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[DaveCottrell]

This was mentioned somewhere (maybe on another forum) and I was curious as to the possibilities.

I play BC and am fluent enough to play for dances (Irish and contras), but still don't like certain things, like the key of A major and the inability to play a D and F# at the same time.

Here's how I see the F#/G :

Transposition of scales -- some home IT keys are simplified
BC fingering      Pitch
key of C              G
          D              A
          G              D
          F               C
          Bb             F

This looks very attractive to me as, for example, I like the way the BC fingerings lie for the key of G and that transposes to D on the F#G.  Also, concert pitch A is fingered like D on the BC so that is a snap.  However, concert pitch F (and the lovely Gminor  as in many Dorian Clare tunes) is played like Bb, which is a downgrade in my opinion.

I am wondering about the range.  I assume it is a BC box shifted down a fifth, and that the upper range of many tunes might be lost.  One big advantage of the BC is that its fingerboard covers pretty much 1st position on the violin, where 99% of trad music is played.

Every once in a while I like to play down an octave from the violins and whistles when they are up in their squeaky range.  This would make that easier, but it is best done occasionally rather than all the time.

Does anyone have experience with this setup? 

PS Don't tell me to try C#D.  I have one and do like it but it has the same number of problems as the BC, just moved sideways one step.

Dave

[deltasalmon]

I haven't heard of F#/G. There was mention of a G/G# outside-in melodeon here: http://forum.melodeon.net/index.php?topic=407.0


I imagine the cons you mention are one of the bigger reasons its not more popular. The B/C (and C#/D) match the other trad instruments ranges pretty well.

[DaveCottrell]

Interesting read.

I assume G/G# would be the C/C# "version" of F#/G.

I have not tried the outside-row-in type of playing.  I think some of the fingerings, especially in quick runs, might be a little awkward.

[Stiamh]

Jackie Daly has an F#/G which he calls his "accordola" because it's a fifth lower than a C#/D, just as a viola is a fifth lower than a fiddle. Some of the tracks on his 1990s solo release feature it (Many's a Wild Night). I don't think he transposes everything though, but plays it the way most fiddle players would play a viola, enjoying the lower pitch.

One of the incidental advantages, Jackie says, is that you can have a piccolo reed set with less danger of the reeds at the higher end causing problems or breaking, which is what caused him to abandon MMH setups on C#/D boxes. 

[deltasalmon]

Jackie Daly has an F#/G which he calls his "accordola" because it's a fifth lower than a C#/D, just as a viola is a fifth lower than a fiddle.

So that's why they call it a mandola... I learn something new every day.

[Rob2Hook]

Yes, the mandoline family originally had the same number and range of instruments as the violin family - although the lower ones are rarely seen nowadays.

Rob.

[Stiamh]

I assume G/G# would be the C/C# "version" of F#/G.

I imagine most Irish box players today would think of G/G# as a "Bb" box for B/C players (two tones below their "D" box, i.e. B/C).