Anglo Concertina

[Ptarmigan]

The issue has come up a couple of times since, but like a man named Peter or Dick, I don't feel any need to change "my name".

I'll second that Jim.

 

Cheers

Dick

[Dave Rogers]

I have been surprised to discover that there are people who know the slang meaning, but not the much older meaning, which in my experience is used quite widely and commonly.

 

This might be an example of the UK and US being "Two nations divided by a common language", as I'm confident that many more people in the UK would be familiar with the modern slang meaning and unfamilar with the older meaning of the word. I have heard the older meaning used very occasionally, but certainly not by anybody younger than myself (mid 50s) and even then usually in a self-consciously archaic way.

 

Anyway Jim, thanks for the explanation (I'm always curious about etymology) and I hope that no offence was taken as none was intended. I genuinely thought that there might be an innocent Danish meaning of the word!

[rmerris]

I would like to return to the original issue in this posting. I see no "smoke and mirrors" in Charles George Roylance's statement about "a somewhat difficult instrument." His two tutors--How to Learn the Chromatic Anglo-German Concertina and Anglo-German Concertina Player's Companion--were two of the most popular Anglo tutors, needing no deceptive hype. Clearly, there was a strong market for Anglo tutors (see my article, "Instruction Manuals for English, Anglo, and Duet Concertina ..." The Free Reed Journal, available at www.concertina.com and including entries for over 100 Anglo tutors, published primarily in the UK and US).

 

The statement "easy to learn" and "difficult to learn" are both correct, depending entirely on what is to be learned. Sure, picking out Mary Had a Little Lamb or equally unchallenging tunes in the learner's head are easy by ear. But learning more challenging tunes from sheet music (without the aid of any audio device in the 19th century) certainly could be difficult, at least for many players. (Most the of the 19th century tutors were glorified tunebooks--long on tunes and relatively short on instruction.)

 

A subtitle of Roylance's Anglo-German Concertina Player's Companion states that it includes "Vamps and Hamonized Scales." That fact alone pushed up the degree of difficulty of "diving into" learning the Anglo concertina.

 

Regarding posting on the web: I have both of the above mentioned tutors by Roylance. I'll send a copy of either or copies of both to somebody who volunteers to post.

Edited May 2, 2008 by rmerris

[Dan Worrall]

I would like to return to the original issue in this posting. I see no "smoke and mirrors" in Charles George Roylance's statement about "a somewhat difficult instrument." His two tutors--How to Learn the Chromatic Anglo-German Concertina and Anglo-German Concertina Player's Companion--were two of the most popular Anglo tutors, needing no deceptive hype. Clearly, there was a strong market for Anglo tutors (see my article, "Instruction Manuals for English, Anglo, and Duet Concertina ..." The Free Reed Journal, available at www.concertina.com and including entries for over 100 Anglo tutors, published primarily in the UK and US).

 

The statement "easy to learn" and "difficult to learn" are both correct, depending entirely on what is to be learned. Sure, picking out Mary Had a Little Lamb or equally unchallenging tunes in the learner's head are easy by ear. But learning more challenging tunes from sheet music (without the aid of any audio device in the 19th century) certainly could be difficult, at least for many players. (Most the of the 19th century tutors were glorified tunebooks--long on tunes and relatively short on instruction.)

 

A subtitle of Roylance's Anglo-German Concertina Player's Companion states that it includes "Vamps and Hamonized Scales." That fact alone pushed up the degree of difficulty of "diving into" learning the Anglo concertina.

 

Regarding posting on the web: I have both of the above mentioned tutors by Roylance. I'll send a copy of either or copies of both to somebody who volunteers to post.

 

Randy,

 

Return to the original topic? The ground is shaking!

 

I agree with you about the anglo being both easy and hard. I always remember something that Bertram Levy said in his tutor...something on the order that the anglo can be a lifelong journey. One of its main attractions is that you can take it as far, or not, as you wish, and still enjoy playing it; with a fiddle or , even more so, the uillean pipes there is much more of a front end investment in getting even a note out of it that is in tune and nicely toned. The vast majority of anglo-german and anglo players in Victorian times were working people who presumably had limited practice time to invest (and in many cases were illiterate), so a lot more things may have seemed difficult to them back then. The current trend toward virtuosity ...pursuing styles of playing that are very intricately executed (Irish) or beautifully and perhaps complexly chorded (English) ...is for the anglo a fairly recent phenomenon, born in part of greater education, resources, and leisure time. Players like Mrs Crotty, William Kimber and Scan Tester were each simpler in their use of the instrument than many if not most public performers in similar styles today...but of course, their mastery of musicality over technique still makes them remembered and greatly respected.

