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I Got My Rochelle Today!


Terra

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YAAAY!!! 30 button c/g Anglo Rochelle, blahblahblah...

 

OMG So excited!! I can play "Merrily We Roll Along"!!

 

I think I'll have to add holes to the straps, because they're still a bit loose on the tightest setting.

 

Anyhoo, back to practicing, wish me luck and advice is welcome!

 

 

~Terra

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YAAAY!!! 30 button c/g Anglo Rochelle, blahblahblah...

 

OMG So excited!! I can play "Merrily We Roll Along"!!

 

I think I'll have to add holes to the straps, because they're still a bit loose on the tightest setting.

 

Anyhoo, back to practicing, wish me luck and advice is welcome!

 

 

~Terra

Wonderful! You're going to have some great times with that. And now you can contribute to this forum as an "insider".

 

Tom

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Congratulations Terra!

 

We have a young person at our local Irish Music School who received a Rochelle for Christmas. He is progessing "brilliantly".

 

Your Rochelle will give you a good start along with much instrument for the money.

 

Enjoy!

 

Greg

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Anyhoo, back to practicing, wish me luck and advice is welcome!

We don't have graduation presents in England :( Sounds like you have a very sensible mum. I don't think you need luck, but I'll wish it anyway. Have a lot of fun - you will.

 

Chris

 

PS The only advice I'll offer at this stage is play lots.

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I think I'll have to add holes to the straps, because they're still a bit loose on the tightest setting.

Congrats, it's a fun instrument, I agree with what was said earlier, play a lot and experiment and have fun -- that helps me a lot more than dry drills, in any case.

 

I did want to mention, the straps are supposed to be a bit loose to give your hands some mobility. When I started out, I had them almost snug, but experimented with different tightnesses, and ended up with them much looser. Different things work for different people, but for me, they're loose enough that I can easily put two fingers between the back of my hand and the strap, even three. I'm sure you'll figure out soon enough what works for you, but I found that having them too tight can cause strain, so be careful.

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I did want to mention, the straps are supposed to be a bit loose to give your hands some mobility. When I started out, I had them almost snug, but experimented with different tightnesses, and ended up with them much looser. Different things work for different people, but for me, they're loose enough that I can easily put two fingers between the back of my hand and the strap, even three.

 

 

Yeah, but I can pretty easily put four fingers between the back of my hand and the strap, so I think it's probably best to make it a bit tighter. Thanks for the info though :)

 

I have now had my concertina for 24-ish hours!!! I can (kind of) play "Merrily We Roll Along", "London Bridge", and "Oh When the Saints", which are pretty much the first songs in the tutor that came with it. I can also play the C major scale.

 

~Terra

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Congratulations!! Sounds like you're off to a good start. Looking forward to hearing your first posted recording. Don't wear it out all in the first week. NAH! On second thought go ahead and try. :D

 

Thanks

Leo :D

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Congratulations!! Sounds like you're off to a good start. Looking forward to hearing your first posted recording. Don't wear it out all in the first week. NAH! On second thought go ahead and try. :D

 

Thanks

Leo :D

 

 

My eventual goal is to lean drinking songs. Because they are awesome.

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I got a Rochelle a couple of weeks ago - my first concertina, although I already play melodeon and harmonica. In the past, I've tried trumpet/cornet, guitar and a few other things, and always come back to the harmonica for preference, and the melodeon for practicality (it's louder).

 

But now, I find myself picking up the Rochelle every spare moment, and just doodling, picking out snatches of tunes I know, or experimenting with accompaniments. It's really grabbed my imagination in a way that no other instrument has except the harmonica. I'm looking forward to my first lesson in the hope I can start to make real sense of the accompaniment.

 

Leave it out of the case, and pick it up every time you nearly walk past. Just make a noise with it, see what works, make it sound and feel like a musical instrument and not just a series of notes.

 

Good "learn by ear" tunes are things like "Oh Susannah" (I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee), Red River Valley, Anarchy in the UK, Star of the County Down, British Grenadier, Marie's Wedding, Sloop John B.

 

OK, I lied about Anarchy in the UK. ;0D

 

The good thing about Red River Valley is that it fits very nicely onto the end of When the Saints, and it brings in the left hand on the melody. (The G below C.) Star of the County Down brings in a couple more notes int he melody on the left hand. Marie's Wedding will lead you to experiment with crossing the rows to oeven out the pushing and pulling a bit.

 

If you don't know all of these tunes (some are English, Scottish or Irish) then just experiemnt with anything that you could sing when you were a kid - those ar the simple tunes.

 

Good luck.

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