Hi. Finally that ebay chinese concertina arrived ,
( http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/17744 )
I like how it sounds, but of course I have no idea how to play it.
I've seen this chart: http://www.concertina.info/tina.faq/images/finger3.htm
so I see mine is fortunately a 30 button C/G Anglo, but, there are many ways to play the same note, why? If, for example, you want to play an A, which A button will you choose?
Well, I have too many questions... Is there any website to learn for free? Is Niall Vallely's CD-ROM Tutorial good?
Thanks.
Get every Irish concertina CD you can get your hands on. Listen to them all the time. Copy what they do to the best of your ability until your own style develops naturally. Give it a few years, and Bob's yer uncle.
The best way to learn for free is just to forget about what notes are where and just start squeezing out some simple tunes (Shepherd's Hey, for example). Don't try to play fast Irish reels until you've got plenty of more sedate ones under your belt.
So long as the tune is solidly in your head, you'll soon find the starting note (often somewhere half-way up the middle row on the right hand side). The nice thing about the anglo is that you can oom-pah simple 2 or 3 finger chords with the left hand that can sound quite good with the dance tunes that most suit the instrument.
Watching this guy on YouTube might help get you started:
I have the John Williams DVD (Learn to Play Irish Concertina). It's pretty good, and should answer most of your questions and get you going with some tunes.
although I am an English concertina player ,Iam reasonably informed on this.
one popular method is to play the key of g thus ,start on your crow,find the g note ,c row first button,push then pull on your same button for a,or alternatively go to your second button accidental push for your a.
all this is on your left hand side,then go to your right,first button pull B stay on same button and pushC.
Two options for d,push1 st button g [inside]row, left or stay on c row pull right second button next note E is played on 1st button g row pull,stay on g row right hand side,1st button f#pull push samebutton for high g.
Yep, it's most common to play in the center row (the C row) and use the G row for alternate fingerings and missing notes (and the accidental top row for the same).
As to which button to use, it's all depending. If you find your bellows is getting pulled too far out, you will want to use some alternate keys to get more push notes in, and the opposite is also true. Sometimes you want to get a run on one direction for smoother and faster ornamentation (as Noel Hill does). Sometimes you would rather have the in-out bounce.
The only real answer is, whatever seems to feel right at the time for the given tune.
I think you might find it helpful to track down a diagram of the buttons showing the actual notes as they would fall on sheet music. Maybe not, but I thought that was a helpful way to understand the relationships of the buttons. I'm a rank beginner, so take with a grain of salt. You'll find that a lot of the notes are not used very much, depending on your style. I think most Irish players play melody along both sides of the concertina, and use chords sparingly if at all.
a couple of left handed players I knew, preferred to play in the key of G exclusively up the G row.
The argument against this is That if you play G andA on the C row, you are using your stronger finger.
Patricks suggestion of a diagram is good,you will see where all your options are,
for playing in d.play the same way,but cross to your accidental row for c#.Dick Miles
another consideration is this:every time you lift afinger from one button to another,there will be agap between the notes,
for example if you play the g note with your index finger on the first button,middle row,and then the next note in the tune is a D and you intend to play it with your index finger on the inside row left hand side first button,you will be unable to play it smoothly [legato]using the same finger.
if you had chosen to play your g note on your g row push,you will be going in the same direction as your D note push and you will be using a different finger,so if you want to play smoothly you will be able to and you can also run the two notes into one another,this is very useful for airs or slow songs.
so learning where the alternative notes is important because it will enable you to play legato or stacctao[smoothly or choppily] a lot depends on what type of music and keys you wish to play,airs and to a lesser extent reels will probably require more thought about direction than morris tunes.morris tunes need to be very rhythmic,but dont require to be played at the speed of reels.
Yes Pere - I think it's well worth getting the Mad for Trad CD-ROM
Tutorial - it worked for me! There's no concertina teachers where I live and it gave me all I needed - from the basics to more advanced ornamentation - so I could join in workshops in Ireland at intermediate level.
Get Mick Bramich's tutor book from Mally Music on web also Frank Edgely's tutorial DVD and book and the John Williams DVD Then get stuck in for many years. Buy a G mouth organ to fix the tunes Mainly listen to as much as you can eg Noel Hill, Jaqueline Mc Carthy etc Go to Custy's shop in Ennis Clare web site
I got a concertina. How to play it?
I got a concertina. How to play it?
Hi. Finally that ebay chinese concertina arrived ,
( http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/17744 )
I like how it sounds, but of course I have no idea how to play it.
I've seen this chart: http://www.concertina.info/tina.faq/images/finger3.htm
so I see mine is fortunately a 30 button C/G Anglo, but, there are many ways to play the same note, why? If, for example, you want to play an A, which A button will you choose?
Well, I have too many questions... Is there any website to learn for free? Is Niall Vallely's CD-ROM Tutorial good?