 

I'd be happy to give a try toward scanning and posting those tutors.

 

Dan

[geoffwright]

Anglos are Easy-peasy!!

If you want to venture into harder keys on English concertina, you have to practise scales.

Why shouldn't you have to practise scales (in either direction) on anglo if you want to stretch your enjoyment a little further?.

After nearly 40 years at it, (and quite a few trips down dead-ends, unlearning everything I had previously learned), I still find it fascinating and am still learning new tricks and fingerings every day.

 

Stick at it Chas.

[rmerris]

Dan,

 

You are the webmaster for the posting of the Roylance tutors. They will be in the mail in a few days.

 

One anecdote: Alfred B. Sedgwick (English-born emigrant to the US; member of the all-star 1844 classical concertina quartet of Regondi, Blagrove, Case, and Sedgwick) authored tutors for both English and Anglo. In his English tutor, he totally disparaged the Anglo (in effect saying that, by comparison, the Anglo was a mere toy). Even in his Anglo tutor, he touted the virtues of the English concertina over the Anglo. But ironically, his Anglo tutor was, in my judgment, the best Anglo tutor of the period.

Edited May 2, 2008 by rmerris

[rmerris]

Dan,

 

I think that you have already posted that Sedgwick tutor at concertina.com. But if not, I will send it to you for posting, if you like.

Edited May 2, 2008 by rmerris

[Dan Worrall]

Dan,

 

I think that you have already posted that Sedgwick tutor at concertina.com. But if not, I will send it to you for posting, if you like.

 

Randy,

 

Yes, Sedgwick is already posted, in the appendix of my Anglos-in-the-US piece at concertina.com. It is an interesting tutor, and as you say, better than almost all of that period. So I don't need it....but if you want that old Sally Army anglo tutor posted, please send it too.....

 

Dan

[wntrmute]

English players may enjoy the Sedgewick English tutor. I know I'd get a laugh out of his comments on the Anglo. His comments were pretty amusing in his Anglo tutor (or more properly his German concertina tutor, as it is titled -- take a closer look at the 28 button layout, it's a 56 tone Chemnitz layout unrelated to the 26+ button Anglo layout; Howe's tutors are the same).

 

It is kind of nice to get a sense of what people were playing back in the 19th century.

[m3838]

I think that you have already posted that Sedgwick tutor at concertina.com. But if not, I will send it to you for posting, if you like.

 

You mean Anglo tutor, not English, right?

[wntrmute]

Sedgwick’s Improved and Complete Instructions for the German Concertina is posted here (pdf file at link).

None of his English tutors are posted there that I can see.

[m3838]

Sedgwick's Improved and Complete Instructions for the German Concertina is posted here (pdf file at link).

None of his English tutors are posted there that I can see.

 

In the previous post you said:

" English players may enjoy the Sedgewick English tutor.", so I got all agitated.

Should my agitation continue, or you meant we, English players, must find it elsewhere, or use Anglo tutor?

[wntrmute]

I was suggesting that they add the Sedgwick English tutor to the concertina.com site for the English players to enjoy.

 

ETA: Though you lot could certainly PLAY the tunes that he includes in the tutor. Nothing stopping y'all from doing that, so far as I know. You won't catch Anglo-cooties from it. I promise.

Edited May 3, 2008 by wntrmute

[m3838]

ETA: Though you lot could certainly PLAY the tunes that he includes in the tutor. Nothing stopping y'all from doing that, so far as I know. You won't catch Anglo-cooties from it. I promise.

 

Ho-ho, pardner!

No, thank you.

Give me English-concertina tunes, not Anglo-concertina ones.

(What would life be like, if Russian accordion was different from the Russo-accordion?)

I agree, ECTutor from 19 century would be nice to have. Even with derogatory remarks about the Anglo, which probably, at the time, were mostly appropriate. I think that why Anglo tutor was written in first place, to counter the wide spread racket.

That Woocker-Poocker guy, or what's his name, was a man of action!