Priscilla Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Hi, This may already be well documented, I just wanted to say, for any new beginners that I have found Frank Converse's "Mel Bay's Deluxe Concertina Book" an excellent teaching aid for total beginners. It's fun and easy, and progresses rapidly. I love it. I hope it helps many others enjoy their concertinas and gain confidence! Priscilla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken_Coles Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 An added note: This book is for anglo system concertina. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nula Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 An added note: This book is for anglo system concertina. But it doesn't have CD. As an absolute beginner myself I wouldn't find a book without CD or DVD very helpful. In fact, in these supermultimedia days, I can't imagine why any music tutor book wouldn't have accompanying audio or visual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priscilla Posted May 19, 2009 Author Share Posted May 19, 2009 An added note: This book is for anglo system concertina. But it doesn't have CD. As an absolute beginner myself I wouldn't find a book without CD or DVD very helpful. In fact, in these supermultimedia days, I can't imagine why any music tutor book wouldn't have accompanying audio or visual. Wow... I must be very old fashioned... I love books, I don't own a DVD player (nor tv), and only have a CD player in my car (which I drive as little as possible)...it wouldn't enter my furry head to wonder if a learner's book on c'tina includes a CD or DVD. I'm not very multi-media oriented. I just read the book, and look at the pictures and somehow that works. Even computers totally amaze me. I guess I need to join the 21st Century... Priscilla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaryK Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 An added note: This book is for anglo system concertina. But it doesn't have CD. As an absolute beginner myself I wouldn't find a book without CD or DVD very helpful. In fact, in these supermultimedia days, I can't imagine why any music tutor book wouldn't have accompanying audio or visual. Wow... I must be very old fashioned... I love books, I don't own a DVD player (nor tv), and only have a CD player in my car (which I drive as little as possible)...it wouldn't enter my furry head to wonder if a learner's book on c'tina includes a CD or DVD. I'm not very multi-media oriented. I just read the book, and look at the pictures and somehow that works. Even computers totally amaze me. I guess I need to join the 21st Century... Priscilla Priscella, It sounds like you are doing fine in whatever century you've currently established yourself. New technologies are mainly pretty cool, but much can be said in praise of non-technological simplicity too. Glad you are enjoying your concertina so much. That's how I felt, and still feel, when I started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomB-R Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 As Bob Tedrow's banner says "150 years behnd the times," implied subtext, "and proud of it!" Good stuff Priscilla, any chance of a bit more detail on what you liked about the book? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priscilla Posted May 20, 2009 Author Share Posted May 20, 2009 As Bob Tedrow's banner says "150 years behnd the times," implied subtext, "and proud of it!" Good stuff Priscilla, any chance of a bit more detail on what you liked about the book? Well, in honesty, I don't have much to compare it to. I didn't know where to start, and don't have a natural "ear" for music, so I can't pick out tunes just by listening to them. I'm "paper trained" as the expression goes, and yet I read notes very slowly, like a first grader in school. But I like to have the crutch of notes on paper to lean on when my memory fails me... can't rely on "muscle memory". Same with written words, as familiar and beloved as a piece of poetry is to me, I can't recite well from memory, and reading old favorite books/poems etc. never gets old, there's always something that remains new about them... same goes for music I assume. You find new beauty in old tunes, no matter how often you play/hear them. This beginner book by Frank Converse... it's laid out very well, to my mind. It tells you where to put your fingers, it interprets each note as either push or pull by illustrating a little box as either empty or filled in, you soon get used to it, and it's full of easily identifiable melodies which one can quickly learn to play as a beginner, lending one then courage to progress to more challenging things. I'm in no hurry... and I'm not ambitious. Simple tunes are as enchanting to me as symphonies played by orchestras. I'd love to learn O Danny Boy on the concertina, and am sure one day I'll find it described simply enough for even me to play. I look forward to that day. So... I'm afraid with nothing to compare it to, this book by Frank Converse I really find excellent... I've forged ahead at a speed that even surprises me, and can now play, only after about 6 weeks, 2/3 of the tunes in the book, with great enjoyment. It has you playing "across the rows" pretty early, and it's really not that difficult... the reward is far greater than the effort, as you recognize the tune you're playing and it takes on a new beauty to your ears since you yourself are manufacturing it for the first time. I switched from a Renelli to now a beautiful old Lachenal C/G Anglo and I think it may be the love of my life! The bellows are a little leaky, but ...the way love is, you begin to love the flaws as much as the seeming perfection of the object of your affection. Hope everyone enjoys their musical journey as much as I do. Priscilla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomB-R Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Thank you, that's helpful. Best wishes as you continue with your music. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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