Chord Relationships of the English Concertina
By William Meredith (cinesound@nyc.rr.com)
I recently came into possession of a Lachenal, 48-key, English
concertina from around the turn of the century. Being new to the
instrument, I needed to know more about the key layout. Specifically,
because I didn't even know if the concertina was in tune, I was looking
for information about the 23 black keys. The other four rows of keys
were conveniently marked with their notes, so I had a point of reference
to start from, but as one of the E reeds was a half tone flat on the
pull compared to the push, it was important to know if there were any
other variations to deal with. While searching the web for some sort of
key-to-note correspondence, I came across references to the chords
available on an Anglo concertina. This made me curious as to the chords
available on an English concertina.
Unfortunately, I met with absolutely no success in my online search for
a fingering diagram. This forced me to take the drastic step of sitting
down with the instrument, a pencil, and a piece of paper to start an
ears-on investigation. After determining that the instrument appeared to
be properly setup -- I only had to tune a couple of reeds -- I had a
chart of what I considered to be the correct notes for all 48 keys. With
this in hand, I then began to investigate the chord patterns that might
be available. What I found carried echoes of Sir Charles Wheatstone's
brilliance.
Now I am the first to admit that music theory is far from my strongest
suit, and defer to all those whose specialty it is, however I find the
complexity and simplicity of the chord layouts on the English concertina
to be striking. I have tried to convey some of this in the diagrams I
created.
Based purely on three-finger combinations, light-colored triangles show
major keys while darker triads are minor keys. Hopefully they are
sufficiently self-explanatory and will provide some insights. As I began
to delve deeper, into this structure, I found many other chords and
variations, but thought it best to keep these diagrams simple enough to
get you started on your own explorations.
While I expect that all of this has been "discovered" many times during
the past 170 years, it does not appear to be readily available at the
present. Perhaps these charts will inspire others to contribute
additional useful information about this fascinating instrument.
William Meredith, Owner
Cinesound Company
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