Karl Merrick

Thanks for that, it was really useful! It might be the case that the things I am missing are: Using the push bass G on the C row. I should make much more use of this. And using the C Row on the right hand for lower melody notes to free the left hand for chords. Seems like good practice going forward and gives me something to focus on. Thanks for all your inputs!

I will have a look at the south African approach, see what I can take from it, thank you. Think I might be a bit guilty of approaching the Anglo from too much of a theory head. I've only been playing six months. Maybe I should just enjoy it rather than keep on dissecting it.

Yes I think that is probably the best approach. It seems a lot easier to do on the right hand than the left. I still dont think there are any bassy push G chords? Maybe I could focus on it being a 'pull' key rather than a push one. There are so many ways you can play this instrument- I flip between thinking the layout is logical genius or random chaos.

Hi, I'm a beginner on the concertina but I think I have made good progress the past six months (blame a lockdown!). I play a C/G Blackthorn which I love. I can get a good oom-pah bass going on the C row using the first C bass and the C chord, or sometimes just the C and E or C or G notes. This also gives some kind of G7 chord on the pull which is really useful. I can't seem to do the same sort of thing on the G row. I can use the G bass on the C row but this feels a bit odd and not particularly intuitive. It also doesn't sound great on the pull, requiring some jumping around to find a D chord. I am using choppy chords and playing in octaves on the G row instead, but would like to get a good bass going ideally. Am I missing something obvious?

Thanks Rod. PVA glues was my initial thought but I thought I would just run it by people more knowledgeable than myself. It is very minor but I dont want to leave it and let it get worse. Or attempt a repair, use the wrong glue and damage it. I know bellows can be fragile and expensive things.

Hi, this is my first post although I've been a lurker for quite a while. So I've had my Blackthorn for just under a year. It's a great beginner concertina and I am getting on well with it. But I've just noticed the leather on the bellows is starting to peel ever so slightly on the join. How shall I glue this back down? Is there anything specific you would recommend? I dont want it to end up becoming an air leak or anything of that sort.