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Author Topic: Self taught??  (Read 7847 times)

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Jude

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Self taught??
« on: January 27, 2014, 10:34:35 PM »

I asked this on my last post but
Are any of you out there self taught? That is, have any of you just learned by trial and error? No tutor book, no instructor,just picked it up by ear?
I'm really curious...
Thanks so much everyone who is answering my questions
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Liz

rees

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Re: Self taught??
« Reply #1 on: January 27, 2014, 10:49:33 PM »

I learned that way forty years ago. Living in West Wales isolated from other box players. I had two melodeon records:
No Reels by The Old Swan Band and another by Reg Hall and The Rakes.
I knew them both backwards  (:)

It's also how I teach.
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Matthew B

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Re: Self taught??
« Reply #2 on: January 27, 2014, 10:56:53 PM »

My guess is that pretty much everyone here is self-taught to some extent.  With one or two notable exceptions there haven't been decent formal teaching materials available for the melodeon until quite recently.  And for a long time I think teachers were pretty thin on the ground as well.  There do seem to be a few more resources out there now, but this is a recent development.
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Nick Collis Bird

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Re: Self taught??
« Reply #3 on: January 27, 2014, 11:13:56 PM »

Agree with all the above. When I started circa 1971 it really was a case of suck it and see.
During a lull at a weekend festival , you know when it's lunch time or nobody booked to appear for a while, I picked up a Pokerwork. A present to his wife from a chap called John Cannell. Sat on the grass played and realised just like the Mouthorgan that I could get a scale out of it.
There were no tutorials or tutors in those days, it was a case of getting a tune into your head and transferring it to the box, while of course listening to others play. My mentors Paul Havell and Graham Matthews, weren't teachers but great inspiration for style and rhythm.
So my advice is keep squeezing and most importantly listen.
I said in a previous post. " the melodeon is easy to play, but difficult to master" hence some of those famous bods out there. :D
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The Blues Viking

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Re: Self taught??
« Reply #4 on: January 28, 2014, 02:52:53 AM »

Cross-posted from "I'm SO confused" thread:

Thanks again, you guys...
This give me a start.
Hey I have a question(just curious)
Are there many of you who have learned the box by trial and error? That is to say...without a tutor or video? I mean, just learning by listening by ear? I am just curious  ;)

I learned (what little I know) without the benefit of a teacher, and without a tutorial.

I should mention, however, that there was a local Conjunto player who taught me a couple of things one evening, but trying to emulate his technique of twisting his thumb into the thumb strap did me more harm than good.

I should also mention that I bought a video B/C tutorial when I bought my Double Ray, but the video quality was abysmal and i couldn't hear a word of the explanations, so I quickly gave up on it.

Advice: Scales, scales, scales.

TBV

Addendum: Work on basses from the word "go" as they're difficult to pick up later. Work on your scales with bass/chord accompaniment. Also work on scales with right hand harmony. Also work on simple tunes that you already know well, like Christmas carols and hymns. I didn't work on basses/harmony for years, and I may never get a proper handle on them.
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Graham Spencer

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Re: Self taught??
« Reply #5 on: January 28, 2014, 05:09:22 AM »

Another "pick it up and find out what it does" learner here. I've never seen the inside of a tutor book and certainly never had a "lesson". I acquired my first melodeon - an Erica -at a very wet and to be honest not particularly good festival and spent the next 30-odd years discovering what the melodoen can (and can't!) do.

Graham
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syale

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Re: Self taught??
« Reply #6 on: January 28, 2014, 05:19:58 AM »

Brit living in TX, there was not much chance of me finding a tutor for English tunes on a melodeon. Being a member of melnet has been my saviour. Access to such a wonderful learning resource with great advice and such a depth of knowledge in a wonderful atmosphere has helped me immensely. I am completely self taught. I may be further on had I found an instructor but I have enjoyed my journey so far. I didn't read music when I started but am trying to learn now. In 18 months I can play around 30/40 tunes reasonably well although my bass technique needs a lot more practice!

I go to Houston Accordion Association and the other players there play everything except the music I want to play! Every style is here, Cajun, french piano accordion , German, lots of polkas, Norteno, Conjunto and the list goes on. They are the most encouraging and warm group I have ever met, I could go up and play like it was the first time I picked up a box and they applaud as though I am a maestro.

I have to publicly thank Lester whose tenacious tune-a-day marathon carried me along and I am so grateful for that.

Stephen
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Sage Herb

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Re: Self taught??
« Reply #7 on: January 28, 2014, 08:01:17 AM »

Like so many of those who have posted, I'm completely self-taught (on several instruments). But for me it was important to be in social contact with people playing the sort of music that I wanted to play. Having people to play with helped to motivate me and also showed me what the stuff should sound like.
Good luck
Steve
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pikey

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Re: Self taught??
« Reply #8 on: January 28, 2014, 08:22:46 AM »

I'm 100 per cent self taught, but had the advantage of having another melodeon player playing tunes every Friday evening. I bought the Bob Cann LP and tried playing along to it for an hour every day when I got home from school !!

