Duet Concertinas
Tom Evans
Does anyone know of any instructional books for either the McCann or Crane
systems? It's either that or work of a quote someone told me of that goes
someting like "find out where the buttons are and press them at the right
time".
Thanks
Tom
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Jim Lucas
>
>Does anyone know of any instructional books for either the McCann or Crane
>systems? It's either that or work of a quote someone told me of that goes
>someting like "find out where the buttons are and press them at the right
>time".
I have copies of the Wheatstone tutor for the (McCann) duet and the
Salvation Army tutors for the Crane, English, and (if I remember, not having
looked recently) the McCann. The Sally Army tutors may still be in print (I
got mine 15-20 years ago). The trouble with them all is that they're from a
different era. (I also have David Cornell's book of arrangements for the
McCann, but that's for advanced players.)
As I recall, they teach where the notes are, maybe how to play the scales,
give some exercises, then advance impossibly quickly to playing hymns or
classical pieces in multi-part harmony, with no fingering suggestions where
they're needed most. Dance tunes and popular pieces (even from the time of
original publication) get short shrift.
Those tutors may be better than nothing, but I have another suggestion:
Get a fingering chart off the web to learn where the notes are, practice a
few scales, then get Bert Levy's "The Anglo Concertina Demystified" and work
on his exercises. Just ignore all the stuff about push-pull and which
fingers to use, but concentrate on which notes to play in each hand. (Where
a line of music shifting hands is forced by the note placement on the anglo
but not necessary on the duet, you can try it both ways. Not shifting is
certainly simpler and more sensible, however the technique of shifting is
sometimes necessary on the duet, too, so it's worth learning, even though
the specific examples from the anglo won't necessarily be sensible on the
duet.)
I have to admit that this idea is one that just occurred to me, so it's
untried. But now I'm planning to try it tonight. I'll hope I can report
soon on whether I felt it worked.
But we should ask: Are there any modern tutors for the duet? How about
some of you guys writing modern-style tutors for your respective duets? It
would be useful to compare different styles, too. In an earlier discussion
on duets I learned that there is at least one person playing McCann using a
3-finger style and at least one using 4 fingers. It would be interesting to
know also what sorts of music each plays, and in what keys.
Others on this thread have given opinions of the relative rationality and
playability (not necessarily the same thing) of the McCann, Crane (=Triumph)
and Hayden systems. You might also find it useful to look up past threads
on Deja News. (among other things, you can find some stuff from me there,
which I then won't have to repeat.) Restrict your search to this newsgroup
with a "Duet concertina" header, search words "duet" and "concertina", and
match all. I got 242 matches, including many copies of the concertina FAQ
and several things that I think shouldn't have been included, but if you
then only look at those with "Duet concertina" in the header you should
avoid most of the irrelevant stuff.
Happy hunting, /Jim Lucas
P.S. I don't know where you're located, but if you want to buy a duet,
check with the English dealers. Duets seem to be relatively rarer in
America than anglos or English. Chris Algar, in particular, had some nice
larger (but not huge) examples of both McCann- and Crane-system instruments
at Witney. Still, don't neglect to check with the American dealers, too.
Chris Timson
> Still, don't neglect to check with the American dealers, too.
Especially Button Box, who have a thing about duets.
From the FAQ:-
Salvation Army Tutor for This is a new reprint,
Triumph (Crane) Duet Concertina cost UKP10 + UKP1.50 for
T & J Pearson P&P in the UK. Although
7 Ravens Mount specifically for the Crane
Pudsey system the exercises and
West Yorkshire LS28 9HT arrangements are suitable
England for any duet concertina.
Chris
--
Chris Timson Have concertinas, will travel
and For our home pages and for the Concertina FAQ:
Anne Gregson http://www.harbour.demon.co.uk/
Jim Lucas
>Tom Evans wrote in message <1999101820083...@hotmail.com>...
>>
>>Does anyone know of any instructional books for either the McCann or Crane
>>systems? It's either that or work of a quote someone told me of that goes
>>someting like "find out where the buttons are and press them at the right
>>time".
>
>I have copies of the Wheatstone tutor for the (McCann) duet and the
>Salvation Army tutors for the Crane, English, and (if I remember, not
having
>looked recently) the McCann. The Sally Army tutors may still be in print
(I
>got mine 15-20 years ago). The trouble with them all is that they're from
a
>different era. (I also have David Cornell's book of arrangements for the
>McCann, but that's for advanced players.)
