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Author Topic: melodeon lessons wanted north kent  (Read 10073 times)

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Andrew Culwell

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Re: melodeon lessons wanted north kent
« Reply #20 on: January 08, 2010, 06:37:59 PM »

So here I was thinking that in the UK you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a box player (southern Colloquialism) Maybe it's a box player who is willing to teach is rare.  I remember the first player I asked to teach me, his reply was "what and waste all my hard earned skill on a beginner!"  I think it's really hard to find someone who has the patience to sit for a half hour and actually teach.   
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Steve C.

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Re: melodeon lessons wanted north kent
« Reply #21 on: January 09, 2010, 01:06:23 AM »

Ken--another idea:  maybe you are setting your goals too high too fast. 

In some ways, that's what a lot of players have gained from the Mally book.  Don't try too hard, don't worry about not being the next John K or R Tesi (or even DTN!).  Just try to learn some scales on each row, learn Row Row Row your Boat, etc. 

I remember when I could actually play Egan's Polka and Cock of the North from Mally's book, with "um cha" basses, I thought "I am the ruler of the melodeon universe".  And it took MONTHS to get there.
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kenthorseman

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Re: melodeon lessons wanted north kent
« Reply #22 on: January 09, 2010, 08:10:35 PM »

i think my prob is i get a tune in my head mainly morris tunes (border) i may get a few of the notes then as soon as i make a mistake i cant get back to where i was to start with, i dont think im aiming too high but all i want is to pick the box up and play a tune or two, nothing hard, winster processional or such will be a good start, i cant even get that. ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh sambuca and beer chasers seem really good at the mo. cheers to all for the suggestions. :|glug :|glug :|glug :|glug :|glug :|glug :|glug :|glug :|glug :|glug ;D
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Rob2Hook

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Re: melodeon lessons wanted north kent
« Reply #23 on: January 10, 2010, 10:49:39 AM »

One of the great things about playing for border is that the rythm is so much more important than getting all the notes right.  Indeed it is a common belief in Hook Eagle's band that the tune should never sound the same twice over - improvisation and rythmic variation is the order of the day.  I'm the one without the brain to achieve this and they use my "boring" playing to bounce off!  The more you join in with the band, the more you can relax about the whole thing and it comes easy after a while.

Rob.
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Theo

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Re: melodeon lessons wanted north kent
« Reply #24 on: January 10, 2010, 11:37:57 AM »

all i want is to pick the box up and play a tune or two, nothing hard, winster processional or such will be a good start,

I think that is what many of us want, but it does entail a certain investment of time and energy to learn and internalise the patterns of finger/button/bellows movements. 

 I'm guessing here but maybe you are expecting to achieve things too quickly?   

Have you tried working on the same tune for 20 minutes a day for say a month?  I think that is a reasonable amount of time to have to spend in initially, though individuals vary, and some need more or less time.
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kenthorseman

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Re: melodeon lessons wanted north kent
« Reply #25 on: January 10, 2010, 12:22:34 PM »

i try to practicce daily but and its not an excuse , i do get dragged into other things such as the horse needs feeding etc, but i do honestly try to practice, but i get as already said lost in what im trying to play, i dont read dots so am using mallys book, but then i get lost in what the bloomin tune is , oh im a lost cause, back to the drums and booze
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Andrew Culwell

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Re: melodeon lessons wanted north kent
« Reply #26 on: January 10, 2010, 04:22:51 PM »

Even with a teacher it took me about two weeks of serious nightly .5 to 1 hour repetitious practice to get my first tune down.  It gets easier after that but I still work on a tune 1-2 weeks before I can play it somewhat well.  It's easy to get discouraged if you think that your going to have your first real tune aside from Mary Had a Little Lamb or Row Row Row.  Maybe I'm just slow but in 8 months I've memorized only 8 tunes and that has taken all my patience but I feel  it is worth it.  Do like Theo recommends and you will make progress then things will start to click.  Also try using the Abc notation system which there are links to on this site.  It helped me a great deal.
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Rob2Hook

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Re: melodeon lessons wanted north kent
« Reply #27 on: January 10, 2010, 04:29:37 PM »

I find it very difficult to learrn a tune on the box unless I can whistle it without conscious thought.  To that end, I like to find a recording of the tune I want and play it in the car either until I've got it or no-one will accept a lift anymore!  Trying to actually learn the tune and learn to play it is an overload for me.

Rob.
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Andrew Culwell

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Re: melodeon lessons wanted north kent
« Reply #28 on: January 10, 2010, 04:38:54 PM »

I find it very difficult to learrn a tune on the box unless I can whistle it without conscious thought.  To that end, I like to find a recording of the tune I want and play it in the car either until I've got it or no-one will accept a lift anymore!  Trying to actually learn the tune and learn to play it is an overload for me.

Rob.

Actually that's a good point.  I sometimes have to listen to a tune ad nausea um (sp) to finally get it right. 
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Re: melodeon lessons wanted north kent
« Reply #29 on: January 10, 2010, 04:40:33 PM »

Hook Eagle's band that the tune should never sound the same twice over - improvisation and rythmic variation is the order of the day.  I'm the one without the brain to achieve this and they use my "boring" playing to bounce off! 

Rob.

Thanks for making this possible Rob! ... ;D ;D ;D

DTN (Hook Eagle) 8)
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Re: melodeon lessons wanted north kent
« Reply #30 on: January 12, 2010, 09:44:04 PM »

My daughter is looking for someone to teach some fundamentals too. She lives in Wooton Basset , near Swindon if someone is up for it. :|glug
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Gandy

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Re: melodeon lessons wanted north kent
« Reply #31 on: January 13, 2010, 08:12:58 AM »

... i dont read dots ...

