My new toy, on loan from my old friend Pam who is relocating to south of the border. I've wanted to learn the concertina for ages and couldn't be more delighted. Unfortunately, it's sat in its black case for the past 6 weeks while things settled down enough chez-moi for me to attend to its confounding keys.
Tonight I sat on Pam's porch -- our hottest day so far this summer, 85 degrees -- and learned the key of C. Oh lovely notes!
Now it's practice practice practice. My goal is to be proficient enough by next summer to sit on my balcony and not irritate the hell out of any neighbors. I have in my possession my dad's O'Neill's Music of Ireland (sheet music) and can't wait to dig into its eighty-year-old pages....
My son's girlfriend (Kellogg) said recently that she'd like to buy an accordion. I asked why; and she replied that she'd learned to play when she was young, and she misses it. I had no idea!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful concertina--best of luck in the key of C & beyond!
ReplyDeleteAs a kid I always wanted to play the accordian...I thought it the most complete musical instrument I had ever heard...but then again, I loved the bagpipes too!
ReplyDeleteWell, I wish you every success. Starting in the key of C is a wise move.
ReplyDeleteI notice it has four rows of buttons - could it be that it plays in four keys?
Another question if I may?
Does it play the same note on 'push' as it does on 'pull'?
My concertina plays a different note on the 'pull' to the 'push', if you see what I mean.
Make it rather difficult for me to remember where I am. Especially with Irish jigs! :O
Cheers.....Bernard
what a fun and worthy goal, T.! It's a beautiful instrument -- can't say I've ever seen one up close and personal. Now I'm going to have to You Tube-it.
ReplyDeleteHope you have fun learning this new skill!
Good Luck.
ReplyDeleteIf you have O'Neill's, then you know what you're doing. Here's the maestro, Noel Hill, about 1.36 minutes in. Or, here.
Joe Cooley said it's the only music that brings people to their senses. He was right: Something ancient and archetypal is stirred within.
Cro, I hope Kellogg gets that accordian and fills the French countryside with music!
ReplyDeleteJohn, nice of you to stop by! I'm really looking forward to this new instrument.
ReplyDeleteJacqueline, one of my neighbors plays accordian, and there are few moments more sweet than walking by her house and hearing a few notes lilting on the breeze. You should invest in one!
ReplyDeleteBernard, lovely of you to stop by and leave a comment...it seems to me that you must have a German concertina, while my borrowed-concertina is of English descent. (There -- that's all I know about concertinas!) Apparently the difference is in the pushing/pulling same-note/different-note behavior. Mine is confusing enough without it changing notes on me every time I make it inhale or exhale! Phew! I fear that there is a rather large learning curve ahead of me....
ReplyDeleteTara, it's a lovely little instrument, and very portable.
ReplyDelete(Hope your head has begun to cooperate!)
xo
Tara, it's a lovely little instrument, and very portable.
ReplyDelete(Hope your head has begun to cooperate!)
xo
Penal Colony, although I am in possession of O'Neill's, I can't yet claim to know what I'm doing!
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with Joe Cooley. The artist for whom I work also happens to be an ethnomusicologist, and we've spent long afternoons painting glass and listening to music, trying to figure out just what it is about music that so enchants and moves us. The notion of the ancient and the archetypal "stirred within" is spot-on.
ReplyDeleteI've always been jealous of my good friend taking up the banjo AND the dulcimer in her middle age. She can play both now quite well -- good luck to you on the concertina!
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather had one just like it but I think we've lost it! He was a Corrigan who lived in the north of England. I used to love playing it (or trying to).
ReplyDelete