Bellows Reversals On An Anglo

[Ritchie_Kay]

In every tutor book I read it says "make sure that for two notes on the same button you hit the button twice rather than just using the bellows" which seems rather obvious and I always do *except* when there is a bellows reversal in the middle. Now I am wondering whether I need to consider the bellows and the buttons as being rather separate - i.e. you press the buttons to make the music and work the bellows to provide the air. Part of that implies that I should in fact always be pressing the button when I want a note to start and releasing when I want it stop even if the bellows reversal will do that for me because using th buttons to control the sounds is exacter than using the bellows.

Is that the way to play? Should I be trying to do that be default and only hold on to the button if it fits the tune?

Thanks for any help!

Edited September 6, 2005 by Ritchie_Kay

[JimLucas]

Part of that implies that I should in fact always be pressing the button when I want a note to start and releasing when I want it stop even if the bellows reversal will do that for me....

Is that the way play?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Many say that is the right way to do it. Others don't.

 

I would say that it's definitely a good idea to learn to always hit the button separately for each note, since then you can choose whether to do that or just use the bellows any time both are possible. If/when you do develop the always-a-button technique, you will be able to hear a difference between that and the just-bellows technique, and that's what you'll use to make your choices.

[Robin Madge]

It does make a detectable difference to the sound, might even be more of a difference for the audience, remember that they don't get quite the same sound as you do from their position.

I think it helps to be able to play stacatto and then you can relax and let things more legatto whe you want.

If you are releasing pressure by playing the note after the bellows direction change you will have more "attack" to the note and will have more of the "Anglo punch" to it.

The faster the tune the less possible it is.

 

Robin Madge

[Ritchie_Kay]

Thanks for the comments. The angle that I am coming from is something that has been dogging me for almost a year which is that try as I might I cannot produce a jig rhythm to my satisfaction despite knowing what it should sound like in my head. I think the bellows reversals are an important factor because I am losing the control from my fingers. I will try the staccato playing. I feel like I have to forget the tunes and really deconstruct what I am doing seeing as it seems so fundamental.

[Greg Jowaisas]

Hi Ritchie,

I want to add my encouragement. Hang in there. Keep refining your sound and rhythm. Good things will come from your conscientious practice.

 

I share your feelings that playing jigs on the concertina, under control, in good rhythm and being able to accent desired beats is a quite a task. I've noticed that novices at the local Irish music school in Cincinnati , at least on fiddle, are taught a number of polkas before any jigs are attempted. I suspect the instructors share our experience: While jigs are basic to Irish music, they are not necessarilly beginner's tunes.

 

It has taken a over a year for me to get comfortable playing some jigs (and some days are more comfortable than others!). I will never be a quick study but things are getting easier and faster the more I listen to the music and the smarter I practice. Hear are a couple of things that have helped:

 

Listen! Listen! Listen! Some of my favorites are Mary MacNamara, Tim Collins, Noel Hill on concertina; Paddy Canny, Kevin Burke, Matt Cranitch on fiddle.

Use a slow downer device to listen and play along at reduced speed.

 

Always spend a bit of time playing dead slow in warming up. Simon Wells talks about this in his tutorial that you can find in these forums. You'll be able to exaggerate and experiment with accents while laying down a memory track in your neural pathways (muscle memory). And a slow warm up may help prevent joint and connective tissue injury.

 

Practice playing staccato.

 

Play with experienced musicians who keep good time (and are gracious enough to play at speed within your control).

 

Let the bellows work for you.

 

This last point is where I feel the anglo concertina can really shine. The players' whose rhythm I most admire don't, as a rule, try and eliminate bellows changes. They "play" from the chest and shoulders and use the bellows changes to fuel the rhythm of a jig or hornpipe. (Fast reels on the anglo is a topic worthy of its own discussion!)

 

I think a concertinist's bellows and button work is a lot like the right and left hand coordination of a mandolin player or a flatpick guitarist. Both actions need to be in synch for the best, crisp sound. If not, things can get muddy and indistinct.

 

I salute your efforts and hope some of the above helps.

 

Greg J

Edited September 6, 2005 by Greg Jowaisas

[Ritchie_Kay]

I do wish I had learned other tunes when I started so that when I got to jigs being able to put my fingers where I want when I want would have been less of an issue and I could have concentrated on the rhythm thing.

I have a recording that I made of Michael O'Raghallaigh playing "Na ceannabhain bhana" at a concertina weekend I went on. It is the noddiest little slip jig and when he plays it the jig pattern is so clear and I really can't replicate it on the concertina although I can tap it out on the table.

Irish music is annoying because the tunes are so catchy and short that it is difficult to practice bar-by-bar you just tend to dive in and play them straight through.

As Ashkettle notes in another thread It does seem time to go back to basics and try to get this right. My fingers don't feel inflexible so they must be able to do it!

Edited September 6, 2005 by Ritchie_Kay

[Frank Edgley]

Being able to do both is important (i.e. change direction while holding the button and change direction while striking the button. However, it is easy to get trapped by always doing that. Staccato effect is striking when used, but, to my way of thinking, not nearly as effective if used all the time. By practising this as you are learning you will effectively train yourself to do this all the time. This will impare your ability to play quickly by negating one of the benefits of the anglo system i.e. the automatic articulation when changing direction. Your fingers have to move too quickly to do what the instrument can do for you, by itself. I have a student who got into this habit and he can't seem to get out of it. He is struggling to play tunes at speed, and his style is ALWAYS staccato. My advice is to learn your way around the concertina first, and then learn to play staccato. Let the bellows do the articulation when changing direction.

