Bad Habit List For Beginner

[Alan Day]

As pull notes are more difficult than push.Practice evening out the push pull notes so that you get an equal sound in both directions.

On a vintage or cheap instrument particularly ,work on short sharp notes this will give you more available air.

Al

[hjcjones]

Learn to use your airbutton so you are never in danger getting the bellows fully extended or closed. It's better to take small gasps of air when you can, rather than wait until you really need to and then take a huge gulp! Controlling the air button properly will allow you to keep the right amount of air in the bellows at all times.

 

Sometimes you need to plan ahead - if the next phrase of music is all on the pull, then you may need to use the phrase leading up to it to dump some air, so the bellows will have enough stretch. If it's all on the push, you'll need to take on air beforehand. It's OK to use the air button at the same time as playing the notes (although you may need to increase pressure to maintain volume), so you can control the bellows without breaking up the rhythm.

 

Amazingly, with practice this will become such second-nature that you hardly have to think about it.

[Samantha]

I think this is a great thread. Could it become a sticky, or listed in the FAQ section in some way?

Samantha

[tombilly]

keep away from ebay for a few years!

[David Levine]

Avoid Chopping!

 

I'm surprised nobody talked about chopping: using the same finger to go consecutively from one button to another. This seems extremely important to me. This (avoiding the chop) is a huge reason for playing across the rows. What follows is an excerpt from an article I wrote about a few classes I took from Noel Hill twenty years ago - when there was no appeal to non-disclosure. I took what he said as gospel and (hopefully) my memory is clear. I can email or post the article if there is interest. Learning the system from words rather than from seeing fingers can be painful. That's why taking a class is always preferable to just reading about the technique.

 

Chopping was hard for me to unlearn. I still have to fight the urge to chop. It seems easier to chop and to play within each row than to learn separate fingerings. But when you have fingering choices you aren’t fighting the instrument. Eventually it become second nature to avoid the chop. This is not an especially obvious way of playing were you to pick up the instrument for the first time. The concertina is deceptive. It seems easy because the tone is self-generated. But it is the only instrument I play which continually involves such a wide choice of fingerings. The fiddle can be a bit more complicated but on the flute there is really only one way to play a high G -on the three row C/G concertina there is a choice of at least three.

[Alan Day]

Avoid Chopping!

 

I'm surprised nobody talked about chopping: using the same finger to go consecutively from one button to another. This seems extremely important to me. This (avoiding the chop) is a huge reason for playing across the rows. What follows is an excerpt from an article I wrote about a few classes I took from Noel Hill twenty years ago - when there was no appeal to non-disclosure. I took what he said as gospel and (hopefully) my memory is clear. I can email or post the article if there is interest. Learning the system from words rather than from seeing fingers can be painful. That's why taking a class is always preferable to just reading about the technique.

 

Chopping was hard for me to unlearn. I still have to fight the urge to chop. It seems easier to chop and to play within each row than to learn separate fingerings. But when you have fingering choices you aren’t fighting the instrument. Eventually it become second nature to avoid the chop. This is not an especially obvious way of playing were you to pick up the instrument for the first time. The concertina is deceptive. It seems easy because the tone is self-generated. But it is the only instrument I play which continually involves such a wide choice of fingerings. The fiddle can be a bit more complicated but on the flute there is really only one way to play a high G -on the three row C/G concertina there is a choice of at least three.

Well I certainly would not have mentioned "Chopping" as it is something I have never heard of before. For base runs I use my little finger for certain notes and the ring finger for others. If the base notes require my little finger to move over then I do chop.

Al

[David Levine]

Well I certainly would not have mentioned "Chopping" as it is something I have never heard of before. For base runs I use my little finger for certain notes and the ring finger for others. If the base notes require my little finger to move over then I do chop.

Al

I agree that on the lower notes, when you have to move your hand out of position, it's hard to avoid chopping without contorting your hand.

[Dave Prebble]

Well I certainly would not have mentioned "Chopping" as it is something I have never heard of before. For base runs I use my little finger for certain notes and the ring finger for others. If the base notes require my little finger to move over then I do chop.

