Concertina Week 1

Day 337: I've had the concertina less than a week, and although I have a long way to go to become proficient, I think there's hope! I began by learning this piece ("Blue-eyed Stranger," a traditional Morris dance tune) as just single notes, then added a simple baseline which gives it a bit more substance but only requires three buttons on the left side (mostly just one). The bellows are still quite stiff, so my playing is a bit breathy, but that too will improve with practice. The reeds also need a break-in period, particularly those in the upper register. Upload times do not permit me to post the whole piece even if I could play it reliably for the duration of a video, but you will get the idea from this excerpt. For the time being, I'm treating the instrument as a 10-button model except for the occasional F-sharp in the bass, but it has 20 buttons and plays in the keys of C and G. A 30-button concertina was beyond the range of the budget for an instrument I wasn't sure I'd be able to play, but maybe some day, I'll feel I can step up.

Morris Kit

Day 333: The trappings of Morris dance are unusual, to say the least. Dancers wear costumes which reflect specific regions, but nearly all include a hat lavishly decorated with flowers or ribbons and the traditional bell-pads which give the dance its character. The latter are worn on the shins and sound the rhythm loudly during the vigorous dance. Musical instruments used in Morris may include accordion, concertina, recorder, penny whistle and fiddle among others. By knowing how to play an instrument, dancers can trade places with musicians when they get tired.

Years ago, I inherited my mother's concertina. At the time, I didn't feel I could devote myself to learning another instrument, so I passed it along to a friend whose husband took to it readily. Now that I'm becoming involved in Morris, I decided to give it another whirl and bought one as my September Morn present-to-self. It arrived just a couple of days ago, and already I am playing simple one-note tunes and the occasional chord (sometimes accidentally). The bellows are still quite stiff at this point, but a break-in period was to be expected for a new instrument. However, there's one problem I can't resolve: you just can't dance and play at the same time!