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Author Topic: Beginners Showcase!  (Read 173743 times)

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Ribs

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Re: Beginners Showcase!
« Reply #400 on: May 23, 2018, 01:29:16 PM »

Thanks for the advice, guys. I absolutely see what you mean about playing too fast. This was one of the first tunes I managed to work out, long before I had any real bellows control. As such, I learned it using extremely long pulls and pushes, so not only am I fighting to conserve air, I also have very little opportunity to add any kind of "flavor" to the song. That, coupled with the fact that I was nervous and frustrated by how many takes I had previously done, I think I was trying to hurry through as fast as I could lol. I'll see about changing it up a bit, and I'll post a new version to see if I'm doing any better.
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baz parkes

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Re: Beginners Showcase!
« Reply #401 on: May 23, 2018, 02:36:58 PM »

Hi Ribs, not bad atall  after only 3 months playing the box.  By way of constructive suggestions I would sugest that:


3. Playing a tune slowly or even very slowly enables details such as dynamics  and phrasing ( leaving gaps between notes like punctuation in the written word)  to be sorted 

As a box player and former Head of English can I congratulate George on a top notch definition which has never occurred to me before    :|glug :|glug
















george
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Dick Rees

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Re: Beginners Showcase!
« Reply #402 on: May 23, 2018, 03:26:29 PM »

Thanks for the advice, guys. I absolutely see what you mean about playing too fast. This was one of the first tunes I managed to work out, long before I had any real bellows control. As such, I learned it using extremely long pulls and pushes, so not only am I fighting to conserve air, I also have very little opportunity to add any kind of "flavor" to the song. That, coupled with the fact that I was nervous and frustrated by how many takes I had previously done, I think I was trying to hurry through as fast as I could lol. I'll see about changing it up a bit, and I'll post a new version to see if I'm doing any better.

It's a song.  Would you sing it that fast?  Try singing it and play along with your voice rather than playing the box and singing along.  Horse > Cart instead of Cart > Horse, so to speak.

And never under estimate the value of using a good old metronome.  Not only will it show you how much more time you have within the tune, but playing along with another device helps you develop the ability to play in ensemble with others...sort of a faux partner, as it were.

Otherwise, absolutely great, especially considering the amount of time since you started in.
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Jesse Smith

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Re: Beginners Showcase!
« Reply #403 on: May 23, 2018, 04:08:55 PM »

And never under estimate the value of using a good old metronome.  Not only will it show you how much more time you have within the tune, but playing along with another device helps you develop the ability to play in ensemble with others...sort of a faux partner, as it were.

I've tried playing with a metronome but my problem is I can't hear the click over the noise of the melodeon, and trying to keep rhythm with just the flashing light is not as easy for me. I suppose like anything else, that just takes practice.
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deltasalmon

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Re: Beginners Showcase!
« Reply #404 on: May 23, 2018, 04:21:10 PM »

I have bad hearing and had this problem too. I couldn't hear the metronome over the melodeon. I ended up buying an old school mechanical metronome and that way I had a visual cue as well as an audible one.

Mine isn't this same shade of electric blue but it's the same idea.
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george garside

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Re: Beginners Showcase!
« Reply #405 on: May 23, 2018, 08:50:45 PM »

plenty of youtube vids of groups singing blow the man down  to play along with

george
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Stotty

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Re: Beginners Showcase!
« Reply #406 on: May 23, 2018, 11:00:04 PM »

If you struggle with a metronome it might be worth trying a "counting" metronome if you can play near a computer, and if the rythmn fits. I have used this one and found it much easier to play with than a "pinging" electronic metronome:
 http://www.metronomebot.com/talking-metronome-in-four.html
You can vary the speed and also have 2 & 3 counts as well as 4 counts.
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Carole Kenrick

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Re: Beginners Showcase!
« Reply #407 on: July 31, 2018, 01:07:14 PM »

Hello!

I've been playing my G/C box for just over three months now and have been lucky enough to find a local G/C melodeon teacher, who has helped me learn roughly a tune a month :|||: I can now play two tunes with enough confidence to record them and share them here  (:) They would both fit under the "tunes you've just learned" category - and the snippet from Amelie under "tunes you love".

First tune - a French valse of unknown name and provenance that my melodeon teacher taught me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkSfHilDzxs

Second tune - a snippet from the Amelie soundtrack, which first made me fall in love with accordions when I was a teenager: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFRCqkVWG9U

Any constructive feedback welcome! And advice as well - for instance, I find it really hard to reach the F bass when the bellows are further out. Should I be putting my left hand in a different position? Or is it just a matter of practice and developing muscles I never knew I had?!

Now to pick a new tune to learn from the TOTM list  (:)

Thanks so much,

Carole
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folkloristmark

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Re: Beginners Showcase!
« Reply #408 on: August 01, 2018, 09:57:03 PM »

Well done sounds like a tune.
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Mark Taylor
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Eshed

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Re: Beginners Showcase!
« Reply #409 on: August 01, 2018, 11:16:38 PM »

Any constructive feedback welcome! And advice as well - for instance, I find it really hard to reach the F bass when the bellows are further out. Should I be putting my left hand in a different position? Or is it just a matter of practice and developing muscles I never knew I had?!
First of all, well done! To me it seems you've been practicing quite hard these past three months.
Since you have a teacher and since I'm a relatively new player as well, I will refrain from saying what you should do. I can tell you that I (and some other people I've seen on youtube) use the ring finger for the F bass when bellows are wide open (short arms, small fingers, it is impossible otherwise) but still use all four fingers whenever possible.

