Duet System For Playing Fiddle Tunes

[DickT]

I have a friend who, through a left arm injury, can no longer play the fiddle and whistle. A duet tina may be the way to go using mainly the right side. Can anyone give me any guidance as to the best system and size for playing British folk dance tunes on?

[stuart estell]

It might be an obvious question and is probably something you and he have both already thought of, but what's the nature of the left arm injury? Even if you're not using the left hand to operate the left-hand keyboard, the arm itself will be meeting resistance from the bellows. Has he had chance to play a box to ensure that his arm will take any potential strain?

 

As for the duet systems - well, you can play dance tunes on any of them. It really depends on which system suits the brain. The Hayden and Crane are, in theory, the most logical keyboards, whereas the Maccann and Jeffries are less so. But it depends on the individual - I really like both the Maccann and Jeffries but can't get on with either the Crane or the Hayden layouts.

 

If it's simply for playing tunes, a limited range shouldn't really be a problem - so if he doesn't want to spend an enormous amount of money simply trying a system out then a 46-key Lachenal Maccann might be worth a shot as it'll hold its value. If tunes are played on the right hand only on a Maccann of that size, though, they'll come out an octave higher than you might normally play them.

[gzeg]

I know this is potentially a heretical viewpoint, given the name of this forum, but has your friend considered a button accordion? I know of at least one Irish musician who has switched to C#/D box because of an overuse injury from the fiddle. Stuart's caveats above apply to the accordion too, but if he's able to press and draw, one could be entirely happy playing just the right hand.

 

Think of it as a large, unlikely looking concertina.

 

Greg

[Richard Morse]

I play duet concertina and have no problem playing press/draw with only one hand/arm. I clamp the end of the concertina I'm not using between my legs (when sitting) and play the other with just one hand. Very easy. I don't do this as a gimmick but rather so that I can have the other free to make notations on paper while I play. I usually do this by clamping the treble side and playing the bass as I'm right handed. The tune comes out an octave low, but that's fine. I can certainly write better with my right hand!

 

Sometimes I've clamped the left and played with the right when doing computer notation as the hotkeys seem to be set up for left handed operation (I'm guessing because that would normally leave the right hand free to operate the mouse).

 

I would imagine that any duet concertina would suit your friend's purpose providing that it has the range he'd like. Many duet treble sides start on the G above middle C which would mean playing the tunes an octave above their normal setting. Duets starting on middle C are reasonably common and would need tune work-arounds similar to those playing flute. And there are rarer duets that start on the G or F below MC which would be ideal though they're usually the larger ones which would be pretty tiring when played vertically.

 

-- Rich --

[David Barnert]

Something else to consider is the 3-holed "tabor pipe," meant to be played by the left hand while the right hand beats the tabor, but it can be played by either hand. Once when I was playing the pipe and tabor with my morris dancers I saw a man with one arm in the crowd with a look of amazement on his face. Turns out he had been a saxophone player before his accident. I gave him my pipe on the spot and showed him how to play it.

[hjcjones]

The late and much lamented Dave Brady of Swan Arcade, who'd lost an arm above the elbow, played a duet concertina. He used his stump to hold one end on his knee and played the other.

[inventor]

I have had a person with restricted use of the left hand (only two left fingers one very stiff) called "SID" come to my beginner duet concertina classes at Kilve on several occasions, he is the person your friend really needs to talk to, perhaps he is on the internet somewhere or someone might know him. He tried the english concertina first (total failure) and later Maccan, Crane, and Hayden duets with varying sucess.

Don't even consider a 46 Maccan as this instrument starts far too high up on a g' (ie the note below your A string on the fiddle). Even the tunes in the "Easy Peasy Tunebook" which restricts the tunes to only a total of 14 different notes can only be played with two hands on a 46 Maccan. This problem does not arise on the smaller Cranes and Haydens; you need at least 57 (not even 56) on a Maccan.

I did read that somewhere there existed a Maccan System concertina with notes only on the right hand side made specially for a person who lost an arm in WW 1.

However consider that if you do master a duet concertina then as a bonus you will be able to turn it over and play the other side as a Baritone concertina.

Inventor