Having Fun With Single Row Playing

[Alan Day]

Many of you play a two row instrument and are thinking about upgrading to three rows.There is a great deal you can do with only one row.I have been listening again to the wonderful French one row melodion player called Phillipe Bruneau.It is difficult to explain in detail someone's playing without sitting you down to listen to it,but imagine a simple tune and for every single note of that tune Phillipe plays a double note.Link the ending in the same way with the start and you have a simple tune made really complicated.In this he adds the odd ornamentation, but you now have the basic style.

My tutor for CG two rows is still available free (plus postage in the USA via Alex Jones who kindly offers his services free like I do to beginers).It is costing us both a fortune, but worth every penny for the wonderful replies we both get from our help.Please note this is for English Style only, not suitable for Irish music. I am happy for it to be copied, but not sold.This offer will continue until I retire or run out of money which ever is the sooner.

Thanks Del for your kind words re the Tutor.

Al

[Dave Prebble]

Hi Al,

 

I have passed on quite a few copies to folks and they have all been gratefully received.

 

Your fame is greater than you think

 

It is a great discipline for those of us who have 3 row boxes, to shut them up in a cupboard for a week and only only play a two row for that time. It makes you think a bit and gets you back to roots. It really does affect how you play when you pick up your main squeeze again.

 

Regards

 

Dave

[Dan Worrall]

Alan,

Agree on the one row approach...John Kimmel's turn-of-the-century one row accordion playing is another good example of what is possible....and (in theory) easier on the two-fisted anglo; I don't think I hear him chording very much, so he does it all with one hand 'tied behind his back'.

The core and genius of the anglo's design is two diatonic rows placed a fifth apart. Everything else can be considered bells and whistles. Nothing wrong with bells and whistles, for sure....but clean and simple also has its appeal.

 

Your tutor is always fun to pick up and fiddle with.

 

Dan

[Jeff H]

P Bruneau is an ex pat Quebecer

 

excellent player.. I have a few tapes and a video.. outstandiing

 

Check out the web site 30 Below Zero for other Quebec one row players

 

As one row player I concur.. lots can be done

 

 

I believe Paul Groff is an advocate of learning on the 20 button. Simplicity

 

Paul is also an excellent one row melodeon plyer.

[david_boveri]

Many of you play a two row instrument and are thinking about upgrading to three rows.There is a great deal you can do with only one row.I have been listening again to the wonderful French one row melodion player called Phillipe Bruneau.It is difficult to explain in detail someone's playing without sitting you down to listen to it,but imagine a simple tune and for every single note of that tune Phillipe plays a double note.Link the ending in the same way with the start and you have a simple tune made really complicated.In this he adds the odd ornamentation, but you now have the basic style.

My tutor for CG two rows is still available free (plus postage in the USA via Alex Jones who kindly offers his services free like I do to beginers).It is costing us both a fortune, but worth every penny for the wonderful replies we both get from our help.Please note this is for English Style only, not suitable for Irish music. I am happy for it to be copied, but not sold.This offer will continue until I retire or run out of money which ever is the sooner.

Thanks Del for your kind words re the Tutor.

Al

 

my grandmother's cousin (whom i play music with) recently asked to try my concertina, as her mother played; she plays the fiddle but she used to mess with her mother's concertina back in ireland when she was a child. she was so mesmerized with how substantial it felt (solid wood!) and that there was an extra row of buttons. i showed her that i used all three rows and she was equally amazed, as her mother had only used one row.

 

there's something special about it, like you said. i'm going to ask her to show me how her mother did things. although i love using all three rows and alternate fingerings and playing with different keys, i cant help the feeling that i'm missing something sometimes. my grandmother's cousin does not know the note names, nor the keys, she refers to them as the "high key" and then the "low keys." even though i know all this theory, the keys and can read music, i feel like she still has a better understanding of music than i ever will have.

 

would you be willing to send me a tutorial? i'd be willing to pay for it, beyond shipping. i'm driving a couple hours away to take a brian peters english-style anglo tutorial in april, and it would be nice to be familiar with the english style (as well as english music) before i get there.

[Ken_Coles]

P Bruneau is an ex pat Quebecer

 

excellent player.. I have a few tapes and a video.. outstandiing

 

Marc Savoy, one of the great Louisiana accordion makers (IMHO) has a story on his web site. Years ago, he was making boxes, thinking they were pretty good, then one day Phillipe Bruneau showed him what could be played on a one-row box. After Marc picked his jaw up off the floor, he went through a complete redisign to meet these new demands of a great player.

 

I have a Savoy Acadian accordion and love playing it. It gets high marks from every player who borrows it. Thanks in part to P. Bruneau.

 

Ken

[Alan Day]

Send me an Email David and I will organise a Tutor for you with Alex.

I must thank Alex on this site,he has burnt ,printed and sent our these CDs to various parts of the USA for some time now.I send him players requests and a few days later they go out.I certainly could not have afforded these costs from the UK.He transfomed my initial cassette tape,originally one sided into a CD,edited out all the clicks,put it into the correct pitch. A real star .My other good friend in the USA David Barnert wrote out all the music for those of you who like dots.So this is very much a joint effort.

One row concertina playing is very slightly different to one row melodion playing,owing to the slight cross over difference from left to right hand, but there is very little difference in technique.

Listening to Phillipe Bruneau play reminds me of when I first sat down next to Will Duke and realised that he was playing about double the notes I was playing.

Al