Mystery Jig

Folk music is what I have always played. Singing is what I've always done. I learned to play the five-string banjo when I was in high school and devoted to Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. Towards the end of school, I discovered girls liked the guitar much better, so I picked that up too, along with a harmonica around my neck. In the 1990s I made a living in an Irish pub band and added tin whistle and bodhran. Tenor banjo seemed like the thing to play when I joined a jug band ten years ago. But, for years, I always wanted to play the concertina. It wasn't until last year I realized there was more than one system. After watching lots of youtube videos, listening to recordings and reading pages and pages of information online, I settled on the Hayden system. I've had an Elise since April 2010 and I couldn't be more happy. It really fits me. It's almost never in the case. I can't keep my hands off it. I've already started saving for an upgrade, which will have to come sooner than later. The Elise is not made to last forever. To recap, my instruments, in order of how much I play and/or perform with them are as follows... 1. Guitar 2. Tenor Banjo 3. Harmonica 3.5 Hayden Elise 4. Five-string banjo 5. Tin Whistle Singing goes without saying.

The original post asked: For those who have been playing it for a while, how is it settling in? Not: please rant for the umpteenth time how much you don't think the Hayden system is worth learning. As I said, I'm sure you all can play better than me. But you can't tell me I don't have a ball playing the Elise by ear and not worrying about my future as a concert concertina-ist.

I don't doubt it. But what's that got to do with getting an Elise and enjoying myself? Your dislike of the instrument is well documented. Now your ego is also well documented, too. If I had wanted to insult you personally, I would have used your name. Get over yourself already.

I'll have had mine a year next month. It's been a lot of fun. I play it, probably, five days a week. Usually, I have it sitting on the kitchen table and I pick it up a few times a day. The bellows were stiff for a long time and they appear to be made from duct tape. The buttons are a little wobbly, too. It's the cheapest (and least expensive) duet concertina you will find, for sure. But I love it for what it is. I don't dislike it for what it is not. If your plan is to explore and enjoy yourself on a budget, go for it. If you wish to play in a serious ensemble, reading all those squiggly lines on the staff and being a curmudgeon, then don't go the Elise route.

My friend Bob Webb, here in Maine, plays a Maccann Duet. Bob Webb

Thanks and a tip of the hat to both of you.

So, I've been playing the concertina for 30 days. My first month. What do you think?

So, would it be the sound of air rushing past the valve, making it flap or vibrate?

I know what you mean. I can't keep my hands off it.

I don't know much about concertinas, but I've had my Elise for a month or so and it makes the same sound. I think it's just the bigger reeds getting "started."

I'll be very interested, for sure.

I'm new here and new to the concertina, but I've had an Elise for about a week now and can't keep my hands off it. It only has 34 buttons, where your Stagi has 46, I believe.