New To Ec, Short Intro Of Me And Question About A Song

[RedTom]

Hello All!

 

Im Tommy from Sweden and i want to be able to play a fun acoustic instrument.

 

It should be suitable for sing alongs and stuff that is usually done sitting in parks with some friends, beer and a guitar.

 

For some reason i _CANT_ play a guitar, it hasnt made a difference that ive tried pretty hard a few times.

 

I do however play bass guitar in a band with some friends, this does not however mean i know anything about the theories behind music.

(Usually they write something and i play it)

 

A few weeks back i found some videos on youtube with concertinas in them and i thought they seemed like wonderful instruments that i should try.

 

I read a bit online about what to get but in the end decided to go against all recomendations that say "Buy the best you can afford" and went for the cheapest i could find in sweden knowing full well what people think.

 

 

Three days ago i got an English Concertina, it cost me 1 350 Swedish kronor = 113.5 British pounds with homedelivery.

 

The vendor said its made in China by a company named Concerti but after googling some i havnt found any info on a manufacturer called that or even references to this brand.

 

Anyways, its black, has 31 white buttons(one for venting the bellows), cardboard bellows (i think) and quite uncomfortable thumbstraps (that ive put some foam padding in, might replace these with something better, i know a leatherworksman)

 

I can get through Three Blind Mice, Twinkle Little Star from watching nytram1309 / Martyns videos on youtube. (if you are reading this, Thanks!)

 

I can also play Dirty Old Town dot1stverse_chorus.mp3 and Fly Me To The Moon, these i learned from harmonica tabs actually.

 

Now im trying to nail What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor.

 

This is how i play it currently:

 

a a a d f a

g g g c e g

a a a b c' e' d' c' f' a g g

(loop)

 

But im not sure the last line is quite right, can anyone give an opinion on this?

 

I cant read music yet but im working on that (trying to get through Frank Butlers The Concertina but i get distracted and play stuff instead).

 

Thanks!

[David Barnert]

Try this for the last line.

 

a a a b c' d' c' a g e d d

 

It's tricky to work out by ear because it's in the Dorian mode (D minor scale with a B natural instead of B flat).

[RedTom]

Thanks you, i will have a go at this as soon as i get home from work today

[JimLucas]

Hi Tommy, and welcome.

 

Im Tommy from Sweden and i want to be able to play a fun acoustic instrument.

...

Three days ago i got an English Concertina, ... made in China....

 

Now im trying to nail What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor.

Var i Sverige bor du?

I'm one of the "organizers" of the Scandinavian Squeeze-In, and I recommend you consider joining us in Skåne at the end of April. It would give you an opportunity to meet and learn from other concertina players, and also to try out other concertinas, to see whether you find them easier to play.

 

Maybe for one of our workshops we could work on Drunken Sailor... not just the melody, but chords and other ways of accompanying it.

Cheers,

Jim

Edited March 31, 2008 by JimLucas

[Christian Husmann]

Jag skulle vilja har en flaska öl og han har en hårig buk

 

I guess that´s most of the Swedish which is left from lessons some time ago...

 

Welcome here and I really do hope you can find the support you need for progressing!

 

By the way I did like the example, nice sounding instrument that is.

 

Greetings

Christian

Edited April 1, 2008 by Christian Husmann

[RedTom]

As it turned out i didnt get home yesterday but today ive hade a chance to have a go, it sounds great but i cant play it very fast yet, have to get it to stick in my fingers and then it will be no problem.

 

JimLucas: två mil öster om Stockholm.

 

Thanks for the invitiation, ill look into whether i will be able to attend or not and be sure to send an email before the deadline if i find it would work for me.

 

Christian Husmann: Actually "Jag skulle vilja har en flaska öl" can get you a long way

 

Thank you! This far its been great and im pretty sure people with a common interest like this will be wanting to share it with newcommers.

 

-Tommy

[Nordis]

Hi!

 

I'm Sami from Finland. I just came around because I'm seriously thinking of getting my first concertina. I was looking for the same cheap english-style one that RedTom bought (seriously, it's the best I can afford with my student budget). It seems that this thread is somewhat the only page on the web where that "Concerti" company is mentioned so luckily I searched these forums and found atleast one person who owns a concertina from them...

 

I hope RedTom still reads this thread because I'd love to know if his concertina is any good? Has there been any major problems during the month that you've had it? Basically, if it doesn't fall apart in that time it's good enough for me A Hohner concertina costs about twice as much and I've read that they really aren't that good, but I doubt this one would be twice as bad just because it's cheaper. Anyways, it would be great if I could get even an "ok" english concertina for that money.

 

I know this doesn't quite belong to "Tunes / Songs" category, but I found out that it would have been stupid to start a new thread for such a small question

[Luscious_Lena]

hi Tommy, I'm also learning to play the concertina, and I was wondering if you could give me the tabs for "Dirty Old Town" as I can't really play by ear yet. Your version of it sounds pretty good though!