>
>As I recall, they teach where the notes are, maybe how to play the scales,
>give some exercises, then advance impossibly quickly to playing hymns or
>classical pieces in multi-part harmony, with no fingering suggestions where
>they're needed most. Dance tunes and popular pieces (even from the time of
>original publication) get short shrift.
As far as I could check last night, here's my judgement. The Wheatstone
tutor for the McCann works up to some simple chords and arpeggios in the
left hand, but nothing very exciting. I couldn't locate my Sally Army tutor
for the Triumph (Crane), but I did find the one for the English. It goes
less for rhythmic chord work against the melody and more for harmonies and
moving chords. As I recall, the Triumph tutor had a similar orientation.
The arrangements get fairly complex fairly quickly, they're all hymns and
religious pieces, and the last piece in the book is an arrangement of the
Hallelujah Chorus for three concertinas (two treble and one baritone), but
there are no fingering suggestions beyond the first few pages.
>Those tutors may be better than nothing, but I have another suggestion:
>Get a fingering chart off the web to learn where the notes are, practice a
>few scales, then get Bert Levy's "The Anglo Concertina Demystified" and
work
>on his exercises. Just ignore all the stuff about push-pull and which
>fingers to use, but concentrate on which notes to play in each hand.
(Where
>a line of music shifting hands is forced by the note placement on the anglo
>but not necessary on the duet, you can try it both ways. Not shifting is
>certainly simpler and more sensible, however the technique of shifting is
>sometimes necessary on the duet, too, so it's worth learning, even though
>the specific examples from the anglo won't necessarily be sensible on the
>duet.)
>
>I have to admit that this idea is one that just occurred to me, so it's
>untried. But now I'm planning to try it tonight. I'll hope I can report
>soon on whether I felt it worked.
Well, I tried it last night. It takes a bit of imagination, but I think it
works. Try Bert Levy's book in addition to the Salvation Army tutor, since
the playing styles they emphasize are quite different. If you're working
with a McCann or Hayden, you can use the same approach with the Triumph
tutor as with Bert's book. That approach is:
1) Ignore the fingering suggestions and bellows-direction markings.
2) If you already understand chords, consider using different
"inversions" (different sets of notes -- and their octaves -- from the
chords) if the fingering for the notes suggested is uncomfortable.
3) Try playing the notes of either hand in a different octave. See how
it feels and see how you feel about the sound.
4) Playing scales usually works with standard finger positions, but for
legato playing of many tunes you'll have to depart from always using the
same finger on any given button. Get used to shifting your fingers
side-to-side and even crossing them over and under at times; it's useful.
5) And of course, experiment.
Regarding which instrument to choose, the type of music and style of
chording or harmony you want to use could be important. As I mentioned in a
previous post, during my attempts at the McCann I found the fingering
sequences for barbershop harmonies to more comfortable than those for simple
hymns. I personally find the Crane comfortable for playing in most diatonic
(do-re-me-...) scales. But I have a lovely Crane where someone butchered
the reed pan (using chisel and glue) to rearrange the accidental notes in
what appears to be an attempt to make chromatic runs easier. (Does this
constitute yet another duet "system"?)
It's a shame there aren't more recordings of duet players available, so that
you could hear what others do. There are certainly potential styles that
aren't covered in any of the books I've seen, so far.
Whatever you choose, best of luck to you.
/Jim Lucas
Barry Callaghan
writes
>
>It's a shame there aren't more recordings of duet players available, so that
>you could hear what others do. There are certainly potential styles that
>aren't covered in any of the books I've seen, so far.
>
>Whatever you choose, best of luck to you.
>
> /Jim Lucas
(McCann) player Reuben Shaw in 1987 - he plays a wide selection of
music, and talks about great players past and present, and plays
recordings, from phonograph to cassette, back to Alexander Prince and
Percy Honri. Unfortunately, due to pressures of work and a backlog of
other projects, I haven't finished postproduction and put it into
distribution yet; but I am hoping to do so this winter. If anybody is
interested in hearing more about it, please contact me off-list, and
I'll arrange to keep you informed.
