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Author Topic: B/C player Learning the single row melodeon Which Key?  (Read 3995 times)

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Andrew Culwell

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B/C player Learning the single row melodeon Which Key?
« on: March 25, 2010, 07:52:53 PM »

So I'm itching to take up the single row melodeon and give it a whirl.  As a B/C player and wanting to play Irish music which melodeon is more facile to my style of music?  Is a melodeon in the key of "C" ideal or should I go with "D"  any advice would be appreciated.

--Drew
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Stiamh

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Re: B/C player Learning the single row melodeon Which Key?
« Reply #1 on: March 25, 2010, 07:59:04 PM »

If you want to play with other people in the usual keys, surely D is the best key. If you want to play alone (or with others in "C sessions") and like a mellower sound then C would be fine. Other lower keys are even mellower.

Whichever key you choose, when you play Irish music you're going to be treating the box as though it were in D nearly all the time.

I mean that if you got a C box, you'd be playing D tunes in C, G tunes (those without Cnats, of which there are lots) in F, A tunes (those without either C nats or G sharps, likewise) in G, and so on. Some tunes would be playable in the original key: those which, if you were playing them on B/C, you wouldn't need any notes on the outer row for. E.g. Tunes in D dorian or G tunes with no F#s.






« Last Edit: March 25, 2010, 08:03:57 PM by Steve Jones »
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Andrew Culwell

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Re: B/C player Learning the single row melodeon Which Key?
« Reply #2 on: March 25, 2010, 08:35:23 PM »

I guess my question is also is the c row on a b/c the same fingering and notes as the c row on a single row?  I know I should look at the charts in the diagrams of this forum.  I do play mostly alone but some sessions also.  Many tunes I play seem to be on the C row with some crossing over, does that mean I'd have an advantage playing a single row in "c"?  I've picked up a very nice old Globe Special in "D" which I've posted over in the instrument section.  I'm trying to figure out if the investment in restoring it is worth the investment (aside from the very intrinsic value that this melodeon carries)  Or would It be more advantageous selling it or trading it for a nice single row in "c" ?  It's all quite confusing since I know so little about these things.

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MadDogMurdock

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Re: B/C player Learning the single row melodeon Which Key?
« Reply #3 on: March 25, 2010, 08:48:07 PM »

Listening to what Johnny Connolly can do with a C melodeon boggles my mind.  He also has one in D which he plays with equal skill and grace. 
I think the lesson here is that you just need to play as well as he does and everyone else will have to adjust keys.    ;)

The C row on the B/C should be the same (assuming you have a 21 button b/c) as a C melodeon with the exception that the low A is replaced with low G on the melodeon. 

I've only played a one row in D, simply because that's what I have and it seems to have been the tradition among the early irish-american players (whose style I'm quite fond of). 
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Andrew Culwell

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Re: B/C player Learning the single row melodeon Which Key?
« Reply #4 on: March 25, 2010, 08:53:40 PM »

Yes it was the early players that I have recently been listening to; Kimmel etc that has piqued my interest in the single row.  That and running across the very well preserved Globe which is what many of the old Irish Americans played. 
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nfldbox

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Re: B/C player Learning the single row melodeon Which Key?
« Reply #5 on: March 25, 2010, 10:10:21 PM »

D
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Theo

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Re: B/C player Learning the single row melodeon Which Key?
« Reply #6 on: March 25, 2010, 10:51:38 PM »

There would be no advantage to converting the single row to something different from D, just a lot of expense.

You may be playing mostly on the C row of your B/C, but if you are playing in the present day Irish style you will most likely be playing in the key of D.
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Andrew Culwell

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Re: B/C player Learning the single row melodeon Which Key?
« Reply #7 on: March 26, 2010, 01:24:20 AM »

Key of "d" it is!
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rees

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Re: B/C player Learning the single row melodeon Which Key?
« Reply #8 on: March 28, 2010, 12:45:07 AM »

D.
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