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[Jesse Smith]

So I serendipitously discovered that the Button Box in Massachusetts is conducting a holiday sale for free shipping on orders over $100 and more importantly 20% off all books and media. So I placed a big order (early Christmas present to myself?) and acquired a whole bunch of stuff:

John Kirkpatrick's "How to Play the English Melodeon" DVD: Holy moly, this is good! I've watched the first of the three programs and this is the only instructional material I have that covers all those ornaments and right-hand thirds/sixths/octaves that really liven up his playing. It's so great to see this stuff clearly demonstrated and described. This is exactly the kind of stuff I hope to (eventually) be able to play; I love that fat sound from grabbing a handful of buttons on the right. It's really amazing how JK can take a dead simple tune like Shepherd's Hey or Bobby Shafto and make something totally new. (Although I kind of died a bit inside when he says "If I played it like this [playing it exactly the only way I can play it right now] it would be totally dull and insipid!")

John Spiers' "Traditional Melodeon" DVD: Have not watched this yet, but am very much looking forward to it as well. I always enjoy Squeezy's advice here (and it is really great that he still participates on this forum).

Mally's Cotswold Morris Vol 2 book and CD: I already had the first volume, and figured I'd complete the set. This one has quite a few tunes I like and I'm glad to have the notation for them.

Banquet of Boxes CD: A recent compilation of melodeon artists, this is REALLY good. The tracks are recorded very clearly and "up front" and it's easy to distinguish the bass and treble sides, which I've had a problem with on other recordings at times. One thing I really like about the liner notes is they say what type of box each tune was played on. John Kirkpatrick finishes the CD off with a rollicking medley of "Railway / Steamboat Quickstep", which I think has become my white whale for now. Maybe in five years I'll be able to fumble my way through it?

Anyway, if you are in the States and need some melodeon-oriented DVDs or CDs or books, now is a good time to go to the Button Box and take advice of their sale. (I don't have any connection to them except as a very happy customer, so I hope the "plug" is OK?)

[Thrupenny Bit]

Hi Jesse,
looks like you've had a good mine-sweep and made some excellent discoveries!
Banquet of Boxes is a firm favourite of mine and others hereabouts.

I'm not sure of what you can /cannot get across the pond but keep an eye open for Nick Barber's tune books.
He has two:-
'Nick Barber's English Choice' and 'Nick Barber's English Selection' and both have optional cd's to go along with the tunes.
They are a complete goldmine for common tunes used in sessions over here and one of my 'first to go to' sources if on the hunt for a tune I've heard.
With the ability to hear them played well on the cd, they have been a great learning tool for me.
cheers
Q

[Jesse Smith]

I'll look for the Nick Barber books. Kirkpatrick also has one in that series. I know Mally's shop has them and I've ordered from him before and the overseas shipping was surprisingly reasonable. So I might just do that again.

[Thrupenny Bit]

I also have JK's English Choice book and the 2 accompanying cd's.
There are some excellent tunes in it, along with JK's playing which is second to none. The tunes are less common than the ones in Nicks' books but another great combination of tune book and cd to allow you to hear how they should be played.
cheers
Q

[Rob Lands]

As well as the melodeon books (I have most mentioned) I also acquire violin tune books and pipe tune books - I can't play in E major but A is often possible.  A more recent source of some nice tunes for me "The new national and folk song book" Desmond MacMahon 1938. I found vol 1 in a charity shop and had to get vol 2 after I saw it in the Halsway Manor library.  Collecting music books is cheaper than collecting melodeons; unfortunately I do both.

[Thrupenny Bit]

Hmmm another collector.
Yes me too 
Q

[Chris Rayner]

Beavis & Butthead?

[Anahata]

You can also get Nick Barber's CDs and books from his own web site (and related pages... ideas for Xmas cards, perhaps)

[Pete Dunk]

You can also get Nick Barber's CDs and books from his own web site (and related pages... ideas for Xmas cards, perhaps)

Never mind that, whatever happened to 'Anahata's Favourites', a mix of great tunes from a variety of traditions and a few modern compositions thrown in for good measure? You know you want to, you know you have the repertoire, just get on and do it!  Winters are long and bleak in North Yorkshire tha' knaws!

[Jesse Smith]

I also have JK's English Choice book and the 2 accompanying cd's.
There are some excellent tunes in it, along with JK's playing which is second to none. The tunes are less common than the ones in Nicks' books but another great combination of tune book and cd to allow you to hear how they should be played.
cheers
Q

Hey, I just acquired the John Kirkpatrick's English Choice book and CDs from Mally. The book is really great, and I enjoy JK's witty introduction with his general advice on playing this style of music. I listened to the first CD tonight. Some of the tunes seem hypothetically achievable for me (as in, I can generally imagine what I would have to do in order to play them), but then he got to that Rapper set of very fast double jigs and my ears practically fell out of my skull in disbelief. And the triple hornpipe (John of the Greeny) is kind of mindbending, too. Very hard to keep time and follow along.

Really enjoying the melodeon these days (after two and a half months). I know the keys well enough to basically sight-read from Mally's beginner book, and I can keep a basic oom pah bass going without too much conscious thought now. And I'm getting to the point where I can listen to much more complex music and visualize the general idea of what playing it would entail, whereas a month ago I would have had no idea where to start.

[Thrupenny Bit]

Hi Jesse,
I'm pleased to hear you're getting along the road and enjoying it all, that's the most important thing!
JK's English Choice and accompanying cd's are fantastic, and a firm favourite of mine. Some of those tunes still drop my jaw, you are not alone. Equally some are nice and plain and simple.
There is a huge variation which means you have a lifetime of tunes working through when you find your technique improves. I'm revisiting some that a couple of years back were at the limit of what I could do and they dropped away a bit. Now they are much more in my grasp so I must be improving ( I hope  )
Glad to hear you're enjoying the journey 
Q