Learning Basics

[JimN]

You guys must get fed up with the silly questions but as another "raw beginner" I have bought a cheap Chinese job just to learn on. It's OK for now and no big deal if I don't pursue the Anglo - although I'm really enjoying making the dog howl!!

My question of the day though is:when changing from a push note to the squeeze note on the same button is it correct to release the button and press again for the new note or leave it pressed in? Not one of the books seems to tell you that!

[Greg Jowaisas]

Welcome to the concertina adventure, Jim.

 

Phrasing a musical passage will ultimately determine the answer to your question of whether to let the button or the bellows articulate the note.

 

It is good practice to learn both ways of expressing the note.

 

Another way to think about it is to play your practice scale or tune staccoto. Pretend the buttons are red hot and your fingers should spend as little time on them as possible. The notes will come out clipped and the in and out notes on the same button will be played with separate finger strikes. After some repetition try the same scale or passage legato. Let your fingers linger a bit on the buttons. In this case the finger may not fully come off the button with the change of bellows direction.

 

If you stick with the anglo long enough you will interchange the staccoto and legato approach as needed to express the music.

 

I should add that many beginners tend to linger on the buttons of anglo and english concertina (there is so much to do and so much to remember and it is so easy to lose your place on the buttons). This can result in "mushy" music which will torture and ultimately drive the involuntary listeners mad that are trapped in the same house as the player. Some of the best advice to help my playing was from an Aly Anderson tutor which recommended a deliberate and exagerated staccotto practice before returning to playing the tune or exercise normally. Seems to really help!

 

Good luck, and stick with it.

 

Greg

[polkabeast]

My question of the day though is:when changing from a push note to the squeeze note on the same button is it correct to release the button and press again for the new note or leave it pressed in? Not one of the books seems to tell you that!

 

I would think this is a matter of style depending on what type of sound you are going for, what type of song you are playing, and/or how the concertina fits with other instruments if you are playing with other people.

 

If I'm playing with a mandolin, I personally tend to let my notes bleed into each other whereas with a fiddler who plays long notes in certain songs, I'll vie for the crisply-buttoned, stoccato sound so that we don't end up walking all over each other. But then I don't really know proper concertina technique because I've only met/played with about four other concertina players in my short ten years of squeezing. Doesn't seem to be too many of us in the North Texas area.

 

I guess my point is that release/press vs. leaving button pressed when executing the push/pull transfer delivers two different sounds. All sounds are relevant.

[JimN]

Welcome to the concertina adventure, Jim.

 

Phrasing a musical passage will ultimately determine the answer to your question of whether to let the button or the bellows articulate the note.

 

It is good practice to learn both ways of expressing the note.

 

Another way to think about it is to play your practice scale or tune staccoto. Pretend the buttons are red hot and your fingers should spend as little time on them as possible. The notes will come out clipped and the in and out notes on the same button will be played with separate finger strikes. After some repetition try the same scale or passage legato. Let your fingers linger a bit on the buttons. In this case the finger may not fully come off the button with the change of bellows direction.

 

If you stick with the anglo long enough you will interchange the staccoto and legato approach as needed to express the music.

 

I should add that many beginners tend to linger on the buttons of anglo and english concertina (there is so much to do and so much to remember and it is so easy to lose your place on the buttons). This can result in "mushy" music which will torture and ultimately drive the involuntary listeners mad that are trapped in the same house as the player. Some of the best advice to help my playing was from an Aly Anderson tutor which recommended a deliberate and exagerated staccotto practice before returning to playing the tune or exercise normally. Seems to really help!

 

Good luck, and stick with it.

 

Greg

[JimN]

Welcome to the concertina adventure, Jim.

 

Phrasing a musical passage will ultimately determine the answer to your question of whether to let the button or the bellows articulate the note.

 

It is good practice to learn both ways of expressing the note.

 

Another way to think about it is to play your practice scale or tune staccoto. Pretend the buttons are red hot and your fingers should spend as little time on them as possible. The notes will come out clipped and the in and out notes on the same button will be played with separate finger strikes. After some repetition try the same scale or passage legato. Let your fingers linger a bit on the buttons. In this case the finger may not fully come off the button with the change of bellows direction.

 

If you stick with the anglo long enough you will interchange the staccoto and legato approach as needed to express the music.

 

I should add that many beginners tend to linger on the buttons of anglo and english concertina (there is so much to do and so much to remember and it is so easy to lose your place on the buttons). This can result in "mushy" music which will torture and ultimately drive the involuntary listeners mad that are trapped in the same house as the player. Some of the best advice to help my playing was from an Aly Anderson tutor which recommended a deliberate and exagerated staccotto practice before returning to playing the tune or exercise normally. Seems to really help!

 

Good luck, and stick with it.

 

Greg

[JimN]

Many thanks for the advice chaps, I will persevere and hope that the dog survives the experience!!

[Mikefule]

Releasing and re-pressing the button gives the second note "attack", which is good. However, with sluggish reeds on a cheaper instrument, it may simply give the reed less time to sound - especially with lower notes.

 

From a fingering point of view, it is more difficult to press, release, press, rather than simply to hold the button down and change the bellows direction. Therefore, if you can learn it the difficult way, you will always have both options.

 

It is certainly good advice to practise stacatto but to play "naturally".