Choosing A Concertina

[m3838]

It's good to know that Wakkers aren't only for use by the old and infirm.

 

Quite the opposite by definition.

[Jody Kruskal]

I've tried finding chords on an Anglo, and some nice ones are there, but of course they vanish (or worse) when you reverse the bellows. Yet people like Jody Kruskal can play an Anglo like it's a Duet.

 

Is that what I do? I've always wondered. Really though, on Anglo the trick is to learn that there are two ways to finger any chord, the push and the pull. If you learn both then you can let the melody (right hand) take the lead. Many melody notes have both a push and a pull so there are yet more options. It all comes back to the music though. If the rhythm is there then what ever you play will sound right. That's what I say anyway.

 

Good luck with whatever you finally choose.

 

Jody

[ragtimer]

[

 

I would still advise anyone who jsut wants to play chords, to pick up a Duet, especially since both hands can contribute to chord voicing, if no melody is being played also. --Mike K.

 

I agree. Imagine those chords on both hands of a duet! Such sound!

I've tried it a few times on my Hayden, and yes! Big sound! Now if it only had contrabass reeds ...

But the question is often, and in this case particularly, the price and availability.

So far - the Jackie/Jack or the Rochelle.

Yes -- right now the cheapest Duet is a Stagi Hayden at about $850-plus.

Would be nice if Wakker would try a Duet -- but one thing we Hayden owners would like is a few more notes and buttons, and Wakker tends to put fewer than normal EC on their Jack.

(And if they made a G/D Rochelle I'd be very tempted to try Anglo).

--Mike K.

[david_boveri]

 

I've tried finding chords on an Anglo, and some nice ones are there, but of course they vanish (or worse) when you reverse the bellows. Yet people like Jody Kruskal can play an Anglo like it's a Duet.

 

Is that what I do? I've always wondered. Really though, on Anglo the trick is to learn that there are two ways to finger any chord, the push and the pull. If you learn both then you can let the melody (right hand) take the lead. Many melody notes have both a push and a pull so there are yet more options. It all comes back to the music though. If the rhythm is there then what ever you play will sound right. That's what I say anyway.

 

Good luck with whatever you finally choose.

 

Jody

 

how do you finger the d major triad on the push?

[devinomatic]

Thanks for all the advice, everyone!

 

Thanks to Catty, I'm picking up a gently used Jackie sometime next week. To quadruple my excitement, Buille is playing in Chicago on Monday, and I luckily have the night off! If any Chicagoans are on here, I highly recommend checking it out.

[Daniel Hersh]

You play a G/D or you play a C/G that has more than 30 buttons.

 

how do you finger the d major triad on the push?

[ragtimer]

Thanks for all the advice, everyone!

 

Thanks to Catty, I'm picking up a gently used Jackie sometime next week. To quadruple my excitement, Buille is playing in Chicago on Monday, and I luckily have the night off! If any Chicagoans are on here, I highly recommend checking it out.

A Jackie in Chicago? So you'll be playing Upper Wakker, not Lower Wakker:P

--Mike K., a former resident of the 'burb of Wheaton, IL

[david_boveri]

You play a G/D or you play a C/G that has more than 30 buttons.

 

how do you finger the d major triad on the push?

 

yes, yes, i know. it hurts... even when i get more than thirty buttons, i know it will never be enough.

[Jody Kruskal]

You play a G/D or you play a C/G that has more than 30 buttons.

 

how do you finger the d major triad on the push?

 

yes, yes, i know. it hurts... even when i get more than thirty buttons, i know it will never be enough.

 

Yes, I know... but I don't play a G/D 38 in order to cause you pain, and they are almost enough, really.

 

If I were playing a C/G 38 I would use two of those extra buttons for the D and F# and the button called 5a for the A, that's on the right hand. The more useful fingering, one I use frequently and one that works on a 30 button Anglo, is to play a left hand D Push chord, leaving out the third (who needs the nasty howling thing anyway) and play D, A, D with the buttons 7, 4a, 10

Edited February 26, 2007 by Jody Kruskal

[david_boveri]

You play a G/D or you play a C/G that has more than 30 buttons.

 

how do you finger the d major triad on the push?

 

yes, yes, i know. it hurts... even when i get more than thirty buttons, i know it will never be enough.

 

Yes, I know... but I don't play a G/D 38 in order to cause you pain, and they are almost enough, really.

