German & Anglo Concertina's What's The Difference?

[Patrick McMahon]

Oh, so innocent.

Many people have said that they were only going to buy one. Not many stick to it.

 

I look on it as a free hobby. As someone said above, you can buy a concertina, own it for years, and sell it for more than you paid for it, if you buy wisely.

I've never lost money on one, but then I can do maintenance. It's not rocket science.

 

Obviously, if you buy from a shop, you'll probably struggle to sell it for what you paid for it, but that's the price for the service.

However you go about it, it's not an expensive hobby, unless you go mad buying.

 

C/G or D/G would be ok. D/G probably edges it for what you described, but C/Gs are a lot more available, there are far more to choose from secondhand.

[Anglo-Irishman]

Well, in Ireland, where traditional dance music has for generations been dominated by the fiddle, which more or less dictates the keys of G, D and A major (and relative modes), the standard concertina is the C/G Anglo.

 

I've found that neither melodies in D major nor chords in D major are difficult on my C/G Anglo. It's only for fully harmonised instrumentals that I prefer C or G.

 

Just a thought!

 

Cheers,

John

[Anglo-Irishman]

Please bear in mind that I'm only interested in owning a single concertina (plus my non-musical wife would'nt allow me to own more than one).

...

 

If I buy an Anglo and learn to play it, won't it be a problem if I want to play songs in a number of different keys i.e I'll need to own more than one concertina?

 

To point 1: My wife isn't all that musical either. But I reckon she keeps quiet about my five 5-string banjos (all different!) and two concertinas (differnt systems) because of her (at least) five tea-sets! Even your wife must have some faible ...

 

To point 2: After many decades of playing and singing to the C/G Anglo, I decided to free myself from this limitation to a couple of keys. So I bought a Crane duet, which is really chromatic, and on which keys with lots of sharps or flats are only marginally more difficult than C major.

And what do I do with it? I play most accompaniments in C, and the others in G, as hitherto, because these keys suit my voice best. OK, on the Crane I can transpose to F or D for some awkward songs, but I seldom do.

 

The Anglo architecture is not as limiting as you might think!

 

Cheers,

John

[David Barnert]

I've been really inspired by seeing some great English concertina players on You Tube such as Simon Thoumire and one guy called ProfRat, However, I recently saw a video of Will Quale making an excellent job of playing the Presbyterian Hornpipe on an Anglo.

You might not know that all three of these gentlemen have a presence here at concertina.net. ProfRat is Danny Chapman, who goes by RatFace here. Will Quale is wayman, and even Simon Thoumire (simon_thoumire) occasionally makes an appearance here.

[Tarquin Biscuitbox]

Thanks for the info - It's good to know these excellent players are all here. I look forward to chatting with them.

 

After much thinking, I decided on getting an English Concertina. However, this video has got me thinking about getting a MacCann Duet -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7bHlSQGadM

[maccannic]

If you can't get your head round the melodeon, then you may struggle with the anglo, which works on a broadly similar principle (a bit like a melodeon split in half).

[Tarquin Biscuitbox]

Hi Maccannic. I think you're right about the Anglo's. I'd like to know why you chose a MacCann Duet over the other systems?

[maccannic]

Hi, I've just seen your post, which I've already answered on your other thread. However, depending on how your brain works, you might find a Crane easier than a Maccann, and a Hayden better still.

[Tarquin Biscuitbox]

I just want to say a BIG thank you to everyone who answered my question - I've learnt a lot from your answers.