"And CB - you accompany your songs with chords NOT tunes, yes? Playing chords is NOT what English folkies, nor those in the country you've emigrated to, have done for centuries. Have you tried to learn to play the tunes you are singing, or should be singing to? I have heard someone play the tune they are singing on a concertina, and it sounded great."

I can't help but conclude from what WAV says here that his understanding of music in general and folk music in particular is even less that rudimentary.

I have heard singers accompany themselves on the concertina, and often it does indeed sound very good. But I have also noted that those who are not very proficient with the instrument often play the same line that they are singing. However, those who are more adept (and whose mind can encompass the concept) tend to play a harmony line with what they are singing, often interspersing a phrase from the melody line, or a variation thereof, between verses.

Perhaps, since one cannot play the recorder and sing at the same time, WAV hasn't grasped the concept of "accompaniment."

As to playing chords with English folk songs, indeed most traditional singers tend to sing without any accompaniment at all. However, some do accompany themselves on one instrument or another--probably whatever is at hand and with which they are acquainted. There is nothing inherent in English folk music which says that they should not be accompanied--by whatever instrument the singer choses or happens to have available.

I'm afraid WAV speaks from lack of knowledge, and more unfotunately, he seems to be unaware of how ignorant he is. Banging on a pot is loudest when the pot is empty.

Don Firth