Online lessons

[Yvon]

Hi,

What do you think of sites providing online lessons for the concertina?

I've tried oaim but I didn't find it convincing (Fingering for tunes is far too fast).

 

What about Caitlín Nic Gabhann? (https://www.irishconcertinalessons.com/)I like the way she plays, but it is the most expensive.

 

Niall Vallely provides much cheaper lessons https://www.tradirishmusic.com/, can it be a good start ?

[davidevr]

I've tried a few, they all have strong and weak points...

 

Jack Talty (at McNeela's website)

I started with this one, which I got for free with my first concertina.

It is a very technical course, a lot of musical theory, and the tunes are quite hard for a beginner; even the very first polka has a D scale which is not difficult after a year of playing, but quite hard for someone who has just picked up the concertina. Jack is Noel Hill's nephew and has the same attitude towards technique: it's hard, but you have to learn it. Some of the tunes I learned from this course are still the hardest I play...

Still, Jack has some solid and simple principles, and it gives you a sound foundation.

 

Caitlín Nic Gabhann

The tune selection is lovely, the quality of the video is superb and the way tunes are taught is quite thorough: a lot of useful repetition, it's the closest thing true live lessons. It's simpler to start, and has a lot of content, and the higher levels are also nice.

Also, for some reason Caitlín's music is very joyful, learning is real pleasure.

It's the most expensive one, but the video and material quality fully justifies the cost.

 

OAIM (https://www.oaim.ie)

It's got 5 concertina levels. The quality of videos is not on par with Caitlín or Jack's, but the selection of tunes is nice. You also get different teachers for different levels, so you have a chance to see many styles.

There's a very nice feature: each tune has a track that lets you play with accompaniment and/or with another solo player (flute or fiddle in the case of concertina)

 

If I had to buy just one course I'd probably go with Caitlín. Also, Caitlín's is definitely a nice source to start with, very good for beginners.

But then again my suggestion is doing them all, one after the other; this way you learn different technique and styles.

 

BTW I did not know about the Niall Vallely's one, I guess I'll have to do that as well sooner or later 😅

 

 

Edited September 5, 2024 by davidevr

[Yvon]

Thank you for your detailed reply.

I'm afraid to get lost if I follow several masters at the same time so Caitlin seems a good choice.

[Becky_S]

Hi Yvon, I am also a beginner and have tried Caitlín Nic Gabhann's course as well as the OAIM lessons. I really love Caitlín's course! I'm not that far into it, but it's been really easy to follow as a complete beginner. The tunes are lovely and fun to play. I love how she breaks them down slowly phrase by phrase, and shows you how to play, as well as sharing information on the considerations behind button choice, musicality, and lots of other things. In addition to the video lessons, there is also a very handy tune archive with all the tunes played 2x, once really slowly and once mid-speed. You can slow down everything to a really precise degree so you're not rushing, and select a section to loop repeatedly. There is also a gorgeous "album" of the tunes played fast, with accompaniment and embellishments, so you can see what they'd sound like actually performed, which is super inspiring and fun to play along with too (if you can keep up!). The tune progression is really logically structured, starting with easier things like polkas and barndances and gradually introducing new buttons and techniques. I have only been going at it for a few months, but already I can play a dozen or so simple tunes.

 

I have not found the OAIM lessons too helpful so far. They are just too hard and fast for me, and don't have enough teaching for the level that I'm at. Possibly someone who is more advanced would find them useful. I do subscribe to OAIM too though, because I really LOVE their giant library of play-along tunes! These are great - there are sets from pub sessions, and individual tunes, played by all sorts of instrument combos, which you can play along with. You can slow them down if needed (although less precisely - only 50% and 75%), and you can choose to hear just the melody, just the accompaniment, or both. Super fun way to add variety to your practicing. Unfortunately not all of Caitlín's tunes are in there, but quite a few are.

 

Good luck/enjoy! 🙂

[Sean M]

I haven’t tried Jack Talty’s course but otherwise I agree with everything davidevr has said about Catilín’s course and the OAIM course. 
 

another nice thing about Caitlín’s course is the Facebook group that goes along with it. Interacting with other people. Talking about the lessons. Seeing other people’s progress videos, etc. 

[davidevr]

Oh yes, I had forgotten to mention the FB group, which is also golden!

[Becky_S]

I just had a look at the Jack Talty course too (it also came free with my instrument from McNeela, but I hadn't looked at it for some reason.) It's very different from Caitlín's course, but also really useful I think! Jack goes into much more detail about explaining how concertina works, giving technical exercises to do, and more conceptual underpinnings as well as lots of very concrete pointers about playing and practicing. There are not many actual tunes (only 9 in the beginner level, for example), and it moves more quickly in ramping up difficulty. I don't think I could have used this course alone, not as a complete beginner at least, but it's a fantastic supplement. There is more time devoted to explaining things than to playing, as compared to Caitlín's course, which is more intuitive and jumps right into playing. Jack has a wonderful clear way of explaining things that has already helped me wrap my head around some things.