Thanks.
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by Pere
Re: I got a concertina. How to play it?
Get every Irish concertina CD you can get your hands on. Listen to them all the time. Copy what they do to the best of your ability until your own style develops naturally. Give it a few years, and Bob's yer uncle.
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by Dow
Re: I got a concertina. How to play it?
The best way to learn for free is just to forget about what notes are where and just start squeezing out some simple tunes (Shepherd's Hey, for example). Don't try to play fast Irish reels until you've got plenty of more sedate ones under your belt.
So long as the tune is solidly in your head, you'll soon find the starting note (often somewhere half-way up the middle row on the right hand side). The nice thing about the anglo is that you can oom-pah simple 2 or 3 finger chords with the left hand that can sound quite good with the dance tunes that most suit the instrument.
Watching this guy on YouTube might help get you started:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rV-DASHKzc
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by DavyR
Re: I got a concertina. How to play it?
I have the John Williams DVD (Learn to Play Irish Concertina). It's pretty good, and should answer most of your questions and get you going with some tunes.
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by Marklar
Re: I got a concertina. How to play it?
although I am an English concertina player ,Iam reasonably informed on this.
one popular method is to play the key of g thus ,start on your crow,find the g note ,c row first button,push then pull on your same button for a,or alternatively go to your second button accidental push for your a.
all this is on your left hand side,then go to your right,first button pull B stay on same button and pushC.
Two options for d,push1 st button g [inside]row, left or stay on c row pull right second button next note E is played on 1st button g row pull,stay on g row right hand side,1st button f#pull push samebutton for high g.
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by dickens metrognome
Re: I got a concertina. How to play it?
Yep, it's most common to play in the center row (the C row) and use the G row for alternate fingerings and missing notes (and the accidental top row for the same).
As to which button to use, it's all depending. If you find your bellows is getting pulled too far out, you will want to use some alternate keys to get more push notes in, and the opposite is also true. Sometimes you want to get a run on one direction for smoother and faster ornamentation (as Noel Hill does). Sometimes you would rather have the in-out bounce.
The only real answer is, whatever seems to feel right at the time for the given tune.
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by Ashkettle
Re: I got a concertina. How to play it?
Those things cannot be played. I already tried. And I'm fairly certain that I'm not Pere's uncle.
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by Bob himself
Re: I got a concertina. How to play it?
I think you might find it helpful to track down a diagram of the buttons showing the actual notes as they would fall on sheet music. Maybe not, but I thought that was a helpful way to understand the relationships of the buttons. I'm a rank beginner, so take with a grain of salt. You'll find that a lot of the notes are not used very much, depending on your style. I think most Irish players play melody along both sides of the concertina, and use chords sparingly if at all.
# Posted on June 19th 2008 by PatrickJWK
Re: I got a concertina. How to play it?
a couple of left handed players I knew, preferred to play in the key of G exclusively up the G row.
The argument against this is That if you play G andA on the C row, you are using your stronger finger.
Patricks suggestion of a diagram is good,you will see where all your options are,
for playing in d.play the same way,but cross to your accidental row for c#.Dick Miles
# Posted on June 20th 2008 by dickens metrognome
Re: I got a concertina. How to play it?
another consideration is this:every time you lift afinger from one button to another,there will be agap between the notes,
for example if you play the g note with your index finger on the first button,middle row,and then the next note in the tune is a D and you intend to play it with your index finger on the inside row left hand side first button,you will be unable to play it smoothly [legato]using the same finger.
if you had chosen to play your g note on your g row push,you will be going in the same direction as your D note push and you will be using a different finger,so if you want to play smoothly you will be able to and you can also run the two notes into one another,this is very useful for airs or slow songs.
so learning where the alternative notes is important because it will enable you to play legato or stacctao[smoothly or choppily] a lot depends on what type of music and keys you wish to play,airs and to a lesser extent reels will probably require more thought about direction than morris tunes.morris tunes need to be very rhythmic,but dont require to be played at the speed of reels.
# Posted on June 20th 2008 by dickens metrognome
Re: I got a concertina. How to play it?
Yes Pere - I think it's well worth getting the Mad for Trad CD-ROM
Tutorial - it worked for me! There's no concertina teachers where I live and it gave me all I needed - from the basics to more advanced ornamentation - so I could join in workshops in Ireland at intermediate level.
# Posted on June 23rd 2008 by wjh
Re: I got a concertina. How to play it?
Get Mick Bramich's tutor book from Mally Music on web also Frank Edgely's tutorial DVD and book and the John Williams DVD Then get stuck in for many years. Buy a G mouth organ to fix the tunes Mainly listen to as much as you can eg Noel Hill, Jaqueline Mc Carthy etc Go to Custy's shop in Ennis Clare web site
# Posted on June 23rd 2008 by mike Wild