Kettle Bridge Concertinas

Practice makes perfect

Rehearsals in East Farleigh are underway for our forthcoming appearance at School Gambia’s Scones & Songs event on Sunday August 28th from 2pm in Yalding Church. Kettle Bridge Concertinas has a 15 minute slot and our varied programme includes Trumpet Voluntary, Over the Rainbow and Early One Morning.

See the diary panel on the right of this page or go to the School Gambia site to see all the details about this event and the background to this very worthwhile charity. Please do come along and support us if you can.

Everything You Wanted To Know about Concertinas ...

Do you know the difference between an English concertina and an Anglo one?
Is your concertina unisonoric or bisonoric? Hint "unisonoric" is nothing to do with being able to play along with others, and "bisonoric" does not relate to North American buffaloes!
Is there such a thing as a "Franglo" concertina or have I just made that up?

The answer to all these questions and more can be found on the Wikipedia page dedicated to your favourite instrument. Read the article, become an instant expert and completely bore thoroughly impress your friends and family.

Normal Service Is Resumed — Almost!

Following the relaxing of the COVID-19 restrictions, we are mainly reverting to meeting up to play. Our regular sessions will now be as follows —

• Alternate Sundays from 10:00am to 12:00 noon at the Farleighs WI Hall.
  The sessions are open to all members and will start easy and slow before progressing to some faster, trickier pieces.
• Monday beginners’ session.
  Geared to beginners and improvers, we play slowly and steadily, with some teaching thrown in. More experienced players are welcome to join in.
  These sessions alternate between the Farleighs WI Hall (from 1:30pm to 3:30pm) and via Zoom (3:00pm to 4:00pm). See the panel on the right for when the next beginners’ session will be in the Hall.
• Every Thursday from 10:30am to 12:30pm at the Farleighs WI Hall.
  This will feature more advanced playing for those who like a challenge and will also be the practice session for any events that we will be attending. Sue can advise if she thinks that you are ready to cope with the standard of playing required.

If you are interested in joining in with any of these, just get in touch with our secretary via our Contact Page.

The Concertina Tinker

Dave Elliott is an associate member of Kettle Bridge Concertinas and a thoroughly useful chap to know. He is an experienced repairer and restorer of traditionally constructed concertinas of all types — large bass through to piccolo — as well as miniature instruments, and all fingering systems.

He is very happy to provide individual advice, event clinics, or group workshops and is the author of 'The Concertina Maintenance Manual'.

For more information, visit his website at http://concertina-repair.org.uk/.