Triplets on an EC ~ Any Tips?

[Dick Glasgow]

David Corner mentioned some great tunes in his list, on the thread next door.

However one that he mentioned, Crossing the Minch, requires lots of Triplets to pull it off & I'm finding those little dudes rather difficult to get right, so I'm wondering if anyone here can give me any tips?

The annoying thing is, most of the triplets are so easy on the Anglo because of course you have so many notes doubled up, but hitting the same button 3 & 4 times in quick succession on an English Concertina seems to require skills I do not have yet!

For starters, should I be using TWO fingers or THREE?

Do I have to hold my Concertina a certain way to make this much easier for myself?
e.g. at an angle like S. Thoumire!

Any help will be gratefully appreciated!

Cheers
Dick

[David Corner]

Jan 7, 2009 17:24:06 GMT Dick Glasgow said:

David Corner mentioned some great tunes in his list, on the thread next door.

However one that he mentioned, Crossing the Minch, requires lots of Triplets to pull it off & I'm finding those little dudes rather difficult to get right, so I'm wondering if anyone here can give me any tips?

The annoying thing is, most of the triplets are so easy on the Anglo because of course you have so many notes doubled up, but hitting the same button 3 & 4 times in quick succession on an English Concertina seems to require skills I do not have yet!

For starters, should I be using TWO fingers or THREE?

I always use two fingers, alternating them to get a triplet.
It is standard English concertina technique to avoid using the same finger for consecutive notes, either repeated notes or for fifths, those notes one above the other.
You have to get used to moving a finger from its usual row to another row, either to play a fifth or a repeated note.
By alternating fingers you get a sharper repetition, with less gap between the notes.
You also have more control.
For jigs with three repeated notes, e.g. Kenny Gillies of Portnalong or Paddy's Leather Breeches, I would alternate fingers for these notes as well, but remembering that the notes are not equal length - the first of the three is lengthened and the second shortened.
It takes practise to get it used to it, especially on the left hand.

Jan 7, 2009 17:24:06 GMT Dick Glasgow said:

Do I have to hold my Concertina a certain way to make this much easier for myself?
e.g. at an angle like S. Thoumire!

No, you should have your thumb and pinkie fixed in the thumb strap and finger rest.
You can then move your finger between rows as required.

[Dick Glasgow]

Thanks very much David,

It all makes perfect sense, but I've got a sneaky feeling it's a lot easier said, than done!

I guess it's like most things ... down to practice, practice, practice.

As a beginner trying it, it seems like there's just not enough space between the buttons.

But I shall keep trying .. Ta

Cheers
Dick

[Dick Glasgow]

I asked this question over on C.net & received some very useful tips.

If you are, like me, still struggling to pull off those three {same note} triplets, then hopefully the tips below will help you.

Cheers
Dick

Chiton1:

Three fingers at any angle.

buikligger:

depending on the kind of triplet i use 3 or 2 fingers.

e.g. B part of Harvest Home

|:fg|addd bddd|c'dbd addd|adbd c'dbd|(3aba (3gfe (3ded (3cBA|
GdBd GdBd|gaba gfed|adbd c'baf|g2 b2 g2:|

3g^fe : left ring, right index left middle : :3 different fingers
3ded : right ring, left middle, right ring again: 2 different fingers
3aba: 2
3cBA : 3

I always keep the Tina flat on my left knee

Dick Miles:

triplets on a concertina can consist of three notes of the same pitch or three notes[with the middle note being higher or lower]lets take the note e,it can be played e f#e,eee,ede.,it can also be an octave triplet for example,g low g, g,or if one want a pipey effect g [dlow] g.
four note ornamentaions are useful too,similar to a banjo player.
lets take a dotted crotchet in jig time it could be played gg[two semiquavers ]g [quaver ]g[quaver]or g quaver,gg[two semiquavers]G[quaver]for the above example,the player doesnt have to use notes of the same pitch,but can use note above or note below or octave note below,or for a pipey soundthe fourth below gdgg.five note rolls can work too but are harder to execute,so if Iam ina fast session,I would use four note ornamentation rather then five,but in slow jigs such as pipe on the hobfive note rolls can work well.

RatFace

If by triplet you mean three notes all the same (e.g. a a a ), then the easiest way is to alternate fingers. Ignoring thumbs, you have four fingers so label them 1 to 4. You can try (practice!) playing scales. Start in the key of c and play a scale - starting on the low c on the left:

c d e f etc fingered 1 1 2 2 etc

then play

cc dd ee ff etc fingered 12 12 21 21 etc

then play try

ccc ddd eee fff etc fingered 121 121 212 212 etc

and then

cccc dddd etc etc etc

When that becomes easy, try doing the same, but start with the "wrong" finger.

When that becomes easy, try doing it in different keys - for the sharps and flats get used to alternating 1 and 2 or 2 and 3 even on the bottom row, if you can.

You can also use 3 fingers in sequence - normally 3-2-1 though it's quite tricky. However, it works well when the triplet follows the same note (i.e. it's actually four notes all of the same pitch, but the main beat starts on the second one. For example, you could play:

in 6/8 time:
e2c ccc | f2d ddd | with fingering 21 321 | 21 321

Example of the 3-finger version here.

Also - triplets where you play a different note (on the other side of the concertina) in the middle are really useful because you can use them to change to whatever finger you want and avoid jumping if the fingering is otherwise difficult.

Dow

I asked Simon Thoumire about this in a workshop a few years ago and he does them using the finger for the key, then the next finger, then back to the original finger. I think. From memory. That's the way I learnt to do them, and after I learnt to do them I overused them for a while. Now I very rarely use them and prefer to use other tricks like slap rolls and variants thereof, or triplets that aren't on the same note. Same-note triplets are no more difficult on the English than the Anglo really (I've tried them on both). The fact that the keys are closer together isn't really an issue I don't think. I have slim fingers though

[dickmiles]

www.youtube.com/user/dickmilesmusic#p/u/22/JMxxmfvvi9w