To start with, I was very much inspired to follow in my father's footsteps with the melodeon. As far back as I could remember, he had been playing for the Farnborough Morris, and he and mum had been off playing gigs at weekends. 'Melodeon' then meant a Hohner Club IIB, or (with the Morris) an Erica.
When I started, I was of course playing his club system D/G melodeons. Both Meg and I played this system for many years, changing only a few years ago. Meg only made the change from her dry-tuned Hohner Pokerwork when her 'Lily' came along. |
When I wanted to expand the number of keys I could play in, I toyed with various ideas, but kept remembering the 3-row box that Simon Knight had. At a melodeon workshop at Sidmouth I had asked him what it was: "C#/D/G," was the answer. Initially I had got into Irish style with a C#/D Saltarelle, but I became aware that the Welsh tunes I played often needed a dual approach- some fit D/G really well, others need more scope (e.g. tunes in D minor). So I got my first C#/D/G three-row, a Saltarelle Cheviot. |
![[Simon]](instruments/simon.jpg)
![[Neil&Handry]](instruments/Neil+Handry.jpg)