 

So, just agreeing totally with davidevr that all three courses have different value! We are quite lucky to have great learning resources for this quirky little instrument 🙂

[davidevr]

Jack’s method is bulletproof. The first-finger-first principle has really shaped my playing; now I am learning tunes with all kinds of fingerings (G rows only etc) but whenever in doubt I always end trusting Jack’s FFF principle. 
I definitely agree, sometimes it feels more like a seminar than a practical course, but there’s a lot of value there. 

[Sean M]

On 9/8/2024 at 2:00 PM, Becky_S said:

I just had a look at the Jack Talty course too (it also came free with my instrument from McNeela, but I hadn't looked at it for some reason.) [...]

 

Hmm... I just bought a concertina from McNeela. How does the course become available? I didn't see anything in the order about that.

[Becky_S]

9 hours ago, Sean M said:

 

Hmm... I just bought a concertina from McNeela. How does the course become available? I didn't see anything in the order about that.

McNeela sent me an email with the logon details. On their website it looks like they're still running the special now - depending on which concertina you bought, you get a certain number of months free subscription to the Jack Talty course. Maybe check in with them if you didn't get the email?

[Yvon]

Thank you again for all your contributions.

I came across Caitlin's free lesson that is made available as a demo. It took me a week to get the tune that she presents but I think that's not too bad after my first month with a concertina (I'm far to play it at the "reel" speed).

I have years of practice with the flute and the whistle so I know a bunch of tunes that I would to try on the concertina, I might be interested by a more technical course but I like very much the way Caitlin plays.

 

How long should I expect to spend on each lesson ?

 

BTW, why don't they provide any kind of "tablature" that could speed up the discovery of the fingering ? 

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

There's many kinds of tablature and approach to learning concertinas .I would say once you find the best one to suit you personally..then stick with it, rather than get confused with too many options.  Then you will develop your skills more fluently.

[davidevr]

Well, how much time on each lesson is very subjective… Probably at least until you can play the tune by heart. But then you can use the adjustable-speed track to play along and improve your rhythm and pulse, which is by far the hardest aspect…

About tabs, with Irish music the aim is to learn tunes by heart, so most teachers don’t più much emphasis on scores tabs etc. Then again, to be honest, Caitlín’s course has ambiguous notations (notes are marked, buttons aren’t) while Jack’s Talty’s course has a super simple unambiguous notation type (each note is the “first choice” button unless marked). When marking my fingerings I have adopted Jack’s system.

 

[Becky_S]

So far I've been spending about 1-2 weeks on each lesson, depending on how challenging the tune is, how much time I have to practice that week, etc. A more experienced musician like yourself might be able to learn the tunes faster, but I'm a beginner so I'm going pretty slowly.

 

There are tab systems - I've seen them in various books. I personally find it easier to learn by ear/showing how to play, which seems to be the way it's traditionally taught. There are so many options for how to play each note on concertina, so you always have choices about which button to use. I like that Caitlín shares some of the options and the thought process behind it. I think the idea is to learn this decision process, as well as the tunes themselves - those are both important skills for playing concertina.

[Can the Man]

I am doing my lessons online with Caitlín Nic Gabhann (https://www.irishconcertinalessons.com/), I’m in my 3rd year, and at improver level. I find her method of teaching phrase by phrase plus the audio files a fantastic method. I don’t really use the videos as I prefer looking at the ABC’s that I have printed and listen to her voice and later practice with the audio files that you can slowdown.

I have also purchased (€10 each) the  audio files that I have uploaded onto my iPod and listen to when I’m working in the garden and I’m just keeping the tunes played into my brain. It helps me. 

Edited September 23, 2024 by Can the Man
Spelling

[Yvon]

Quote

I don’t really use the videos as I prefer looking at the ABC’s that I have printed and listen to her voice and later practice with the audio files that you can slowdown.

Considering all the replies, i subscribed to Caitlin's course. As of now, I tend to focus on the tunes I already know in the starter section. I was used to learn the tunes on the tin whistle before playing them on the flute, and I do the same with the concertina and separate learning the tune from learning how to play it on the concertina. 

I am used to combine reading the music and learning by ear (each tune has tricky parts that I find hard to get by ear). I watch the videos to get the recommended fingering and write it down with my own tablature system (close to Bruce McCaskey's -- a book I ordered but that have never been delivered) and then practice, practice, practice... occasionally I return to the video to check if I am not deviating (because after a few weeks of practice, my fingers tend to choose by them self alternate fingering that leave me in trouble with bellow control. I guess this is part of the learning process). I also try alternate tunes I already know, sometimes I find my way to play them, sometimes I fall into tricky finger sequences that I can't overcome.

Despite I feel improving day by day, I find hard needing to refrain me from playing the tunes at the usual speed.

[Becky_S]

Sounds like you are having lots of fun playing around with the concertina, Yvon! Are you in the Facebook group? If you have questions about fingering, you can post there and other students might share how they like to play that tune, or Caitlín might give some advice too. It's a great help to have the other students share their experience in the group.