Learning materials built on theory

[AuldKingCole]

I'm a new learner, very excited to begin with a 30-key Anglo. I'm also a music teacher and musician of many years. For other instruments, it's been easy to find lessons and books that provide instruction on theory and first principles. For example, one of the first violin resources I ever used started with a great discussion on best practices for bridging the strings as a function of key, bow motion, phrasing, etc. I could then take those discussions and apply them directly to beginner sheet music. I've tried the first free lessons by OAIN and Caitlin Nic Gabhann, and they take more of a "repeat after me" approach, note by note and song by song, which is wonderful for many learners but not how I prefer to approach a new instrument.

 

Can anyone recommend lessons and/or books that take a more theory-forward approach? For instance, I've seen a lot of discussions about Noel Hill's methods for playing across rows, and I would love to take something like that into consideration while developing familiarity with my scales. But I feel like every resource I find boils down to "everyone develops their own unique method. Go figure out your own!" I appreciate that style is unique to each musician, but I would love to at least start with a resource that breaks down "here are a few common approaches and why they developed this way."

 

This forum seems to be the best resource I've found so far, with wonderful discussions and and articulate input from many experts. But I would love something a little more centralized and purposefully curated in it's delivery to a learner. Thanks for any help you can provide!

[Ken_Coles]

I don't know about "why they developed that way," but the book by Bertram Levy (Anglo Demystified, IIRC) shows a good variety of techniques that you can use later. Paul Schwartz and I, your hosts here, both started with it.

 

Ken

[David Barnert]

55 minutes ago, Ken_Coles said:

the book by Bertram Levy (Anglo Demystified, IIRC)

 

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

I think the fact is that there are no fixed one off methods for learning concertina...just lots of optional ways of learning; whether tabs methods, used to indicate notes, or buttons to be pressed.  

I think it is because the instruments developed inbetween classical orchestral in instruments, that they never really had one rigid way of playing ( unlike, perhaps, piano) ..

They developed separately in a way, and so the one fixed method, to playing is not so rigid.

It s free reed literally really in name and so allows a more genial democratic way of learning.

 

[Ken_Coles]

Here on C.net I can vouch for about 30 years now of many folks coming on to ask about learning to play. Surprise that teachers (and players) are scarce on the ground and that everyone sorts it out for themselves is not far behind "sticker shock" at prices for good instruments as a common question by new members. We are an obscure, rare instrument, that's part of the appeal for some people. The flip side is how many of us learn on our own or with remote or very occasional in-person instruction.

 

Bear in mind that anglo concertina is a much smaller market for learning materials (or instrument makers) than, say piano, violin (or fiddle for that matter), flute, saxophone, trumpet, etc. And a large proportion of the learners in that small market are the many kids learning to play traditional Irish dance music. "Learn these tunes in this order" may work better and be more motivating for those young people than a more theory-based approach. Some of the ideas you are looking for are out there, but not all in one method book, which by now would have sold very few copies - not much motivation for an author. Some parallel materials exist for English system concertina - Allan Atlas's interesting books come to mind. Some of the histories of the anglo concertina do talk about how (and maybe by implication, why) certain playing techniques may have developed. One is of course The Anglo-German Concertina: A Social History, by Dan Worrall. The published work of Gearoid O'hAlmhurain on the development of playing in Ireland is another. If you manage to get instruction, some teachers will give you the why behind their technique - my experience with Noel Hill was like this. I once heard Fr. (Monsignor) Charlie Coen, on the other hand, when asked "which is the button to use for G in that phrase?" reply "use whatever button you find for it." 😎

 

I played (and now and then still play) trumpet and (so-called "French") horn. There, yes, we have Arban's method, standard etudes like Koprasch, and even articles that discuss where the tongue should be inside the roof of the mouth to start a note! Maybe if someday there is a faculty position in anglo concertina at a university music program, that person will have to publish a study on efficient playing theory to get tenure, and we'll finally have it.

Forgive me if I'm missing something in your inquiry - it happens to me often at my age. But the obscurity of our instrument seems to me to be part of the reason for the gap you describe.

[Anglo-Irishman]

11 hours ago, Ken_Coles said:

We are an obscure, rare instrument, that's part of the appeal for some people. The flip side is how many of us learn on our own or with remote or very occasional in-person instruction.

I'm with Ken on this one! In the case of the Anglo, there just isn't the multitude of children who "have to" take lessons on the established piano, violin, woodwind, brass etc., thus justifying the extent of classical music education.

 

But to my mind, there's a socio-political aspect to the Anglo. It developed in the 19th century, along with other easy-to-play instruments, such as various chord zithers, Ukelins, mouth-organs, penny whistles, etc. The flood of such instruments on the market had to do with the emancipation of the working class. Working-people's clubs were starting to develop a social scene with picnics, dances, etc., but the workers could not yet afford to pay professional musicians to play for them, and the old, rural structures that had ensured that a rural town-land had at least a couple of musical children who could be taught to handle the fiddle or the flute, were no longer available. 

