Practicing Slides and Cuts - Little Black Mustache

Discuss at: http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=13198

Because the concertina has very little "attack" and "decay" time (the notes are pretty much on or off), and you can't slide or bend notes, it's common to use ornaments to add flavor and variety to the sound. The biggest difficulty for me is getting them quick and smooth enough so that they're not obtrusive...I feel like you want to hear the tune, not the ornaments. To this end, I try to play any "cuts" or "grace notes" with a brief brush of a button...so quick and light that if I make a mistake, the note will be nonexistent, instead of too long. No grace note is better than an obnoxious one!

Here's I'm practicing a slippery stringband ragtime tune I got from a recording from the 1920s. The fiddler slides between notes at certain times, which I'm trying to approximate by adding in quick grace notes that fit between the melody notes. This clip gives some examples of where I think it works well, and where I think it doesn't. Turn on the annotations to see what I'm trying to do and when.

I feel like when simulating a slide up into a note, adding a bit of space before the grace note tricks my ear into hearing it more like a true slide. A little punch of volume from the bellows also sometimes helps. I usually prefer sliding from a half-step below, but a whole step works too, and may sound better or be easier to finger in some instances. I also strive to not allow the grace note to overlap the notes before and after it, which makes a somewhat harsh sound.

Even though I'm playing a duet, I think the techniques used and issues raised are almost exactly the same for an English concertina, and similar for an Anglo.

Any comments or responding videos encouraged!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Concertina
• Corner
• ornaments
• grace
• notes
• old-time
• ragtime
• acoustic
• music
• tune
• Hayden
• Wicki
• duet