Edited September 13, 2005 by Frank Edgley

[bill_mchale]

Being able to do both is important (i.e. change direction while holding the button and change direction while striking the button. However, it is easy to get trapped by always doing that. Staccato effect is striking when used, but, to my way of thinking, not nearly as effective if used all the time. By practising this as you are learning you will effectively train yourself to do this all the time. This will impare your ability to play quickly by negating one of the benefits of the anglo system i.e. the automatic articulation when changing direction. Your fingers have to move too quickly to do what the instrument can do for you, by itself. I have a student who got into this habit and he can't seem to get out of it. He is struggling to play tunes at speed, and his style is ALWAYS staccato. My advice is to learn your way around the concertina first, and then learn to play staccato. Let the bellows do the articulation when changing direction.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I agree, to a certain extent I think staccato effects should be the exception not the rule. Its really cool as an ornament, but many if not most tunes are better served with a smoother style.

[Ritchie_Kay]

However, it is easy to get trapped by always doing that. Staccato effect is striking when used, but, to my way of thinking, not nearly as effective if used all the time. By practising this as you are learning you will effectively train yourself to do this all the time. This will impare your ability to play quickly by negating one of the benefits of the anglo system i.e. the automatic articulation when changing direction. ....

My advice is to learn your way around the concertina first, and then learn to play staccato. Let the bellows do the articulation when changing direction.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think I can get around the keyboard OK but I'm not sure I always like the results.

Here is a link to me playing a jig - Wille Coleman's.

It seems to me that it doesn't sound quite right and part of it is blurring notes into one another and not stressing the right notes. It seems quite important to get off the middle note in the jig pattern quite quickly and also to emphasise the start of the pattern of three in part by having a small gap before.

It is the discipline of getting off notes crisply and not blurring everything that I think occaisionally playing everything staccatto will help with. And also being able to choose whether to press twice or just hold i think is also useful particularly when you want to emphasise the second note.

I have plenty of examples of where I want to get to so I hope I won't get stuck in a bad habit although I think I am already stuck into the blurring habit!

[Samantha]

I think I can get around the keyboard OK but I'm not sure I always like the results.

Here is a link to me playing a jig - Wille Coleman's.

It seems to me that it doesn't sound quite right and part of it is blurring notes into one another and not stressing the right notes.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Firstly, let me state that I am not an expert on Irish music, my comments are based on my general musical knowledge (plus one very interesting class with Mary MacNamara).

I think you have a rhythm problem, rather than a bellows reversal problem, and you are right in that it can be at least partly solved by putting more emphasis on the first beat of each bar, and to a lesser extent on the fourth quaver (quarter note). Listening to your recording, it took me a while to feel the 6/8 pulse of the music, but eventually you do settle down to it well in the first half. In the second half I lose the sense of pulse altogether - the rhythm is blurred, rather than notes blurring into each other with bellows reversal, as far as I can make out. Go back to your source and go through it slowly making sure you are giving the longer notes their correct value; work out where the first and fourth quavers (quarter notes) are in each bar and give them more emphasis (by an extra tug or push on the bellows) even if they are tied to the previous note. I think you will find that this will straighten it out. You might want to spend some practice time over-emphasising where the beat is in a tune, in that this will allow you to fall back to a gentler emphasis without losing the rhythm.

The other, more general point I will make is that I tend to use cross-row playing (where possible) to give a legato effect and use bellows reversal without lifting my finger from the button to give distinction to each note, or course this doesn't give a staccato effect, but usually gives enough separation for my purposes.

I'd like to add that if you've only been playing for just over a year you've achieved a great deal. Please take these comments in the light in which they are offered -as friendly and constructive criticism.

Samantha

[Ritchie_Kay]

I'd like to add that if you've only been playing for just over a year you've achieved a great deal. Please take these comments in the light in which they are offered -as friendly and constructive criticism.

Samantha

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's alright. It's not a recording that I'm particularly proud of. The bellows reversal issue is illustrated in the first 6 notes of the piece: BAG AGE- This is all on the Crow and there are four consecutive notes on the same button. Really the second A needs extra emphasis which I find hard to achieve with just the bellows reversal which is why I wonder if I should strike the button again for that note.

The blurring can be seen if you open the music in transcribe and look at the wave pattern. At no point can you see distinct notes they all run into each other. Whereas on the recording that I have there are definite small gaps between the notes and I wonder whether this doesn't also help the rhythm particularly if the groups of three are separated slightly.

Thanks for the tips,

Ritchie

Edited September 17, 2005 by Ritchie_Kay

[Samantha]

[snip] The bellows reversal issue is illustrated in the first 6 notes of the piece: BAG AGE- This is all on the Crow and there are four consecutive notes on the same button. Really the second A needs extra emphasis which I find hard to achieve with just the bellows reversal which is why I wonder if I should strike the button again for that note.

[snip]

Thanks for the tips,

Ritchie

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

For the sequence of notes you mention there are other things you could try to give greater definition. You could bring into play the G/A button on the G row, perhaps for the second A, or the A/G button on your accidental row (If you have a 30 button) - this would remove the bellows reversal perhaps making it easier for you to emphasise the A?

All the best

Samantha

Edited September 18, 2005 by Samantha