So the industry produced instruments that fulfilled the basic musical needs of song acconpaniment and dance music. Because the funds for lessons were not available, the instruments had to be easy to play correctly. And the best way to ensure that was to eliminate as many "wrong" notes as possible. On a mouth-organ, it is practically impossible to produce a discord, and on an Anglo concertina the same is true if you stay on one button row. On the Autoharp - also a product of this era - all you have to do to get a clean chord is press just one button, and strum. 

If a more or less musical person gets his or her hands on such an instrument, the result (after a very short period of orientation) is usable music. And the proletatian parent was not going to waste his hard-earned money on an instrument, let alone lessons, for a tone-deaf offspring (as the bourgeois parent often did!) 

 

Let there be no mistake: both the Anglo concertina and the Autoharp have their virtuosi, whose performance one cannot emulate without training (or even, sometimes, with it!) But the path from newbie to virtuoso doesn't begin with "boring" scales and finger exercises or theoretical considerations. It starts with simple music. Familiar tunes picked out on the Anglo, or accompanied by strummed chords on the Autoharp. That's how I started on both these instruments. 

 

So, although there is quite a lot of learning material for the Anglo, it leaves out the basics. Its purpose is to get you playing ITM jigs and reels, or English style Morris dances, or attrtactive song accompaniments. For me, the most useful "literature" for the Anglo is a sheet of chord shapes for the left hand. The rest just came with practice.

Cheers,

John

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

28 minutes ago, Anglo-Irishman said:

 

 

So the industry produced instruments that fulfilled the basic musical needs of song acconpaniment and dance music. Because the funds for lessons were not available, the instruments had to be easy to play correctly. And the best way to ensure that was to eliminate as many "wrong" notes as possible. On a mouth-organ, it is practically impossible to produce a discord, and on an Anglo concertina the same is true if you stay on one button row. On the Autoharp - also a product of this era - all you have to do to get a clean chord is press just one button, and strum. 

 

 

You CAN make a lovely grating dischord of notes if you want [ by design or by mistake!] on Anglo [ and you can always say it was intentional if need be [ of course]!☺️

[AuldKingCole]

Thanks for all of the brilliant feedback, everyone. The funny thing is, comprehensive and educational discussions on the evolution of the instrument and technique very much exist, right here in these forums! If that singular resource on concertina theory is every going to arrive, it's going to come from the people responding to this thread

 

I should clarify that I'm not exactly looking for a Hanon for concertina, I very much appreciate it's history as a people's instrument without the barrier to entry that is formal technique (thank you Anglo-Irishman for that brilliant context). Not that I wouldn't actually love Hanon for concertina, but I see why it's nonsensical. I suppose I'm looking for something that leverages a prior knowledge of other instruments and musical ideas, rather than a note by note "play after me" approach. I think the ideal layout would be song-forward as most resources will be, but accompanied by an examination of the song. Why one might take these particular bars on this row, how to approach that specific phrase as a single push or pull, etc. And with a logical progression of reels to discuss those ideas.

 

I'll look into to the many resources recommended above, it seems like they'll be a great start. Thank so much for the help!

[JimR]

Cnet's own Gary Coover has a selection of books for 20 and 30 button concertinas, from beginning to advanced, all available on Amazon.

[hjcjones]

First, there is no established theory for playing anglo, there are many different approaches which people have generally worked out for themselves. although some are now passing these on to others. Whereas a violin teacher can teach you the "proper" way to play violin, a concertina teacher will probably only be able to teach you how they play it themselves. Another teacher, and indeed another player, may take a different approach. Furthermore many players, and this probably includes many teachers, don't read music or have any formal training in musical theory.

 

I stopped giving lessons when I realised I often couldn't explain why I played something in a particular way Often the only reason was that it felt best to me, which sometimes meant was because it used muscle memory rather than being the most efficient approach. It did make me examine my own playing more closely, but did not make me a very good teacher.

 

Second, for those wishing to play traditional music learning to play by ear is a far more important skill than reading music (which is not to say that reading does not have a place) so that teaching approach embeds this from the outset.  

 

No doubt because of your musical background, what you are asking for seems to be bit beyond the beginner stage. If you were to take one-to-one lessons, or small-group in person classes, then no doubt those sort of discussions could take place.

[davidevr]

The "play after me" approach is basically the approach of trad music, and that is even truer in places like Ireland where he oral transmission faltered, but never stopped. Incidentally, this is also the approach of other traditional arts: martial arts, even bonsai. You copy another more experienced player, and come out with your own style.
And yes, I realize it's disorienting, especially for an instrument whose fingering system is... opinionated to say the least

BTW if you're after a more structured approach, a more rigid method, I suggest you take a look at Jack Talty's course at McNeela's website. There is some basic music theory (which will definitely be useless to you if you come from a classical background) but there is also deep discussion about fingering, and a logical method explained in detail. Caitlín's course is generally more approachable and probably funnier, but Jack's one is very specific on the basics.