Looking At The Keys?

[mikenielsen]

I have two questions but I am going to present each one of them separately.

 

I am new player. Just got my Morse Ceili (after huffing and puffing on a Stagi C1 for around 5 months). I don't sight read... I play entirely by ear, listening to and memorizing the tunes. I have tried playing purely by touch (eyes gazing at some vague space in front of me) and by touching and looking at the keys. I seem to play more accurately when I combine sight and touch. But I worry if this is some sort of bad habit to get into. Any opinions on this?

 

Mike Nielsen

[JimLucas]

I am new player. Just got my Morse Ceili (after huffing and puffing on a Stagi C1 for around 5 months). I don't sight read... I play entirely by ear, listening to and memorizing the tunes. I have tried playing purely by touch (eyes gazing at some vague space in front of me) and by touching and looking at the keys. I seem to play more accurately when I combine sight and touch. But I worry if this is some sort of bad habit to get into. Any opinions on this?

Can you look at both ends at once?

If you can do the one end without looking, why not both?

Looking at the keys, at least occasionally, can be helpful in the beginning. But you should use it as a way to help your fingers learn, not as a substitute for learning "finger memory". As with trainer wheels on a bicycle, beyond a certain level it will become a hindrance.

[ragtimer]

I have two questions but I am going to present each one of them separately.

 

I am new player. Just got my Morse Ceili (after huffing and puffing on a Stagi C1 for around 5 months). I don't sight read... I play entirely by ear, listening to and memorizing the tunes. I have tried playing purely by touch (eyes gazing at some vague space in front of me) and by touching and looking at the keys. I seem to play more accurately when I combine sight and touch. But I worry if this is some sort of bad habit to get into. Any opinions on this?

 

Mike Nielsen

I think it's legit to look at the keys and your fingers (1) when about to begin a piece, so you're sure to start off on the right buttons (a big issue with Duets, easier with Anglos), and (2) in the middle of a piece, when you realize you're playing a string of wrong notes because you've drifted out of position by one button (on a Hayden Duet this means you're playing correctly, but in the wrong key ).

 

Since you don't read from sheet music, you are free to look at the buttons, but you really should be making eye contact with your audience or other members of the group you're playing with (I hope you will be doing that soon).

 

I think you'll naturally outgrow looking. FWIW, I look at the PC keyboard as I type this, and look waht it gets me --Mike K.

[Dave Prebble]

I have two questions but I am going to present each one of them separately.

 

I am new player. Just got my Morse Ceili (after huffing and puffing on a Stagi C1 for around 5 months). I don't sight read... I play entirely by ear, listening to and memorizing the tunes. I have tried playing purely by touch (eyes gazing at some vague space in front of me) and by touching and looking at the keys. I seem to play more accurately when I combine sight and touch. But I worry if this is some sort of bad habit to get into. Any opinions on this?

 

Mike Nielsen

 

 

Far better to breakout of this before it becomes an ingrained habit.

 

Practice in a dark room - If you can't even see the concertina then you won't be watching your fingers - not even to sneak a quick peek.

 

Not such a brilliant idea for sight readers though ... then again it might break their habit of staring manically at those dotty tadpole thingies they have printed out in front of them

 

Regards

 

Dave

[chris]

Hi

as you can't look at both ends at the same time (unless you wish to exhibit a rapid, strange side to side head/body movement whilst playing) there doesn't seem to be much point in looking at one end. Incidently I think that the concertina is one of the few, maybe the only, instrument that you can't really watch what the fingers on both hands are doing

its all down to practice

have fun

chris

[David Barnert]

You shouldn't be looking at your fingers. That goes for any musical instrument. Take a hint from Turloch O'Carolan and Ray Charles.

[ragtimer]

Hi

as you can't look at both ends at the same time (unless you wish to exhibit a rapid, strange side to side head/body movement whilst playing) there doesn't seem to be much point in looking at one end. Incidently I think that the concertina is one of the few, maybe the only, instrument that you can't really watch what the fingers on both hands are doing.

FWIW, one of the reasons I took up the concertina (just three years ago this month!)

is that it is one of the few "keyboard" insruments that is fairly easy to play WITHOUT looking at the keys!

 

You can play it entirely by feel, thus keeping your eyes on the sheet music, playing partners, audience, incoming eggs and vegetables, etc. And you can play in the dark, as someone mentioned, though be careful of the bellows around campfires.

 

So do try to break the habit. Start by playing pieces you already know without looking, then progress to learning new tunes and practicing with eyes straight ahead. --Mike K.

[asdormire]

You shouldn't be looking at your fingers. That goes for any musical instrument. Take a hint from Turloch O'Carolan and Ray Charles.

 

And Stevie Wonder, Doc Watson and Ronnie Milsap.

 

Alan

[mikenielsen]

Okay, it sounds like I better not get into the habit. Thanks, folks.

 

Mike

[geoffwright]

Its always better to get into the eyes-up habit - then you can play and watch tele (and attract adverse comments).

[Robin Madge]

If "Natural Selection" holds true concertina players will resemble hammer-head sharks in a few thousand years!

 

Robin Madge

[Dan 04617]

If you don't sight read, start staring at sheet music to what you already know how to play while you play it. You'll learn.

[John Sylte]

If "Natural Selection" holds true concertina players will resemble hammer-head sharks in a few thousand years!

 

Robin Madge

 

HA! That's too funny!!!

 

Be careful folks... This is why it's so important to always look at BOTH ends of your concertina at the same time, otherwise we'll just evolve into halibut.

 

[JimLucas]

If "Natural Selection" holds true concertina players will resemble hammer-head sharks in a few thousand years!

Be careful folks... This is why it's so important to always look at BOTH ends of your concertina at the same time, otherwise we'll just evolve into halibut.

Not me. I'm no piker; I'm perched here with my bass concertina, developing my arm mussels and happy as a clam.

[ragtimer]

If "Natural Selection" holds true concertina players will resemble hammer-head sharks in a few thousand years!

Be careful folks... This is why it's so important to always look at BOTH ends of your concertina at the same time, otherwise we'll just evolve into halibut.

Not me. I'm no piker; I'm perched here with my bass concertina, developing my arm mussels and happy as a clam.

Since 1 PM this afternoon, I've been floundering around with my brand new Bastari Hayden Bondoneon.

Floundering somewhat, because the buttons are spaced more closely than on my good old Stagi. But it's well worth fighting my way up the stream. --Mike K.