Anglo Chords On The G/d

[Robin Harrison]

Other than in B major ( which seems to be rarely used in English trad. music ) does anyone ever use this note in a chord ?

Thanks

Robin

Edited October 16, 2008 by Robin Harrison

[Jody Kruskal]

Other than in B major ( which seems to be rarely used in English trad. music ) does anyone ever use this note in a chord ?

Thanks

Robin

 

 

Hi Robin,

 

Here is a system of button identification for 30 button Anglos, where button 1 would be the low G on a G/D Anglo and the "a" buttons are in the accidental row:

 

1a 2a 3a 4a 5a

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10

 

So...are you talking about the left hand button called 2a? On my instruments that is a pull D# and I found myself rarely playing that pitch. I changed it to a low pull A. This makes it a whole step above the lowest G on the G/D and very useful it is too, situated just right for playing bass lines and chords. I find the chord spelled A, A, E to be the most useful though the C and the C# are both handy as well if you want thirds. I tend to avoid them in the left hand though.

 

My Tune of the Month offering for 8/2008 uses that low A position frequently if you want to hear what it sounds like (though I'm playing a C/G Anglo there so the pitch transposed is actually a D). David Levine and I have been PMing about this very subject today.

 

I now have three Anglos with that changed note and some day I'll get around to changing all of my boxes. This change works nicely for harmonic players who are missing that gap in the low end of the scale. It probably would not be recommended for folks who primarily play ITM or single line styles.

[Robin Harrison]

Hi Jody............in fact the note I'm interested in, is the 5a push and the 11 pull on a 38 key (D#)

I've got a pic. of your 38 key layout from the Concertina FAQ and I think it's a pretty standard note to have there ( the D#, that is) Do you ever use this notes ?

Thanks for the help

Robin

[Jody Kruskal]

Hi Jody............in fact the note I'm interested in, is the 5a push and the 11 pull on a 38 key (D#)

I've got a pic. of your 38 key layout from the Concertina FAQ and I think it's a pretty standard note to have there ( the D#, that is) Do you ever use this notes ?

Thanks for the help

Robin

 

Oh...that D#. Rarely if at all. I think I've used D# 5a to slide into E 4a a few times. I don't think I use the 11 button at all, though I wouldn't swear to it. Playing around with them raises some interesting avenues for exploration though.

[Roger Digby]

Hello Robin, Jody,

Hope you’re both well.

I think I use that note more than you do. The push at 5a comes in for the B chord as Robin says. I also use it for the G aug and the Cmin. The pull at 11 comes into the Cmin again and also the big F#/A/C/D# diminished.

As Robin says there’s no call for these in traditional tunes and I’d be the first to criticise their use in that music! The B is perhaps a bit more common (Coloured Aristocracy?) and probably some Em tunes.

I can’t think off-hand of a single time when I use the D# an octave lower: in fact picking up a couple of boxes as I write this I find it is a button which I use so rarely I haven’t even made it uniform across all my instruments. In addition to D#, one box gives F, one gives G#, (or would if it was in that key).

I have two or three buttons that I seldom use, but I’ve never thought of altering them because I never find I lack anything and it is this which has really prompted me to write this note. Yesterday I was struggling with a new tune (nothing odd there) and it just didn’t sit right. Eventually I played the key note on the draw first button in on the right hand D row instead of the obvious home position on the G row push. Suddenly everything worked. That’s a button that I have so neglected that on one box I’ve just tried it out on I find there is need of some remedial action! Amazing to discover a new use for a button after all these years! I’ve also discovered that it’s such an unused botton that it also has various tunings on different instruments.

Hope it’s not too long before your next visits to the UK.

Very best wishes to you both.

Roger

[Marien]

Hello Robin, Jody et al.

 

On my 30 button G/D I use this note (D# on push on 5a), but not very often. It is not for english traditional music, but apart from old dutch music (that moves around between sharps and flats a lot) I sometimes play pieces that combine more scales. For those I was happy to find that the note was there for a B chord.

 

"

edited: I noticed that an example of using the button is in this tune I recently recorded and have uploaded on youtube, it is here:

http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=af4lVzTZUqI

"

 

For melody I rarely use that note (can't remember I used it). There are some other buttons I rarely touch (such as button 6 and 1a).

 

One layout change makes more sense to me for melody: on the right hand button 10 (g/d), the highest C# note can be changed into a high A (otherwise I do not have this high A on pull). On a C/G I accordingly changed the high F# on pull to D, and use it a lot, and my F/C has the same deviation (high G in stead of B ).

 

 

 

But the fact stays that any note you remove, you may miss some day...

 

Happy squeezing,

Marien

Edited October 21, 2008 by marien