Ethan Ham

Another problem with harmonica reeds is that they have a relatively short lifespan. That's probably partly due to the wet environment in which they work, but I imagine it is also from them being such small, thin pieces of brass.

I have two sons (7 & 9) who are learning to play Anglo. I started them with just playing melody, but they’re starting to move into left hand accompaniment. Right now we are working on Shepherd’s Hey.

The listing says it is a bandoneon.

This seems to be the maker’s concertina-focused site: http://www.concertinagk.com

In a Facebook forum, Lexie Boatright posted that her student Catriona Fee coached Martin how to mime playing and performed the music that is heard. I’ve only seen a short clip of him playing in an advertisement—it wasn’t very convincing (his fingers didn’t move).

A bit more detail about what I described above. So for the left hand accompaniment for 3/4 time you want to play om-pah-pah every measure. (For 4/4 or 2/4 time it would be om-pah om-pah every measure). I try to make the om a lower note from the chord using one button and the pah be higher notes in the chord using 2 buttons. Ideally the two pahs are the same two notes, but a lot of compromising needs to happen to make it work on an Anglo. I liked the Teatree Waltz that got posted recently, and have been trying to work out the left hand accompaniment for my 30 button G/D jeffries layout. Attached is what I have so far. The melody sneaks over the left hand occasionally. You could play this on a C/G by just ignoring the sheet music and playing the notation (which would transpose the music), adjusting the 2a if you're on a wheatstone layout. Again, just a beginner here, so I may be off in my advice and my arrangement probably isn't the best

I'm really just a beginner so take this will a grain of salt, but here is how I would go about playing chords on that song. (I play a G/D, so hopefully I won't get the C/G fingering wrong). I'd first transpose the song up one octave so that you're playing the melody on the right hand. Looking at the second measure, that would make the fingering on the right hand (using Gary Coover's system): 1 2 2. To go along with that I would play a C chord (C, E, G) on the left hand. I'd break that into C on the push, G on the pull, and then E & G on the push: 1 4a 4+5. If you're not familiar with Gary's notation, 1 2 2 on the right hand is push the middle row button closest to you, pull the second button closest to you in the middle row, push the second button closest to you in the middle row. On the left hand 1 4a 4+5 would mean push the middle row button furthest from you, pull the top row button that is 2 away from you, and then push together the two middle row buttons closest to you. You're doing this in a om-pah-pah rhythm. Again, I can't hear how this sounds since I don't have a C/G concertina, but it gives you a sense of how a newbie like myself might go about figuring out the chords.

Running out of air may be partly due to the concertina you had. I used to have a Concertina Connection Rochelle, and that thing took a lot of force and air to play. I still have to manage air with the Morse Ceili I now have, but at least I'm not having to fight the instrument to do so Playing softer and faster helps conserve air. Also, mastering the technique of playing a note and pressing the air button at the same time is very useful. It allows your bellows to take a big gulp of air before a bunch of notes in one direction. For a 3/4 time song, you'd probably be playing om-pah-pah chords on each measure as MJGray suggests. Also, the advice to keep the chords short will help with the air.

I can understand the caution, but it would have wonderful to see your work the documentary.

I second the spray mount suggestion.

Just saw an anglo being played (soon after the party of adventurers enter the volcano) in the 1959 version of "Journey to the Center of the Earth."

You might want to try concertinamusic.com, it's the site of the U.S. [Chemnitzer] Concertina Association.

What Jody said. It's a little more of a challenge if you learn music from notation; it's like playing a piano, but all the notes in that score you're reading have moved on the instrument. Other than that - piece of cake. Glad to hear it! My main concern was what it would be like reading sheet music... I figured it would be fine playing the songs I had already learned (if I don't mind them in a different key). But I guess after a while the new note layout "clicks." Malcom, compared to my Hohner 20 button, the Rochelle is a joy. I had been using that Hohner when I took a lesson from Jody (which was incredibly useful & I know I need to schedule another one). Jody let me try out his Morse. Wow! What a difference! I can't yet justify the expense of a Morse, but there was no way I could go back to playing that Hohner--so Rochelle it is (for now).

Thanks for sharing! I found some sheet music for it here and am happily learning the tune.

I'm a beginner plugging away at learning the concertina on a Rochelle. Eventually I'd like to get a hybrid G/D concertina. How hard do people find changing the key of their instrument?