Al

 

Hi Al,

Like you, I had never heard it called 'chopping' nor do I remember really giving it much thought, but it seems to me not to merit that name if you can do it proficiently. Just played a few tunes through and realise that my little fingers both 'chop' for England, especially, the left. Doesn't end there, since just about all my fingers do at some time in one tune or another. OK so alternatives are available, but like yourself, I prefer the fuller chorded sound so accept the fact that I need to 'chop' to achieve the chord sound I want. I don't have any problem with it but can see the advantages of avoiding it in nonchordal melodic playing, indeed I do automatically tend to minimize chopping when playing in this style.

 

'Horses for courses' as they say

 

I would suggest that moving the whole hand up the row by one button and back again at the appropriate point would likely cause beginners more problems than chopping ?? This is however a technique more likely to be encountered in English style playing.

 

Not so much 'bad habits to be avoided' perhaps, but more as useful techniques to master ... but maybe not in week one of playing

 

Bad Habits ?? Immersing your concertina in Canals they don't like it

 

Dave

[Mark Davies]

Alan & Dave you can carry on this discussion at the Bradfield Traditional Music Weekend as cocusflute will be coming for the weekend together with Tom Driscoll.I have been receiving anti chopping lessons from cocusflute when I visit Ireland and very good they are to.I think chopping is more of a problem if you are playing Irish music.As I try to play both I need to try to get out of the habit.Not easy at my age!

[Dave Prebble]

Alan & Dave you can carry on this discussion at the Bradfield Traditional Music Weekend as cocusflute will be coming for the weekend together with Tom Driscoll.I have been receiving anti chopping lessons from cocusflute when I visit Ireland and very good they are to.I think chopping is more of a problem if you are playing Irish music.As I try to play both I need to try to get out of the habit.Not easy at my age!

 

 

Looking forward to your weekend Mark - Old habits certainly die hard

 

Dave

[Alan Day]

Alan & Dave you can carry on this discussion at the Bradfield Traditional Music Weekend as cocusflute will be coming for the weekend together with Tom Driscoll.I have been receiving anti chopping lessons from cocusflute when I visit Ireland and very good they are to.I think chopping is more of a problem if you are playing Irish music.As I try to play both I need to try to get out of the habit.Not easy at my age!

 

Chops Chips and pees?

Al

[Dan Worrall]

Alan & Dave you can carry on this discussion at the Bradfield Traditional Music Weekend as cocusflute will be coming for the weekend together with Tom Driscoll.I have been receiving anti chopping lessons from cocusflute when I visit Ireland and very good they are to.I think chopping is more of a problem if you are playing Irish music.As I try to play both I need to try to get out of the habit.Not easy at my age!

 

Chops Chips and pees?

Al

 

 

Oh, and on topic:

Don't forget to play softly...my biggest problem, I think. When working things out during practicing, it is easy just to honk like mad, and if you always play loud, you have no dynamics....something Jody stresses in his teaching.

I second what Boney said on making faces when playing, at first...it is a tic that will do you no good, so best to nip it in the bud. Play in front of a mirror sometimes. Years back, when I was a bit younger, we played a St Patricks day thing at a local hotel. The neighborhood weekly paper had me on the front page, grimacing like mad. Lesson learned.

Edited June 18, 2008 by Dan Worrall

[fiddlerjoebob]

Jody mentioned watching yourself in a mirror to see how you hold your body when you play. I would add that paying attention to a sore thumb, a tight elbow, shoulder pain...or anything that might serve as an alert of some unusual, perhaps unnecessary, strain on your personal machinery.

 

I know fiddlers who will play in a crunched up fashion for hours. I don't know how they can straighten up at the end of the night. I want to poke them and tell them to "stand up straight." Thats why I got a mirror in my practice room. I don't want anyone poking me with the same comment.

 

Randy

[Dave Prebble]

Oh, and on topic:

Don't forget to play softly...my biggest problem, I think. When working things out during practicing, it is easy just to honk like mad, and if you always play loud, you have no dynamics....something Jody stresses in his teaching.

I second what Boney said on making faces when playing, at first...it is a tic that will do you no good, so best to nip it in the bud. Play in front of a mirror sometimes. Years back, when I was a bit younger, we played a St Patricks day thing at a local hotel. The neighborhood weekly paper had me on the front page, grimacing like mad. Lesson learned.

 

I used to be a world gurning championship contender while playing - though I am told I am little better now...

 

a new point....

Especially true if you have come to Anglo from Harmonica - Do remember to breathe normally!!

