March Meeting - "We meet again!"

The YCC band is currently working on tunes which were popular during the 1930s and 1940s thanks to a “bit of a find” by bandleader Carolyn Wade who stumbled across old manuscripts in a suitcase.
Carolyn, herself a composer and arranger, has worked these tunes into arrangements for concertina band, and we have been enjoying practicing them and getting them into shape. The big band sound of the era seems to work well for concertina.
The ten-strong turnout today worked through Go down Moses, Chattanoogie Shoeshine Boy  - a tune we are still polishing! - Only You and the medley We’ll Meet Again & There’ll Always be an England – very rousing!
Our meetings as ever are in three parts, band practice, followed by notices and discussions, and finally party pieces with some tune playing.
Notices for March:
We have changed the dates for the following meetings to account for the Easter break and the Swaledale Squeeze
April - meeting is now on 14 April
May - meeting is now on 12 May
The Club is to host the 2020 ICA (International Concertina Association) AGM, to be held in April or May 2020, and discussions were held around securing a suitable venue.
Members also discussed suggestions for guests at future YCC meetings this year – watch this space for details.
Our Sept meeting will be joint with NECP, with us hosting this time at our Leeds venue, The Cornerhouse Club, Mooretown.
Tune session:
Steve played a version of Cadair Idris on his duet concertina – a tune he had heard Rob Harbron (English) play. Lovely tune, followed by a discussion of technique of playing the duet system.
The club is working on pieces written by club member John, and arranged by Steve, with a view to recording them later this year. Steve conducted us through his new setting of Shannon Waters then The Little Mouse, Old Jock’s Dance and Bernie the Ragtime Ferret - best tune-name ever!
To end the afternoon, we are working on developing our skills for playing by ear and taking part in music sessions, using the Tuneworks book. This month we worked on Speed the Plough, Morpeth Rant, Winster Gallop, Rattling Bog and  The Sloe, getting to the stage where we played them without looking at the music – which I find very very…hard!
We intend to try a few more from Tuneworks next month.
Graham
​Club Chairman
 
 
 

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