DougS

Thanks -- Had the same thought yesterday while playing re: how many notes are really needed (or desirable) at a time. Part of the issue is that I bought a Stagi, which is bigger than other concertinas, but 4 (long) fingers do seem to be enough even on the Stagi.

I think we are talking about 2 diff things. I thought you meant you use octave trebel clef for the right hand, which I should have realized would make no sense. So you mean you use 2 octave trebel clefs, and the left hand one plays one octave lower than written. In that case, for the left hand, both the octave trebel clef played one octave lower, or the octave bass clef played one octave higher would of course both work. As a piano player, I prefer the bass clef for the left hand, and panic even thinking of the tenor clef.

Here is the Octave Bass Clef I use. It works great for the Hayden, with middle C being notated in the second space from the bottom. I leave the trebel clef alone as middle C no longer collides with the Octave Bass Clef notes.

I have been using the octave bass clef, writing one octave below what is played, and a regular trebel clef, which works well to prevent colliding clefs.

Hi Alex, Thanks for the link. I can see how a different strap mechanism could help w reaching notes more easily with thumbs either over or under the straps. But does anyone actually do what I'm experimenting with, playing with all 10 fingers? Or is that something tried 100 years ago already and ultimately non pacticable?

Greetings -- I'm a concertina newbie, just bought a Stagi 46 note (I know, I know, the concertina all love to hate, nevertheless, I like the sound, system and esp the price 🙂 ). I was playing around with the strap tightness/looseness, and it suddenly occurred to me that no matter how I adjusted it, it still seemed awkward to reach some notes from some others. Then I thought what if really loosen it up and put all my fingers through, and when I did I realized I'd gained 25% more fingers (20% more if one is bad at math, so let's split the difference and call it 22.5%). Of course, the part of the back of hand that makes contact with the strap for bellowing is closer to the wrist, and resting each end of the concertina on the corresponding leg may be needed for stability given the looser straps and not using the thumbs for stability. Having all 10 fingers then permits easier interval stretches and more fingering options for both melodies and chords. I do allow for the possibility that as a newbie, I simply don't realize this is ridiculous, scandalous and will never work as I progress, but just wondering, does anyone out there use their thumbs to play concertina?

Still for sale?