 

If I were playing a C/G 38 I would use two of those extra buttons for the D and F# and the button called 5a for the A, that's on the right hand. The more useful fingering, one I use frequently and one that works on a 30 button Anglo, is to play a left hand D Push chord, leaving out the third (who needs the nasty howling thing anyway) and play D, A, D with the buttons 7, 4a, 10

 

what's your numbering system? forgive me, i believe i've read an explanation of yours before but i forget.

[Jody Kruskal]

what's your numbering system? forgive me, i believe i've read an explanation of yours before but i forget.

 

Gosh I didn't make it up. I thought this was a 30 button universal system. Sorry.

 

Left to right middle row are numbered 1-5

Left to right near row are numbered 6-10

Left to right accidental row are numbered 1a-5a

[PeterT]

If I were playing a C/G 38 I would use two of those extra buttons for the D and F# and the button called 5a for the A, that's on the right hand. The more useful fingering, one I use frequently and one that works on a 30 button Anglo, is to play a left hand D Push chord, leaving out the third (who needs the nasty howling thing anyway) and play D, A, D with the buttons 7, 4a, 10

Hi Jody,

 

Your post sent me scurrying off to find my C/G.

 

I presume that the chord is D, A on buttons 7, 4a, and that the melody has dropped onto the left hand D, button 10.

 

Interesting.......... I always play this chord on the draw, with the melody on the right hand.

 

Regards,

Peter.

[asdormire]

Left to right middle row are numbered 1-5

Left to right near row are numbered 6-10

Left to right accidental row are numbered 1a-5a

 

I always thought the accidental row was 11-15.

 

Alan

[m3838]

(And if they made a G/D Rochelle I'd be very tempted to try Anglo).

--Mike K.

I'd venture to say that they made one, well, not a mistake, but an inconvinience to themselves, by gluing the reed blocks. If they could be removeable, like in Hohner Pokerworks, making a G/D, or any other tuning would be a breeze. Same with Baritone/Trebble. Easy swap. One of my prospective teachers a few years ago showed me his Hohner. It had both, left and right, cases split and held together by hinges and hooks (nice looking old style). So if the need be, he would simply unlock the box, flip it open, swap the reed blocks and put it all back together. All in less than a minute.

I think between C/G and G/D you may easyly obtain both, if they would make it. But if you want more tunings, swapping the blocks is, perhabs, the answer.

[devinomatic]

A Jackie in Chicago? So you'll be playing Upper Wakker, not Lower Wakker:P

--Mike K., a former resident of the 'burb of Wheaton, IL

 

nyuk nyukk! That seriously cracked me up. That's probably the only window in history where someone could make that joke on this board.. well played!

[ragtimer]

(And if they made a G/D Rochelle I'd be very tempted to try Anglo).

--Mike K.

I'd venture to say that they made one, well, not a mistake, but an inconvinience to themselves, by gluing the reed blocks. If they could be removeable, like in Hohner Pokerworks, making a G/D, or any other tuning would be a breeze. Same with Baritone/Trebble. Easy swap. One of my prospective teachers a few years ago showed me his Hohner. It had both, left and right, cases split and held together by hinges and hooks (nice looking old style). So if the need be, he would simply unlock the box, flip it open, swap the reed blocks and put it all back together. All in less than a minute.

I think between C/G and G/D you may easyly obtain both, if they would make it. But if you want more tunings, swapping the blocks is, perhabs, the answer.

Fascinating! Reminds me of the old brass instrument players (especially French horns) pulling out all their Bb crooks and putting in C crooks (or whatever) to change keys for a different piece.

 

Practically, I wonder if carrying the extra reed blocks (in a very specialized case) is that much easier or cheaper than carrying two concertinas. And changing reed blocks in a crowded pub after a few hours might void the insurance on the box Well, I guess the isntrument case would have compartments for the extra reeds, so it would be one large case.

 

Does the Rochelle use metal plates with 5 reeds each? Or stand-off cells like a Stagi or an accordion?

I am still tempted ... Mike K.

[ragtimer]

A Jackie in Chicago? So you'll be playing Upper Wakker, not Lower Wakker:P

--Mike K., a former resident of the 'burb of Wheaton, IL

 

nyuk nyukk! That seriously cracked me up. That's probably the only window in history where someone could make that joke on this board.. well played!

Thanks! Now if I could just play my Hayden Dueet as well ...

--Mike K.

[Woody]

Does the Rochelle use metal plates with 5 reeds each? Or stand-off cells like a Stagi or an accordion?

I am still tempted ... Mike K.

The latter. See photos here.

 

- W