I also spent hours learning to play scales, and the low d,e,f#,g run from the D row to the G row, and the same run but higher up on the G row.

That said, I did get the occasional tip from other players, eg use the air button during a tune, not just at the end.
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Still squeezing after all these years.
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pikey

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Re: Self taught??
« Reply #9 on: January 28, 2014, 08:25:43 AM »

I learned that way forty years ago. Living in West Wales isolated from other box players. I had two melodeon records:
No Reels by The Old Swan Band and another by Reg Hall and The Rakes.
I knew them both backwards  (:)

It's also how I teach.

Challenge Rees- play Dan Lenos Boat backwards  ;)
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Still squeezing after all these years.
Mostly on hohners , with a couple of Dinos and a smattering of anglos - and now a Jeffries duet

gmatkin

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Re: Self taught??
« Reply #10 on: January 28, 2014, 08:39:11 AM »

We're all self-taught in a way. No teacher can learn for you - all they can do is either instruct or suggest things for a learning player to work on. Most of the time, it's really only a matter of suggesting and persuading. It's great when it works, but it's really the learning player that makes the real effort, and they do it for themselves.

Gavin

Chris Ryall

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Re: Self taught??
« Reply #11 on: January 28, 2014, 08:43:14 AM »

I learned that way forty years ago. Living in West Wales isolated from other box players. I had two melodeon records:
No Reels by The Old Swan Band and another by Reg Hall and The Rakes.  I knew them both backwards  (:)

It's also how I teach.

Another one here (28 years in my case).   I took tunes from the Flowers & Frolics albums. BTW France's Norbert Pignol is another, perhaps more famous autodidacte, though that may refer to his jazz skills: 70/80's Grenoble was clearly a pretty supportive community to young folkies.

Draw the line at teaching people self teaching though ::) especially were I to charge anything ;)

Challenge Rees- play Dan Lenos Boat backwards  ;)

Not Rees's day, is it?
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Anahata

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Re: Self taught??
« Reply #12 on: January 28, 2014, 08:50:29 AM »

I'm self taught on melodeon and Anglo concertina, other than by watching and listening to other players and the odd random discussions with various people, but prior to that I had a quite thorough musical education on other instruments and even a few harmony and composition classes at school.

Self-taught when you've never played any instrument before is something I'd expect to be rather harder work.
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John MacKenzie (Cugiok)

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Re: Self taught??
« Reply #13 on: January 28, 2014, 09:59:14 AM »

Another auto didact here. I admit to watching a couple of Daddy Long Les videos on You Tube, Apart from that, and a visit to George Garside's beginner class at Whitby last year, it's all my own work (sadly)

John.
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Howard Jones

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Re: Self taught??
« Reply #14 on: January 28, 2014, 10:40:25 AM »

Another one here.  No teaching materials, and no other melodeon players in my immediate vicinity.  I had a flying start as I already played anglo concertina (but self-taught on that as well). I listened to records (especially "Fieldvole Music") and whenever John Kirkpatrick was performing nearby I'd sit at the front and watch him closely.  Apart from the occasional festival workshop, that was about it.  But I've never stopped learning, and I'm always trying to pick up ideas from other players.

rees

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Re: Self taught??
« Reply #15 on: January 28, 2014, 12:09:10 PM »



Challenge Rees- play Dan Lenos Boat backwards  ;)

I'm sure I've done that when I'm really, really, really drunk  :|glug
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OrchardAshley90

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Re: Self taught??
« Reply #16 on: January 28, 2014, 12:38:43 PM »

first post since being a member!
Yeah self taught is the way to go! There is always someone around to give you tips and pointers but I find learning by ear, you get a more natural feel for the music
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jackson10

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Re: Self taught??
« Reply #17 on: January 28, 2014, 12:44:02 PM »

Yes, self taught because I was never able to do well with lessons. Videos, sound files and postings here have helped me most.
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Owen Woods

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Re: Self taught??
« Reply #18 on: January 28, 2014, 12:45:33 PM »

I have been to around 8 melodeon workshops over the past 12 years. Other than that I am entirely self-taught.

BUT I did have formal lessons in piano and clarinet before taking up the box. That is worth noting - I wasn't starting from scratch.
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Rob2Hook

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Re: Self taught??
« Reply #19 on: January 28, 2014, 12:56:09 PM »

Like most. I would say I am self taught - although I was really very lucky.  Having had music lessons at school and some piano tuition has helped, but the best was that I was joining a morris band with two established players with distinctly different styles.  One played more cross-row, smooth style and the other more on the row (though strangely this was the one who was happy to use the accidentals).  When I played, they would watch me and suggest alternative fingerings, particularly to accomodate the required bass.  later I learned more again from playing in another morris side with DTN.

Rob.
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