylor said:

Looking at the score I see mostly 3rds and 6ths with a 4th near the end.  I would have called this style of playing 'double stopping' but maybe I have got the wrong idea about the meaning of double stopping?

 

I have only heard the expression “double stopping” in relation to string instruments in the violin family, when it refers to playing notes on two adjacent strings (neither being an open string) at the same time. [ I play the cello and was playing double stops not three hours ago at orchestra rehearsal. ] Since the concertina was invented to play violin music, I suppose it’s not much of a stretch to call what you’re describing “double stops,” although the word “stop” in this context refers to pressing a finger onto a string against the fingerboard to effectively shorten its length and produce the desired pitch.

Posted
8 hours ago, Don Taylor said:

...Looking at the score I see mostly 3rds and 6ths with a 4th near the end... 

The problem with sheet music is it does not indicate which is the melody note, and which is supporting harmony. Where there are two concurrent notes, is the higher one the melody note, and the lower harmony, or vice versa. Looking at other scores for the same tune, it would suggest the higher notes in the first measure are the melody notes, with the lower note (third note of the scale, relative to the melody note, being the supporting harmony).

'Double stopping' is more of a fiddle term, but no reason it could not apply. From my understanding a double stop is just a two note chord

Posted
2 hours ago, Owen Anderson said:

Will there be a kindle version?

 

Yes, I'm way behind in getting Kindle versions out for several books, so give me a couple of weeks. Thanks for asking!


Gary

  • Like 1
Posted
9 hours ago, David Barnert said:

I have only heard the expression “double stopping” in relation to string instruments

I think that Wolf used the term "double stop" a few years ago, he was referring to playing his EC at the time, and it stuck with me as a reasonable description of the style.

Posted (edited)
17 hours ago, David Barnert said:

I suppose it’s not much of a stretch to call what you’re describing “double stops,”

7 hours ago, Don Taylor said:

... and it stuck with me as a reasonable description of the style.

 

Certainly reasonable.

Edited by David Barnert
Posted
On 2/6/2024 at 3:13 PM, David Barnert said:

 

I have only heard the expression “double stopping” in relation to string instruments in the violin family...

The term is also used regularly guitars of varying shapes and sizes :)

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