SliverOfSand

Thank you for the clarification! I’m not good with notes/sheet music, so just saw that it didn’t match the chart and was confused. Just double checking now, your correct, the d# actually registers as an E flat. Thanks again for letting me know, now I only have that one reed plate to deal with. Since it is waxed on, I’ll probably be sending it somewhere for repairs after consulting McNeela. I definitely don’t want to mess around with that!

Thank you for all the information! I am in the process of writing McNeela about the issue, and I have written down all of the out of tune accidentals. There are five in total, and I’ve outlined them in an image so it’s clearer. Is this unusual with concertinas having so many reeds slightly out of tune? 😅 I’ll see what they say about it, until then I’ll just play some simple tunes that don’t use any weird reeds....

Thanks for the info! I’m definitely going to contact McNeela about it, if the reed plates are waxed on then I’m going to have to send it back. I’ll talk to them first before trying to fix it myself. I wouldn’t want to make things worse! 😅

Thanks for the reply! I don’t really want to send it back, as Mcneela is in Ireland and I live in Canada. I would consider sending it back if it is extremely difficult to do by myself, but I’d prefer not having to send it back if not absolutely necessary.

Sorry, it’s on the G row.

I’ve been trying to play some songs using the bottom row of my new Swan, and on the left nine, it’s supposed to be the opposite of one on the right? As in 1 right (C row) is B on pull and c on push, 9 left (G row) is c on pull and B on push. But on my concertina, instead of left 9 having a c on the pull, it’s B on the pull and c on push, so exactly the same as right 1. (Sorry if how I explain it is confusing) Basically left 9’s reeds are reversed. Is this a manufacturing mistake? All the other buttons have the same layout as in Gary coover’s books, which I used for reference (although some of my accidentals are a bit out of tune). I find it very difficult to play certain songs because of this issue. Would this be an easy problem to fix on my own, if I were to take it apart and switch the reeds? Or is this something I should look for a professional to fix? Edit: Clarifying the rows

I saw a few of those apps as well, although I don’t remember seeing one for Anglo... that is very cool that it will be able to convert abc tabs to buttons, could be really useful if you can’t read that specific tablature. I’d love to see some videos of your English! I don’t have a good recording set-up myself, but I’ll look into maybe recording some audio of my playing, even if it’s just for myself. It’s always so cool to see progression of learning any instrument.

Thank you for the advice! Just got my concertina yesterday and can already play Oh Susanna using both the left and right hand sides at the same time, which is much more progress than I thought I would make in a day. I definitely need to practice with a metronome, it might help me to just try and reach a steady pace instead of the starting and stopping I sometimes experience. It seems my biggest challenge is learning songs I’m not familiar with. I listen to the song a few times, but when I go to play it, I forget it immediately. 😅 I think I need to just listen to those songs on repeat until they’re stuck in my head so I can actually play them! Also, good luck with the English concertina!

Thanks for all the info! I tried that air tightness test, and it fell at a really slow rate, so I’d say it’s pretty tight. I have a case for it which keeps the bellows squeezed together tightly, so I shouldn’t have a problem with storing it!

Thank you so much! I’ve never played any squeezebox before, so it’s all new to me! Glad to know there’s nothing wrong.

....And I have a question. When I press the air button to draw in more air, when I have it out the full length and let go of the button, it slowly moves back. It’s not noticeable at first, and it doesn’t affect the sound of any notes. It also happens when I close the bellows fully, it starts to slightly open. I’m just wondering if this is normal for a new concertina, or should I be worried about it? Again, it doesn’t affect my playing at all, and all of the buttons seem to be working fine, it’s just a really slow movement. Since this is my first concertina, I’m not really sure what’s normal or not. Is it because the bellows are just a bit stiff, and are moving back the the ‘resting’ position, or is it an air leak somewhere?

This is a really interesting video! The method he uses actually makes a lot of sense, I’m definitely going to practice like that. Thanks for sharing!

I’ve never thought of making my own songs, mostly because I no nothing about music theory, but maybe just fiddling with different notes and combinations might work as well. Yes, I’m not planning on turning pro or anything, I’m doing this mostly for myself, but I do want to have the skills so I can play somewhat competently. I’m sure I’ll have fun at whichever pace I’m learning!

