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Discussions => Teaching and Learning => Topic started by: arty on May 17, 2015, 01:10:12 PM

Title: Celebrating 3 years since I started playing!
Post by: arty on May 17, 2015, 01:10:12 PM
Buying and starting to teach myself, (I know, I have a poor teacher!), the melodeon has really added so much to my life. Three years ago, May 2012,  I started by learning Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and it really is a lovely journey to be on. It has taken that 3 years though, to realise that it was French music that I wanted to concentrate on and last month I got a G/C instrument with that in mind. Also, I got the Milleret and Pignol books to study, from which, I must say I am learning a tremendous amount!

One thing in particular that I am enjoying, is playing the whole keyboard - there is no dusty end! Changing from a D/G to a G/C is not as hard as I thought it was going to be and neither is using 4 fingers on the bass side, (an M&P suggestion).

I have recorded 'La Mal Aimable' by Jean-Christophe Lequerre before, on my D/G but here, I have done it again on the G/C and suddenly, it sounds so much more French. Listening to myself, (a very important part of self teaching), I realise that I have to practice those triplets A LOT more and probably slowly, to get them crisp and clean. Other than that, I'm pleased.

After 3 years:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF3NdtYFvgU

I want to thank so many people on this fantastic site! Without melodeon.net, the process of learning would be taking an awful lot longer. I'm not going to mention names, for fear of leaving someone out but it has to be said that EVERY SINGLE DAY I COME ON MELODEON.NET AND I LEARN SOMETHING!!!!

So, THANK YOU EVERYBODY!
Title: Re: Celebrating 3 years since I started playing!
Post by: Mike Carney on May 17, 2015, 01:18:14 PM
Really nice playing. And it sounds French! Thanks too for your posts over that time.
M
Title: Re: Celebrating 3 years since I started playing!
Post by: John MacKenzie (Cugiok) on May 17, 2015, 01:55:43 PM
Those three years weren't wasted, by any means. Well played.

John
Title: Re: Celebrating 3 years since I started playing!
Post by: Bob Ellis on May 17, 2015, 03:08:07 PM
Bravo, Arty ! Très beau, très atmosphérique et très FRANÇAIS !
Title: Re: Celebrating 3 years since I started playing!
Post by: voyager on May 17, 2015, 06:32:33 PM
Well done

I'm only  now five months on my quest from English Concertina to a DG Box,
I hope also to learn French "Style Tunes" and your playing has given me a lot of encouragement.

Hopefully I will have the courage to post on melnet.

Best Wishes

Dave J
Title: Re: Celebrating 3 years since I started playing!
Post by: butimba on May 17, 2015, 06:46:43 PM
Happy 3 year box-playing anniversary  (:)
Title: Re: Celebrating 3 years since I started playing!
Post by: arty on May 18, 2015, 08:21:57 AM
Thank you everyone for your nice comments. Nice comments = encouragement and we all need that to keep going.
It's like a big squeezy family on here innit?  ;D
Title: Re: Celebrating 3 years since I started playing!
Post by: Boxhead on May 18, 2015, 12:05:03 PM
Excellent stuff! nice musical playing. Love La Mal Aimable, a very evocative tune. I sometimes play it on bc though obviously I can't get all the basses and chords, Valse de Cheveaux de Bois is also a nice tune along the same lines.

I just wrote a post describing my own experience of the 3 year mark, but when I checked back through my posts on this site I discovered I have actually been at it for about 4 years now, so I removed it. Time flies when you're having fun!