I'm sure it would be worth your while learning to read music.  Forget (for the moment) any idea of being able to learn a tune straight from music, but think of it as a way to remind yourself of what exact notes make up the tune that you have in your head.
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Re: melodeon lessons wanted north kent
« Reply #32 on: January 13, 2010, 08:38:06 AM »

... i dont read dots ...

I'm sure it would be worth your while learning to read music.  Forget (for the moment) any idea of being able to learn a tune straight from music, but think of it as a way to remind yourself of what exact notes make up the tune that you have in your head.

I really don't understand why people don't just learn which button does which note, its not hard the keyboard layouts are here. Once you have that in your head playing tunes from music (I write the notes under the stave to save me having to work out which is which) can be purely mechanical - I need to play a B it's the 4 button down push on the inside row etc. When I started I had a keyboard layout and the tune in front of me and just hacked through it. Mind you I'm an engineer by trade so may be this is not an artists way of working.

Fidjit

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Re: melodeon lessons wanted north kent
« Reply #33 on: January 13, 2010, 09:49:16 AM »

... i dont read dots ...

I'm sure it would be worth your while learning to read music.  Forget (for the moment) any idea of being able to learn a tune straight from music, but think of it as a way to remind yourself of what exact notes make up the tune that you have in your head.

I really don't understand why people don't just learn which button does which note, its not hard the keyboard layouts are here. Once you have that in your head playing tunes from music (I write the notes under the stave to save me having to work out which is which) can be purely mechanical - I need to play a B it's the 4 button down push on the inside row etc. When I started I had a keyboard layout and the tune in front of me and just hacked through it. Mind you I'm an engineer by trade so may be this is not an artists way of working.

As an Electrician (retired) Lester you have it right.

I don't read. so I write the button numbers over the notes with an up arrow if it's a pull. Easy Peasy. :|glug
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kenthorseman

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Re: melodeon lessons wanted north kent
« Reply #34 on: January 13, 2010, 11:19:14 AM »

now that i can do, all i gotta do is translate the dots to nombers and arrows, easy peasy,     ah wots a g dot look like so i can give it a number and an arrow, well got mallys book out and havin another go :|glug :|glug :|glug ??? ??? ???
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Ebor_fiddler

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Re: melodeon lessons wanted north kent
« Reply #35 on: January 13, 2010, 12:23:23 PM »

Go to http://info.melodeon.net/files/site/DG21acc.gif , memorise it completely and follow the instructions on the cover of "The Hitch-hiker's Guide to The Galaxy" ini large friendly letters.  ;D :||: ;D

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Owen Woods

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Re: melodeon lessons wanted north kent
« Reply #36 on: January 15, 2010, 11:26:41 AM »

I would say that it is better to learn the relative distances between buttons from say the G on the G row than learn which button does which. Otherwise you end up glancing down at your hands all the time. Much better to know that from G the nearest B pull is there and the nearest F# push is there.
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Re: melodeon lessons wanted north kent
« Reply #37 on: January 15, 2010, 06:15:59 PM »

Imho it's not about whether you read music or play by ear, follow Mally's book or Kirkpatricks's DVD or whatever. It's about whether you actually want to practice the melodeon. Learning any musical instrument gets harder the older you are, we're just not hard-wired to do it. So you have to enjoy wrestling with the bloody thing until you get a tune out of it and you have to enjoy it more than watching TV, going to work, drinking sambuccas, sleeping, eating cheese and pickle sandwiches, anything. I'm a drummer too and the box is the only other instrument I've ever felt like that about. Don't put it away, leave it out  where you'll fall over it if you don't pick it up, then pick it up and play it every day and don't stop playing it until someone threatens you with physical violence. Keep doing that for two years and you'll surprise yourself.
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Andrew Culwell

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Re: melodeon lessons wanted north kent
« Reply #38 on: January 16, 2010, 04:36:52 AM »

Imho it's not about whether you read music or play by ear, follow Mally's book or Kirkpatricks's DVD or whatever. It's about whether you actually want to practice the melodeon. Learning any musical instrument gets harder the older you are, we're just not hard-wired to do it. So you have to enjoy wrestling with the bloody thing until you get a tune out of it and you have to enjoy it more than watching TV, going to work, drinking sambuccas, sleeping, eating cheese and pickle sandwiches, anything. I'm a drummer too and the box is the only other instrument I've ever felt like that about. Don't put it away, leave it out  where you'll fall over it if you don't pick it up, then pick it up and play it every day and don't stop playing it until someone threatens you with physical violence. Keep doing that for two years and you'll surprise yourself.
Totally agree, it's about perseverance and sheer bl**dyminded stubborness.  Ya really got to want to learn it otherwise you will quit before you get started!
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Steve C.

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Re: melodeon lessons wanted north kent
« Reply #39 on: January 16, 2010, 05:21:38 PM »

Very much in agreement.  Unfortunately, no pain, no gain.

On the good side, there is a steepening of the learning curve, after that initial, painful first, many months, almost flat space.  Once you have a little of the basics, many things seem to come a lot easier and faster.

Unfortunately, then you hit another plateau where you realize that you will never/may never play like the great players.  For sheer crazy coolness, DTN has now replaced Tony Hall in my pantheon.  Where does he get these musical ideas?
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