Incidentally, Rob Gaskins, who has already been in touch re this, if you
read this, would you contact me again, please - I've lost all my e-mail
addresses, including yours!
Barry
(Garland Films)
--
Barry Callaghan
Wendy Morrison
wrote:
> P.S. I don't know where you're located, but if you want to buy a duet,
> check with the English dealers. Duets seem to be relatively rarer in
> America than anglos or English. Chris Algar, in particular, had some nice
> larger (but not huge) examples of both McCann- and Crane-system instruments
> at Witney. Still, don't neglect to check with the American dealers, too.
HMT has a McCann duet for sale which I have not had any serious nibbles on,
even after putting it up at Ebay. I am willing to go way lower on the price
if anyone is interested. Somebody please buy this before I learn to play
it. See http://www.hmtrad.com/instr/winds/sbx-ubb.hmtl and follow link to
concertinas.
Wendy Morrison
http://www.hmtrad.com/books/guide.html
Chris Timson
>It's a shame there aren't more recordings of duet players available, so that
>you could hear what others do. There are certainly potential styles that
>aren't covered in any of the books I've seen, so far.
Anything by Tim Laycock, who plays the Crane duet splendidly (as well as
being a good singer with some fine songs).
Chris Timson
>HMT has a McCann duet for sale which I have not had any serious nibbles on,
>even after putting it up at Ebay. I am willing to go way lower on the price
>if anyone is interested. Somebody please buy this before I learn to play
>it.
Welcome back! I really hope we hear from you more often.
Cheers,
Eric Root
>It's a shame there aren't more recordings of duet players available, so
that you could hear what others do. There are certainly potential styles
that aren't covered in any of the books I've seen, so far.
Well, if there's a benevolent God, right after He makes me win the
lottery and gets Cindy Crawford (or Maria Kalaniemi!) to return my calls
<6^) , He'll get Dave Cornell to do a CD (especially if he includes
some of his excellent originals!) He does bluesy and ragtimey suff and
some of his stuff even laps into filk, for them that knows what that is.
-Eric Root
"No need to use that concertina, son; no one here will hurt you..."
DavBarnert
>It's a shame there aren't more recordings of duet players
>available, so that you could hear what others do.
Ian Robb also does some Duet playing on his albums.
______ /\/\/\/\
<______> | | | | | David Barnert
<______> | | | | | <davba...@aol.com>
<______> | | | | | Albany, N.Y.
<______> \/\/\/\/
Ventilator Concertina
Bellows Bellows
(Vocation) (Avocation)
Wendy Morrison
<ch...@harbour.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> Wendy Morrison <hmt...@hmtrad.com> writes
> >HMT has a McCann duet for sale which I have not had any serious nibbles on,
> >even after putting it up at Ebay. I am willing to go way lower on the price
> >if anyone is interested. Somebody please buy this before I learn to play
> >it.
>
> Welcome back! I really hope we hear from you more often.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Chris
Thanks - I will visit as often as I am able, but I am only working 3 days a
week at HMT now so I have limited time to browse the group. It's good to
see so many old friends are still here.
Wendy
http://www.hmtrad.com/wendy/wendy.html
Joseph Kesselman, yclept Keshlam
> Thanks - I will visit as often as I am able, but I am only working 3 days a
> week at HMT now
Semi-retired, performing more often, family, or other activities?
(And another "welcome back"...)
--
------------------------------------------------------
Joe Kesselman, http://www.lovesong.com/people/keshlam/
November 13th at the Walkabout Clearwater Coffeehouse:
Christopher Shaw and Bridget Ball
http://www.lovesong.com/walkabout/
Wendy Morrison
> Wendy Morrison wrote:
> > Thanks - I will visit as often as I am able, but I am only working 3 days a
> > week at HMT now
>
> Semi-retired, performing more often, family, or other activities?
>
> (And another "welcome back"...)
Hi Joe. Performing more often. Got 2 Klezmer bands now - Klezmos and
Klezcentricity. Playing accordion with both, plus I've been working on the
production of a musical about the life of the Baal Shem Tov, which was
written by my friend Art Levine. We're doing a mini-performance tonight as
a matter of fact, during services at Temple Emanuel in Kensington MD, so I
can't linger here long. Dress rehearsal is at 6.
Cheers.
Wendy