Anyway onwards and upwards and here's to the next 3 years  :||:  :|glug

Title: Re: Celebrating 3 years since I started playing!
Post by: up-fiddler on May 18, 2015, 12:18:10 PM
Beautifully done. Arty. You have inspired me to spend the morning in 3/4 time. Thanks for that. Dave
Title: Re: Celebrating 3 years since I started playing!
Post by: Harp2 on May 19, 2015, 05:24:33 AM
Thanks for the inspiration Arty! I am going to go play now.
Title: Re: Celebrating 3 years since I started playing!
Post by: Tufty on May 19, 2015, 02:03:54 PM
Stunning playing for 3 years. (Or indeed a lot longer!) I would love to be able to do the 4 finger bass thing but decades of one row playing has made that a bridge too far for me. Nice tune too, must learn it, hard work I predict  :Ph
Title: Re: Celebrating 3 years since I started playing!
Post by: nigelr on May 27, 2015, 02:50:02 PM
Just been catching up on my mel.net listening and this is stunning! It is evident that you have found a box, style and repertoire that you love.  Keep it up!
Title: Re: Celebrating 3 years since I started playing!
Post by: arty on May 27, 2015, 03:38:45 PM
Thank you Nigel.
Yes, that is one thing that I have learned. The Castagnari Laura which I got at the beginning of April feels absolutely right in my hands, it is as if it was made to measure. Even playing the basses with four fingers seems easy, because the buttons are in exactly the right place for the size of my hands. So, what I realise now, is the importance of finding an instrument which fits you, physically. If it does, everything seems to fall in to place instead of being a struggle. I suspect that I will have the Laura for a very long time.
It is the same with the music really. Finding the right repertoire is very important. I live in Jersey, which is only fourteen miles from France and the cultural influences on the Island are very much French. Although I spent the last three years trying to learn English music, I did find it hard because I wasn't at all familiar with it, whereas I can remember as a child, singing French songs and hearing French music constantly.
I really feel that everything is falling in to place for me, at last.
Thank you and everyone else for your nice comments and encouragement. It really helps a lot.
Title: Re: Celebrating 3 years since I started playing!
Post by: Chris Ryall on May 27, 2015, 09:10:01 PM
do you get to mainland Brittany at all?  Great accordion scene there and my friends talk of Jersey being "very close". Can offer some phone numbers for Fest Noz's etc … mind you, they play in Bb/Eb, or C/F!
Title: Re: Celebrating 3 years since I started playing!
Post by: arty on May 27, 2015, 09:27:13 PM
I used to live there Chris, close to Rennes, but I didn't play then. Now I go 2 or 3 times a year to see old friends but that's all. I have been looking, now that I have a G/C and thinking that some lessons with Florence Pinvidic might be good.
Yes, Jersey is very close to St. Malo - 1hr 10mins on the ferry, that's all. Thanks for the offer of contacts but I have a lot to learn before I can contemplate that!
Title: Re: Celebrating 3 years since I started playing!
Post by: Gary P Chapin on May 27, 2015, 09:32:19 PM
Florence Pendivic! Now I am envious. I love following the stories of squeezers and I congratulate you on three years! Great waltz and a lovely box.
Title: Re: Celebrating 3 years since I started playing!
Post by: Grape Ape on May 27, 2015, 10:02:27 PM
Been meaning to comment as I too focus on French repertoire and I too have been playing just over three years.  I really have to commend you on your progress, and you have clearly advanced more than myself in that time as evidenced by your triplets, fluidity, and tempo. Bravo! And keep it up!
Title: Re: Celebrating 3 years since I started playing!
Post by: arty on May 27, 2015, 10:46:31 PM
Florence Pendivic! Now I am envious. I love following the stories of squeezers and I congratulate you on three years! Great waltz and a lovely box.
[/quote

Ahhh, Gary - nice to see you on here. You have been missed! Your blog, L'Accordeonaire, has been so helpful to me and a great influence on my decision to move towards a French repertoire. Big thank you!!!

Been meaning to comment as I too focus on French repertoire and I too have been playing just over three years.  I really have to commend you on your progress, and you have clearly advanced more than myself in that time as evidenced by your triplets, fluidity, and tempo. Bravo! And keep it up!

Thank you very much! I am very pleasantly surprised by the number of people on this site who enjoy playing French music. Maybe we should ask Theo if we could have a special French section!!!
Re: progress, I think it just comes down to the number of hours one puts in. I live on my own and as a result, I am able to practice between 1 and 2 hours every evening and 3, maybe even 4 hours on a Sunday. It may sound like a lot but I really, really love it. Maybe I should get a life!!!
Title: Re: Celebrating 3 years since I started playing!
Post by: brazilian.BOX on May 28, 2015, 04:06:20 AM
Niiiice man! Congratulations!
Nice effect in the video. It made your wood melodeon has a green color!
Congratulation with the playing also... everything is perfect.  :D
Title: Re: Celebrating 3 years since I started playing!
Post by: Bobtheboat on May 28, 2015, 10:32:35 AM
Very accomplished, well done. Right..... Off to practice!!  :||: Bob.
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