If you find yourself breathing in and out with the bellows direction, break the habit early or, at best, you will never be able to sing with the instrument, and at worst, you will turn blue then grey and then find yourself playing celestial anglo with an angelic harp accompaniment

 

Dave

 

PS Perhaps we could arrange a camera and have a concertina gurning event at Bradfield - I bet the Judge would win

Edited June 14, 2008 by Dave Prebble

[Rod]

'Chopping'. Depends upon the style of music being played. Where the the tempo allows, why not practice it a little ? Need it necessarily become an addiction ? I guess we all do a little bit of it on occasions and when it comes to the computer keyboard I'm a 100 per cent right-handed index finger chopper and unashamed to admit it !

[wntrmute]

'Chopping'. Depends upon the style of music being played. Where the the tempo allows, why not practice it a little ? Need it necessarily become an addiction ? I guess we all do a little bit of it on occasions and when it comes to the computer keyboard I'm a 100 per cent right-handed index finger chopper and unashamed to admit it !

Well, yes, it depends on what you are doing. But in a quick melody line (ie. ITM) don't chop the melody. It takes a split second to move your finger, and depending on how fast you are playing, that could be a note or even two. For chords sometimes you have no choice but to move a finger from one button to the next, but don't do it on the melody. This is generally true for piano as well.

[RustyH]

I seem to be on the right track so far. Went into town yesterday (it's a big deal, two ferries, spend all our money, and now won't return until fall) and got a metronome.

 

I was "chopping" but have since worked out duplicate buttons that help alleviate the problem eg. A2-L10o vs A2-L4i, which helped a lot with the flow. I've done the mirror thing before, for woodturning demos, amazing how grimaced one becomes when shoving a steel bar into a 24", 70lb. block of maple spinning around at speed a foot in front of your face. Had to look cool, otherwise the audience heads for the bomb shelters.

 

Her Majesty took me off to a children's fiddle concert last night (arranged by her fiddle teacher), the kids were amazing! First they had to get up and solo, and the latter half of the evening was spent with parents and guests joining in dancing to their 12 dance program tunes. It was very entertaining, as there were drummers, guitarists, and a fellow on a tub base. So the children got the full experience. I just came away from it all, seeing all those eager young faces, in awe of the legacy that teacher is creating. Yes, she wants to know when I'll be ready....oh brother.....

[Jody Kruskal]

Great thread. I’m enjoying reading what folks think is important knowledge for beginners. Here are some further thoughts of mine.

 

Chopping is good to avoid when you can, though avoiding it is less essential at slower tempos.

 

The fun thing about the harmonic Anglo puzzle, is that you make up your own arrangement, your own accompaniment part. After composing a number of these for a while you can eventually make them up on the fly. The patterns you learn get used again and again with slight variations from tune to tune.

 

At any point in the tune there are choices to be made. I’m thinking about the ways to play that are outside of what you consider to be normal. There are only a few choices though and because the number is finite, I’ve tried to learn as many as I can. Some choices allow you to avoid chopping. Others let you choose to harmonize low, or high. Others let you sustain low bass notes under a melodic phrase. Others let you add a nifty ornament or grace note. One choice might not be good for all of these things at once. That’s fine. Every pass through a tune can be different.

 

Some of the fingering or in/out choices allow for a better rhythmic flow to the melody. That’s always good. Some let you harmonize with the lowest notes on the instrument. That’s good too. Balancing the needs of the left and right hand is the goal. I don’t feel that I have really learned to play a tune until I can fully harmonize it all the way through with the low notes of the instrument playing their part and the melody singing freely.

 

This was my goal as a beginner and it took many frustrating hours of practice to achieve even partial success with the simplest of tunes. I don’t always perform that way, with full accompaniment, but I want that ability because when I know how a tune is harmonized I have the knowledge to allow me to insert variety, and not just play the same thing over and over.

 

The ability to play full harmony is my goal, but in performance, a simple, single melody line is great too. I use that texture often when playing with other people. Going the opposite way is great too. A fine choice might be to throw the tune out completely and play something else that works, especially something that uses the harmony but focuses on the rhythm. Anglo can be a great rhythm instrument. Bands often include rhythm instruments that also play melody from time to time. The role of the piano, guitar, horns and even non-melody percussion instruments can be emulated quite successfully on the Anglo and probably the other concertinas as well.