Thanks for the advice! I live with other family members, so like it or not, they are most likely going to listen to my playing! 😅 I haven’t really practiced playing an instrument in front of others before, as I usually do it for myself. I’ll definitely give these suggestions a go, especially recording myself. I feel that would be good to do, since I can actually see what I’m doing and what needs improvement. I’m not aware of any dance or music sessions in my area, but I’ll look into that for after the pandemic is over. It’s interesting how, even though we may have learned a song, we can just as quickly forget it when under pressure! Thanks again for the reply, this really helps give me a place to start.

I’ll definitely be doing that! I think I’ll try to just take things slow until I’m comfortable with the absolute basics, then I’ll start focusing on learning songs at a faster pace.

Thanks for letting me know! I’ve actually seen some of their videos on YouTube, so I’ll definitely look into their courses. Looking now, it says a 14 day free trial, so that should be plenty of time to try it out. It might be good to have a video tutor as well as books.

Thank you so much @MJGray! This helps clear things up. I definitely want to explore using both styles. The ITM style fascinates me, since I love playing technical music like that on my other instruments already. I don’t have much experience with the more harmonic style, it seems similar to how a piano is played in a way. I’m eager to learn it though!

I’m definitely going to check that out, I love to learn about the history of instruments; it’s so interesting! I feel like I’ll be in the same situation... I want to learn all of the different songs right away, but I have to remind myself to stick to one or two until I can master it. I’m also glad I found this site, it makes it seem less daunting to commit to the concertina when I can read about other people’s experiences.

Thanks for the response! Out of all the tab systems I’ve looked into, the one used in your books makes the most sense to me. I’ll still do some more research, it’s interesting how many different systems there are for one instrument! I also like the fact that playing by ear is encouraged, since that is how I play most instruments. Although, I always felt like I couldn’t seriously learn without some sort of notation. I have a lyre that I cannot find any tablature for, so I play some songs by ear every once in a while. Looking forward to experimenting with the concertina, with and without tabs! I’m receiving three video lessons from Caitlin nic Gabhann which I got from purchasing the Swan, so I’ll see how those go; I might continue with her lessons if I find I click with her teaching style. Also, I’ve been wondering what the difference is between ITM and harmonic style? Sorry if this is obvious, but I’m not quite sure what is different about them. I’ll definitely keep that in mind!

That’s interesting, I didn’t realize the concertina was that popular for traditional music in Australia! I’ll have to take a look at that tab system. I’m not really sure which tablature to use yet, but I’ll be exploring different options while I (impatiently) wait for my concertina to arrive! 😅

Thanks Mike! I am really excited to get started! Lately I’ve been interested in traditional Irish music, which is how I ended up developing an interest in the concertina. I am also going to try playing some more modern music as well, which is why I chose Anglo. I have seen a large variety of different musical styles being played on Anglo, so I feel like it’s a good option for diverse music choice. I am definitely going to order some of those books; ‘Easy Anglo 1-2-3’ looks like a good place to start. Thanks for linking that thread!

This is my first post here, so I’m sorry if this has already been covered somewhere else... After four months of research and debating, I finally sprung for an Anglo concertina. I was originally planning on getting a Rochelle, but I couldn’t find one anywhere. So I settled on the Wren, but after searching through some of these forums talking about the quality, I ultimately switched to a Swan. I thought it would be better to spend more right from the beginning instead of having to spend twice. I thought it would be a good place to start, since it’s an affordable beginner instrument that seems like it has some quality (compared to some others I’ve seen). I ordered it a few days ago, and should be arriving in a week or two. 😁 I am slightly concerned about the learning curve of the Anglo, since this is my first experience with any kind of squeezebox. I have some limited guitar experience, but that’s about it. What should I expect going into this instrument? I know that it will take a while before I become competent at it, but I don’t want to develop any ‘bad habits’ that could end up negatively affecting my progress later on. In other words, is there anything I should know/avoid when learning the concertina?