Supporting the Concertina

These are some additional comments as a follow-up to the articles in Concertina World No. 410, 416 and 420 describing efforts to improve the comfort and efficiency when playing the concertina. [see: Holding, Ergonomics]

The modified design and handle which I have suggested to be used uniformly for the English, Anglo and Duet concertinas may offer better conditions for effective bellows-work and relaxed finger movements. It also makes it easier to carry the instrument with less muscular strain but if the arms are relieved of the weight of the instrument even more musical freedom could possibly be obtained.

This may be arranged either by supporting the instrument from underneath or by hanging it up from above. The first usually by resting it on the thigh or the knee, the second by means of a strap around the neck.

The first offers better stability, but movements may be obstructed - the second admits free movements, but gives less stability. Consequently it is necessary to make a choice, depending on occasional demands from music, performer and environment.

In order to learn what has been written on this subject before I have looked through a dozen tutors for the English concertina and found that recommendations are very much alike. Sometimes it is obvious that authors have copied the earlier ones. The most common advice is to play sitting, resting the left end of the instrument on the left knee, and to work the bellows with just the right hand, and in a straight line. When playing standing the forearms are recommended to be in a horizontal position, and to relieve the weight a neckstrap (as Warren says: "a fine cord of some strong and dark material") could be used, attached to the thumbstrap screws.

It would be interesting to know from where the idea of working the bellows with just the right arm originates. Regondi, who was the first prominent performer, says nothing about it in his tutors, but Blagrove, Case and Warren do, and particularly Alsepti (who introduces himself as a pupil of Regondi) very sincerely advocates for the (right arm) 'bowing' technique, comparing it with playing the violin. The instruction to play the completely symmetrical concertina in an Asymmetrical manner seems dogmatic and irrational. The analogy with violin bowing when speaking about 'bellowing' makes sense though - because fine qualities of tone are controlled by working the bellows. Doing this with just the right arm however, can be looked upon as a result of desperation, not knowing how to manage both the carrying, bellowing and fingering of the instrument at the same time. None of the tutors describes how to use only the right arm for bellow movements while standing, and the instruction does not appear in tutors for the Anglo or Duet concertinas.

Neither do the authors present a motive for the horizontal position of the forearm while playing standing, nor the background of the instruction to move the bellows in a straight line. Many players obviously do otherwise.

Can a symmetrical handling of the instrument be successfully combined with a satisfactory support? Firstly some definitions.

'Symmetrical' means that both ends of the instrument are equally movable and carried or placed with even load, and that the player uses the arms in an equivalent manner.

'Support' may be separated into some factors, which are more or less integrated.

• A. Relieving the hands from the carrying load
• B. Stabilizing the connection between the hands and the instrument
• C. Stabilizing the movements of the bellows

The factor "B" is involved in the matter of improving the handle, which has been discussed in the previous articles. Before dealing with the factor "A" some words about "C".

STABILITY OF BELLOWS

The concertina bellows usually is quite flexible. For comfort this is positive as it allows free movements but musically it may be a drawback. The more folds and sides the less stability and control. The early six-sided English treble concertinas had bellows with four folds. Later ones usually have five or six. Some players regard four folds as a problem due to limited volume but it may also be advantageous due to superior tone control. If there is not a steady grip, or when playing standing, the disadvantage with a floppy bellows is particularly evident. With efficient phrasing, and opening the bellows as little as possible, the problem may be compensated for, and with the same technique the shorter four-folded bellows may be handled successfully.

Making the bellows more rigid is another way to reduce the instability problems and it could also be considered making the instrument four-sided, which at least for Anglos ought to be technically appealing. Otherwise one has to find methods of playing which provide necessary stability. So let us examine different ways to support the instrument.

PLAYING SITTING

1. The traditionally recommended method, as described before, is illustrated in Figure 1. The left side of the instrument is supported by the knee. All work with the bellows is done with the right arm in a straight line. The left end of the instrument is stabilized by the knee which also eliminates the tendency of the instrument to rotate. The right end however is unstable and with a floppy bellows there is acceptable stability only with the bellows almost closed. Articulation can not be equally performed when playing notes on different sides of the instrument.

2. Some players use the method in Figure 2, hanging the instrument over one knee. Stability is good, symmetry too, but the movements are obstructed and the bellows as well as the clothes will soon be worn out. This method can hardly be recommended.

3. A better choice is shown in Figure 3. With a large instrument and short movements this works quite well. Symmetry and stability are excellent. With a short bellows, need for longer movements, or energetic bellowing, it may be less suitable. If a small instrument has got extra long and rather rigid bellows making it possible to play mostly with the bellows far open the method ought to work better. Wear of the instrument hardly is a problem but wear of the clothes may be.

4. A method, which combines fairly good symmetry with very good control of the bellows, is illustrated in Figure 4. Just the edge of one end is resting against the knee and the instrument is balanced in this position while the bellows is worked as equally as possible with both arms like you open and close a book. The bellows is partly "self-stabilising" since the lower folds are closed and form a kind of "hinge". The conditions for delicate and equal articulation with both ends are very good and the dynamic resources are better than with the method "1" but the volume capacity may be reduced, which can be compensated with effective technique. This method evidently is "un-orthodox" in concertina environment and therefore worth some extra words:

SUPPORT OF BELLOWS

Some tutors explicitly speak against any twisting and uneven movements of the bellows. This of course is good advice in order to prevent damage to the bellows, and the method "4" is hardly recommendable for instruments with short or old brittle bellows and it simply does not work with rigid bellows.

