Hi all, I thought it is time to introduce myself. I've been busy poring over all the old postings for the last few weeks and absorbing as much information as I could before raising my head above the parapet.
Originally from the north east of Scotland, (near Arbroath) I had no interest in accordions or Scottish music until later in life.
My main passion at that time (1950s) was playing the trumpet in local dance bands , big band , and trad jazz.
Later on, after I had gone to London for work and married to a Scots lass from Greenock, I gradually took more and more interest in Scottish music, taking up the pipes and accordion, although the accordion took a back seat as the classes I went to were all classic and German tunes, but I really settled into the pipe band scene as we used to have tours every year to Belgium, France and most European countries, and ended up as pipe corporal in one band and pipe major in another.
Step forward 30 odd years and I'm now retired and spend 7 months (spring to autumn) in the Limousin in France and the other 5 months we return to Essex to escape the harsh winters in the centre of France.
Originally I had a nice Excelsior 120 bass Scottish tuned Musette which I bought from Wilkie's in Perth and a Paolo Soprani Super cassotto which I found very heavy and cumbersome so it remained in a wardrobe for about 10 years until I sold it.
The Excelsior, along with the pipes were taken every year to France but with a lack of other players, there was no incentive to play, so the accordion stayed in it's box while I have a friend about 70 miles away who plays the pipes, so we get together for a blow.
A few years ago I got a basket case of a Maugein CBA from E-bay France for 100 euros and enjoyed getting it into a near playable condition, but the many years of piano and piano accordion had left their mark and I gave up on it.
This year however I determined that I would leave the piano accordion in the UK and brought the little CBA with me to France. Trolling through the internet I found a lot of information on learning the CBA and also this forum which I've found to be a mine of information and help. Recently I've bought a Paolo Soprani 100 bass 4 row CBA on French E-bay which has a few tuning issues but I'm practicing every day with the help of Galliano's tutor and a load of Scottish music books which I've acquired over the years. I'm not finding it easy but I think I'm making some progress so I'll persevere.
Apologies if this has rambled on a bit, but since discovering the Accordionist Forum the bug has really bitten and I look forward to reading all the new posts every day.
kind regards, Ian
Originally from the north east of Scotland, (near Arbroath) I had no interest in accordions or Scottish music until later in life.
My main passion at that time (1950s) was playing the trumpet in local dance bands , big band , and trad jazz.
Later on, after I had gone to London for work and married to a Scots lass from Greenock, I gradually took more and more interest in Scottish music, taking up the pipes and accordion, although the accordion took a back seat as the classes I went to were all classic and German tunes, but I really settled into the pipe band scene as we used to have tours every year to Belgium, France and most European countries, and ended up as pipe corporal in one band and pipe major in another.
Step forward 30 odd years and I'm now retired and spend 7 months (spring to autumn) in the Limousin in France and the other 5 months we return to Essex to escape the harsh winters in the centre of France.
Originally I had a nice Excelsior 120 bass Scottish tuned Musette which I bought from Wilkie's in Perth and a Paolo Soprani Super cassotto which I found very heavy and cumbersome so it remained in a wardrobe for about 10 years until I sold it.
The Excelsior, along with the pipes were taken every year to France but with a lack of other players, there was no incentive to play, so the accordion stayed in it's box while I have a friend about 70 miles away who plays the pipes, so we get together for a blow.
A few years ago I got a basket case of a Maugein CBA from E-bay France for 100 euros and enjoyed getting it into a near playable condition, but the many years of piano and piano accordion had left their mark and I gave up on it.
This year however I determined that I would leave the piano accordion in the UK and brought the little CBA with me to France. Trolling through the internet I found a lot of information on learning the CBA and also this forum which I've found to be a mine of information and help. Recently I've bought a Paolo Soprani 100 bass 4 row CBA on French E-bay which has a few tuning issues but I'm practicing every day with the help of Galliano's tutor and a load of Scottish music books which I've acquired over the years. I'm not finding it easy but I think I'm making some progress so I'll persevere.
Apologies if this has rambled on a bit, but since discovering the Accordionist Forum the bug has really bitten and I look forward to reading all the new posts every day.
kind regards, Ian
)
