Magic of the Melodeon
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About Magic of the Melodeon
Develop your melodeon playing by with this joyful exploration of Celtic, English, Scandinavian, and French Bal folk tunes with insights from expert tutors.
What is the course about?
Join Hazel Askew and Lucy Huzzard in exploring the magic of the D/G melodeon! This joyful course is a chance to reignite your love of this extraordinary instrument and celebrate its versatility. Lucy and Hazel will share some of their favourite tunes from across British, Scandinavian, French/Bal traditions and beyond. Delving into stylistic techniques, accompaniment and arranging, they will take you beyond just learning the notes to explore what the melodeon is capable of.
Hazel and Lucy bring their deep understanding of traditional dance music (ceilidh, rapper, morris, Bal, Scandi, Appalachian, Playford) and take you on a journey through the melodeon's power and inherent groove. Come and explore the range and depth of this timeless instrument.
What will you learn?
You will learn a repertoire of folk tunes from across Europe (and beyond). Through this you'll explore ornamentation, articulation, right hand tips and tricks, different left hand rhythms, chords and bass lines that will help you interpret tunes and make their your own. You'll also learn about arranging music and hone your skills for playing with others.
By the end of this course you will be able to:
- Play a variety of new folk tunes with ideas for ornamentation and variation.
- Have a toolkit of skills and techniques for creating accompaniments and arranging music.
- Have the tools to explore different left hand rhythms and chord variations.
- Improve your confidence as a melodeon player.
How will the course be taught?
The course will be taught by ear, with written music shared after tunes have been learnt. You will have sessions in both smaller and large groups to explore different tunes and aspects of playing.
Who is the course for?
The course is for D/G melodeon (diatonic accordion) players who have instruments with two or more rows.
We've designed the course for intermediate to advanced level players (Please see our Ability Levels Explained for further details). You'll need to be comfortable playing right and left hand at the same time with different rhythms, and have already tried (or be open to) exploring rhythms away from the traditional oom pah/bass chord technique.
You should to be happy playing by ear to some extent, although we will have music on hand if really needed, and to take away with you after you've finished learning a tune. The course is open to melodeon players of all genders and it doesn't matter what repertoire you've been playing already, as long as you're up for some tunes from the British, Scandinavian, French/bal music traditions, and possibly further afield too!
Will music be provided and do you need to prepare or bring anything?
The course is mainly taught by ear, and we do encourage you to give this time-honoured method a try. Sheet music will be shared afterwards, but we can provide it earlier to help access the learning process.
In addition to your instrument, it would be handy to have a notebook and you are welcome to bring recording device to record yourself playing and continue your learning into the future.