Now to pick a new tune to learn from the TOTM list  (:)
While that is very fun, I would advise to not forget your current tunes. I've messed this up and I didn't work hard enough on some of my earlier tunes, so now I cannot play them. Fortunately, since then I've been more focused.
I learn new tunes for the soul because otherwise I will be sad. I mostly improve, however, by working hard to perfect and polish two or three tunes I can already play.

Anyway, good progress, keep us up to date  :|||:
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Carole Kenrick

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Re: Beginners Showcase!
« Reply #410 on: August 03, 2018, 05:46:11 PM »

Thanks for the feedback! My approach to practicing so far has been "little and often" - 5 or 10 mins max at a time, at least once a day, and on weekends when I'm at home I can practice many times a day. Keeps my brain from overloading and my arms / fingers / shoulders from getting too sore!

Good advice re continuing to practice previous tunes. I don't know them well enough yet for them to be "stuck" forever in my head, and I can certainly still improve. In particular, I find it hard to pick up a tune part-way through if I stumble. It's as though my brain can only deal with it as a whole phrase, so I am definitely not "fluent" in them yet.

Will try using the ring finger for the F bass when the bellows are fully out and see how it feels - I think avoiding strain is definitely more important than following any "rules"!
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fc diato

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Re: Beginners Showcase!
« Reply #411 on: August 03, 2018, 06:35:25 PM »


First tune - a French valse of unknown name and provenance

Just three months?  Very impressive... 'sounds like a tune' indeed. The F base will resolve itself with a bit more time and practice, I believe. The fingers just get used to it.

The unknown waltz is Valse a Joseph by Marc Peronne.  It's a great tune to go back to later to practice variations. It can be as simple or complex as you wish, and is lovely either way.
Enjoy the journey.

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fc diato

Ribs

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Re: Beginners Showcase!
« Reply #412 on: August 15, 2018, 09:52:01 PM »

Hello again everyone. It's now been six months since I first picked up the box, so I thought I'd drop by and upload a quick recording. Since it's one of my favorite tunes, I decided on "Mussels in the Corner". My goal the last few months has been learning to slow down and play at a normal speed without a metronome, so that's what I've attempted to do here. As always, any tips or advice are more than welcome. I'm here to learn, after all.

(Sorry that the basses are a little hard to hear, I recorded this on my phone)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoAmwEleiEM
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playandteach

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Re: Beginners Showcase!
« Reply #413 on: August 16, 2018, 10:19:53 PM »

I've been playing my G/C box for just over three months now and have been lucky enough to find a local G/C melodeon teacher, who has helped me learn roughly a tune a month :|||: I can now play two tunes with enough confidence to record them and share them here  (:) They would both fit under the "tunes you've just learned" category - and the snippet from Amelie under "tunes you love".

Well played, and great progress so far. I love Amelie - film and music, so this is a great treat for me. There is a flawed but utterly charming youtube version of a girl playing this at a family get-together meal. Most are chatting away ignoring her, but there is something so delightful about it. Hope you don't mind that I've linked it here.
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Ida

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Re: Beginners Showcase!
« Reply #414 on: December 30, 2018, 11:24:08 PM »

Thanks for sharing! This was very helpful for me as a beginner.
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Peadar

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Re: Beginners Showcase!
« Reply #415 on: March 05, 2019, 11:21:44 PM »

Current Theme of the month is slow tunes- Melodies  don't come much slower than Birlinn Goraidh Crobhan.

Posting in the hope of encouraging the rest (of the Absolute Begginers at Melodeon Playgroup) , here is my current best attempt at Birlinn Goraidh Craobhan.


https://youtu.be/Uih4_OCnR6w

PS Winster Gallop is still beyond me unless I have sheet music in front of me.
« Last Edit: March 06, 2019, 12:17:35 AM by Peadar »
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playandteach

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Re: Beginners Showcase!
« Reply #416 on: March 05, 2019, 11:43:58 PM »

We need to remember what this feels like. Triumph. I once heard someone say that the best lottery investment you can make is to buy one ticket. You've gone from no chance to 1 in 14 million. After that the odds are against you. The early progress you can make on a new skill is just like that. Take it up, and the early gains are great.
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Winston Smith

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Re: Beginners Showcase!
« Reply #417 on: March 06, 2019, 06:37:53 AM »

Peader, although I've been trying to play for about 4 years I'm completely unable to sing whilst playing, my fingers just turn to jelly! Very well done, I'm jealous of your ability to do this.
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george garside

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Re: Beginners Showcase!
« Reply #418 on: March 06, 2019, 08:58:10 AM »

don't worry about it Winston. I've been playing for well over ten times as long as you and I can't even speak and play at the same time!

george ;)
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MikeK

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Re: Beginners Showcase!
« Reply #419 on: March 06, 2019, 10:54:56 AM »

When I play slow tunes,I sing along with them in my head. Although I could sing along,I don't, as I wouldn't want anyone to go thru' the agony of hearing me.
Peader, tha sinn math. Cum a'dol.
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