Whinham's Reel

[Eannain]

Whinhams Reel from the Northumbrian Piperss Tunebook with my own bass arrangement. It shows the result of my endeavours in the last couple of weeks to inject some variation into my bass technique, and a successful attempt at keeping going when I fluff the bass a bit which is one of my priorities at the moment.

I started recording myself playing back in June to keep track of my progress, but this is the first one Ive felt happy enough about to upload. Its slightly out of focus as I forgot to refocus the camera before starting a new set of takes so its not your eyes going funny! I just couldnt be bothered to redo it once I had them downloaded and realised what had happened.



Any critique or comments welcome.

 

[Sarah]

Nice

Ps. I'm pretty shure you play the melodeon too (you use bellows like on the melodeon).

 

[Eannain]

Cheers I've only dabbled with melodeon - I have a little one row hohner that I got purely to try to figure the push pull of the bellows, but I don't get it out that often. I haven't really paid much attention to my bellows technique so far.

 

[george garside]

Hi
It improves as you get into it i.e. from about 1.00 onwards possibly because you ae starting to relax and enjoy it. The ffirst bit is a bit on the heavy side on both treble and bass.

A couple of points of constructive criticism or something on those lines.

1. Most Northumbrian music sounds best played staccato on both treble and bass . You look and sound to be playing the treble rather as you would a piano. Because the notes on an accordion do not die of their own accord it helps to get the fingers right off the keys between notes so the springs can close the pallets quickly ( much faster than happened if you gently let your finger rise! i.e. on a piano its how you press the keys that matters, on an accordion its how you let go of them that matters! This crisp style of playing can also be facilitated by keeping a steady pressure on the bellows (in and out) so when a key is pressed the note is effectively fired out like a bullet so to speak.

Much the same goes for bass., treat playing bass as a drone with great caution - it has its place but rarely works well played throughout the proceedings. tap the buttons as if red hot and again get fingers off between strikes. The 'lift' that is vital to such dance music can be greatly facilitated by emphasising the off beat on the bass. i.e. if playing a series of um pa's play as a short UM and a long PA. Leaving off the bass completely for some passages can also improve the overall performance.

HOpe this is of some help

george :ch

 

[Eannain]

Yes it is thanks! Lighter, bouncier fingers, intermittent bass... noted.

One thing I'm finding really useful about recording myself is being able to listen back and see what works and what doesn't.

 

[BobM]

Yes it is thanks! Lighter, bouncier fingers, intermittent bass... noted.

One thing Im finding really useful about recording myself is being able to listen back and see what works and what doesnt.

I’ve been trying this, and it does seem easier to play when the notes of the second section are played more as chords. It’s harder played staccato, and I find that I have to look more at the keys when not holding them down. Nice tune though.

BobM

 

[george garside]

see my posting under British folk music for interesting you tube vid of northumbrian dance music

george

 

[Eannain]

Cheers George!