It is noteworthy however that a similar technique with "lower bellows support" belongs to the elementary methodology in accordion playing (Figure 5) and the only requirement for the application of it with concertinas is that the bellows is flexible enough, preferably by means of more folds. However, as mentioned above, the flexibility versus rigidity of the concertina bellows is a controversial matter and it has such significance that it ought to be the subject of a careful individual choice. For the instrument maker it is controversial too, since making the bellows with considerably more folds comes outside the standard procedure.

This principle for "support of the bellows" may be used even more effectively. By fastening a stretched rubber strip to two endbolts across the bellows (Figures 6 and 7) the method can be used while standing as well as sitting. The positions at "a" and "b" (Figure 7) work best due to the eccentric location of the handle.

PLAYING STANDING

The problems related to carrying load and instability makes playing standing complicated despite the fact that it ought to be the 'natural' way to perform with the concertina since the movements can be completely free and symmetrical. The unreliable way of holding the English - with the thumb and little finger - probably is the main reason that most players avoid playing standing. As I mentioned earlier, most tutors recommend a neckstrap attached to the thumbstrap screws to support the instrument with the forearms in a horizontal position (Figure 8). None of the authors however present any kind of analysis of the idea or their motives for this advice.

My guess is that they have preferred the horizontal forearm position as it resembles the position when sitting and that the insecure original way to hold the instrument gets even worse with a lower position. There are some other things to consider too.

A. The neckstrap is not a very good solution itself since it may cause muscular tension in the neck region and if used it should (for comfort) be broad and elastic. The tension problems are best prevented by hanging the instrument over the shoulders instead of around the neck - the simplest way is using suspenders made for trousers and fastening the instrument in the front ends of them. To make it possible for the instrument to follow the arm movements smoothly with a varying elbow angle the straps could be elastic. When optimal improvement of the stability is wanted, for instance for a light treble with flexible bellows, maybe the straps should not be elastic.

B. Fastening the straps (neckstrap or suspenders) at the thumbstrap screws (Figure 11) makes the instrument balance in an angle which unlikely is the same as the ideal hand position and it also allows the unwanted tendency of the instrument to rotate due to the eccentric location of thumbstraps (Figure 11). By using a ca 20 cm strap between two of the endbolts and attaching the neckstrap or suspenders at an optional position on this intermediate strap the rotation is counteracted and the balancing angle of the instrument may be adjusted to suit the wanted hand position (Figure 12).

C. The horizontal position of the forearm could be questioned due to following reasons:

1. For long time work or heavy loads in general a wide angle at the elbow and a vertical position of the arm is preferable (Figure 10). Only when playing very energetically a smaller angle at the elbow could be advisable.

2. As shown in Figure 8 the angle of the neckstrap will cause extra load on the neck while the hands/arms still have a considerable load. If the angle between the neckstrap and the horizontal forearm is 45° the force acting on the neck will be 1,4 x the weight of the instrument, which has to be pushed away from the body by the thumbs using a force equal to the weight of the instrument. Summing up, the total muscular load will be 2,4 x the weight of the instrument - not exactly an effort-saving way doing the job, or what you mean by "relief" at first thought. The reason that it may feel relieving all the same is that larger muscles take over the strain which is some kind of progress. Trying to reduce this load by retracting the elbows (Figure 9) leads either to an uncomfortable and locked position with extended wrists (Figure 13), or extremely bent bellows (Figure 14). With the low position (Figure 10) the neckstrap, or the suspenders, may carry almost the whole weight of the instrument and since the instrument is hanging near the vertical line the load on the neck or shoulder muscles will be negligible and the arms may work freely, resulting in more relaxed and efficient 'bellowing'.

3.The eccentricity of the instrument handle (with few exceptions) makes the instrument rotate as mentioned before unless actively counteracted by unwanted muscular tension. This tendency as said above can be counteracted by the two-point fastening of the straps, but more effectively by a lower position with an elbow angle about 120 degrees (Figure 10) where the instrument centre of gravity and the thumbstrap location share the same vertical line.

4.The discrepancy between the ends and the relaxed hand position (Figure 15) is harder to compensate with the forearm horizontal and a right angle at the elbow than it is with the arms stretched as in the low position according to Figure 10.

To sum up there seems to be good arguments for using a low playing position with an elbow angle of 120 degrees or more, instead of the commonly recommended horizontal forearm position. When playing with great force however, maybe a right angle (or even smaller) at the elbow could be advisable. With support from a neckstrap or suspenders the low position will be safe enough and in combination with the improved handle I have suggested, which is chiefly intended for this position, the lower position ought to be considerably more comfortable and efficient.

Are there any arguments speaking for the 'traditional' recommendation?

For precision and confidence it is advisable not to change the relation between the hand and the keyboard when switching between standing and sitting. For the player who prefers almost exclusively to play sitting on a table chair and only occasionally plays standing it might be safest to stick to the habit using a horizontal forearm position if it is tolerable.

On the other hand, for the player who mostly prefers playing standing, and who uses the low position, it may become unfamiliar to switch to playing seated on a common table chair. Sitting on a high footstool may allow the same low playing position and a free symmetrical bellows-work as when standing and the neckstrap or suspenders can still be used in the ideal way.

CONCLUSION

Some methods for playing and supporting the concertina have been presented that are not concordant with the traditional recommendations, which have been regarded as dogmatic and limited by conditions of the past. The purpose of the suggestions has been to provide for greater comfort and efficiency, and partly they are related to modifications of the original instrument design. The ideas are still not meant to be general recommendations. On the contrary there are so many circumstantial factors to consider that one "correct" or "superior" method does not exist - only by practical trials a rational choice can be made.