The G/D Anglo Concertina A Tutor for Playing in Sessions and Bands

[Brian Tomkinson]

Just to let you know, I have recently written and published a tutor for the G/D Anglo for playing in sessions and bands. I feel that this tutor will help beginners and established players of the G/D to play in public with others. I have devised an easy to use TAB and included 40 session tunes with TAB and chords. I have played a G/D Anglo for over 50 years and found it to be the most user friendly tuning in sessions where the vast majority of tunes are in G or D. I have listed the tutor on ebay with free UK postage [ and overseas postage via ebay's Global Shipping Programme]. You can find the listing by searching Anglo Concertina on ebay and more details are there.

[Roger Hare]

The details of this publication are here:

Edited March 16 by Roger Hare

[Anglo-Irishman]

6 hours ago, Brian Tomkinson said:

I have devised an easy to use TAB

Yet another! What's wrong with the existing tab, which references the 1-10 numbering on the buttons of the early Anglo-German concertinas, clearly indicates the pull notes, and shows at a glance which hand is meant?

 

Talk about re-inventing the wheel!

 

 

[gcoover]

Brian - Glad to see something for the G/D! Can you show us how you notate the buttons and tabs?

 

As best I can tell, it looks like the tab is a variation of the one from 1981 used by Roger Watson (and later) Pip Ives, with Ondrej Sarek boxes for the bottom row, maybe the mirror numbering of Alan Day (2003) for the left hand, and with upper and lower case to indicate bellows direction. Not sure how top row/third row buttons are identified.

 

If so, that would make it #37 to add to the Anglo Notation Rosetta Chart.

 

Gary

Edited March 17 by gcoover

[Roger Hare]

From the sample page on the ebay page, I interpreted the whole scheme as follows:

 

(1) buttons are numbered symmetrically - reflecting the symmetry of the hands (a bit like this?):

 

I show a 20-button layout because the sample page uses a 20-button tune. The fine detail is a little different, but the fundamental symmetry is the same...

 

(2) I interpret the tablature as follows:

i) Left/right-hand buttons designated with an L/R eg: 'L1' or 'R2'

ii) Pull is designated by lowercase-letter, eg: 'r1'

iii) D-row designated by surrounding the tab with a square, eg: 

iv) Accidentals row, not sure - there is no instance of a note on the accidentals row in the sample page

 

The tabs rather overwhelm the score? My own feeling is that tabs should be a discreet complement to the score.

 

Personally, I use a modified/adapted version of the system described on the Concertina Australia web site - and have done for ~10 years. I adopted that system when I started this music lark - but only after looking in some depth at at least two other tablature systems. I have never had any 2nd thoughts about that decision.

 

In principle, (although I prefer a different button numbering) I agree with Anglo-Irishman - there's little point in re-inventing the wheel...

 

Edited March 18 by Roger Hare

[Brian Tomkinson]

Thanks for the comments on the TAB. To answer some of the points:

The accidental row has a circle around the TAB

The numbers are fingers not buttons

Capital letters indicate push and lower case indicate pull

 

This allows all the information required to be in one symbol  i.e. which button, which direction of travel of the bellows and which finger to use.

 

The book is more than just an alternative TAB and obviously experienced players will have their own method . You may like to try the TAB using the tune  shown on ebay. If you use the TAB on a C/G it will be in the key of C.

I wrote this to fill a gap as the G/D is often overlooked in favour of the C/G , yet in my experience [ and I play both] it is the most useful tuning to take to a session or play with other musicians. 

[gcoover]

Slight correction, this would be Anglo Tab version #38 (I forgot to count Bruce McCaskey's recent book).

[hjcjones]

I think Brian is to be congratulated on this.  The G/D is becoming increasingly popular, and there must be many novices for whom transcribing instructions for C/G is an unnecessary and unwelcome challenge.

 

I sympathise with Anglo-Irishman's cry of despair at yet another system of tab, but as there are already 37 other systems (and that's just the published versions) I fear that horse has well and truly bolted. However I am unclear about one thing in Brian's system: if the numbers refer to fingers rather than buttons, how are the buttons indicated?

 

I think if I were considering purchasing this I'd want to see a bit more of the contents, in particular the full contents page rather than a list of tunes, and a page or two from the text. 

[Roger Hare]

3 hours ago, hjcjones said:

...However I am unclear about one thing in Brian's system: if the numbers refer to fingers rather than buttons, how are the buttons indicated...

 

Yup, that's been bothering me. In an earlier post, BT wrote:

 

The numbers are fingers not buttons

...

This allows all the information required to be in one symbol  i.e. which button, which direction of travel of the bellows and which finger to use.

 

The first statement is unambiguous - it's fingers. The second statement appears to contradict the first - it's both buttons and fingers....

 

I've always assumed that the numbers in these tab systems mean buttons, but that there is also a rough correlation between button number and finger number - it ain't an exact/constant mapping, and can vary from tune to tune, but it looks something like this:

 

button1=index finger

button2=middle finger

button3=ring finger

button4=ring finger

button5=ring finger or pinkie

 

I've always rather liked the strip below...🙂

 

 

Edited March 23 by Roger Hare

[Brian Tomkinson]

With regard to the TAB the button is the one directly below the numbered finger on the specified row. E.G. your first finger right hand 'hovers' over the first button on the rows,  so TAB  R1 is first finger right hand pressing the first button right hand G row while pushing the bellows in, so playing G. TAB  r2 is the second finger right hand pressing the second button right hand on the G row while pulling the bellows out and playing A. It sounds complicated when written out in full but soon becomes easy to the point that a tune which you know by ear can be played by just looking at the TAB. It's common to indicate which finger to use when learning some other instruments. Obviously there are 5 buttons each side while you have 4 fingers. This isn't a problem as on the rare occasion you play the 5th button the 4th finger can be used.

 

I have added the Table of Contents from the book to the ebay listing to give you an idea of what the book contains. It's not just tunes with TAB [ although there are 40 useful session tunes] but a instruction manual for playing the G/D Anglo in sessions and bands.

 

[hjcjones]

That direct finger-to-button correlation is how I had assumed your system works. This will often apply to fairly simple tunes where the hand doesn't stray from the "home position" you describe, and it is no doubt absolutely fine for a book aimed at beginners (although I do wonder how they are supposed to know whether tab indicating the 4th finger means the 4th or 5th button). However it doesn't take account of other fingering possibilities where different fingers might be used. Tab sustems with specify fingers usually show this in addition to the button or fret, which after all is the information tab is intended to convey. 

 

I don't mean this to detract from your book, and I have no doubt your system fulfils its purpose where that is concerned. The book definitely fills a gap, and I wish you every success with it.