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Hi Concertina.net, So I'm a beginner player, an have recently bought a C/G 30 button Anglo Concertina. I'm enjoying learning it despite initial slow progress, but have some questions in regards to a few things that are confusing me. I should preface this by saying please excuse any incorrect terminology/assumptions or stupid questions, I'm starting from absolute square 1. 1) My first question is about the the layout of the notes on sheet music, and on the keys of the concertina. On my concertina, some of the notes next to each other on the leys are not next to each other when written on sheet music, and vice versa. For example, Note 5, pulled on row C of my left hand is G. One of the notes next to it however (Note 4 on the same row) is also a G, this is confusing as these 2 notes would be nowhere near each other on sheet music? Similarly, in the key of C when written on sheet music, the pushed G which would be played on my right hand is note 3 of row C, and the next note (the pulled A) is note 2 of row G. Not to mention the fact that to play certain keys, you have to switch hands? Is there an intuitive pattern behind this this layout of Notes, or do I simply have to remember a rather illogical layout? 2) My seconded question is also similar. I am confused by the roles of the clefs. On a Piano, for example, I believe that each clef is effectively just detailing what side of middle C that set of notes is, and it is therefore an even split with the amount of notes a part of each clef, when playing a piano. However on my concertina it appears that every note on the right hand and half on the left side, is under the treble clef? Could this be explained? 3) Thirdly is a question about the speed of play. Most of the songs in the books I'm learning out of are Irish folk songs and are played very fast. Is there a trick and how to play at an adequate speed (no doubt practice), as I'm finding it difficult to even move the bellows quick enough. Also, while I'm not at this stage in playing yet, it won't damage the instrument if multiple keys are played at the same time? Thank you for reading and apologies if anything sounds particularly stupid, like I said at the start I'm a complete beginner to concertina, and music generally (I'v played a little piano and ukulele but only the basics). I look forward to improving and practicing more. Thanks!

I am selling a Hohner C48 2 x 24 button english concertina - rarely played. As I hardly find the time to play this english concertina, it searches a good house where it will be played and not just be stored in its gig bag. Details: Wooden ends - A suitable beginners instrument It is in concert pitch, it has 48 white keys - playing smoothly and sounding okay on push and pull. It has an air release key. The bellows is air tight. The condition is very good - like it just left the factory, the Hohner gig bag is included Shop price is 400 UK pounds. Asking 200 pounds. PM me if you want pictures or if you're interested to buy Marien

I am a beginner looking for a concertina not over $370. I know it's a far stretch, but I don't have much money to spend. I would like it to be English/Duet but it doesn't really matter which one it is out of these. Thanks so much!

Hello all! I recently bought myself a 30 button C/G concertina from gear4music and the coveted Concertina in the Harmonic Style by Gary Coover which has been great so far. I have however hit my first major snag. I was having a crack at For Ireland I'd not tell her name, got to the 3rd bar/measure and no matter what I try I always run out of air before I can start bar 5. I make sure to pull the bellows beforehand as much as possible to maximise air. I tried playing slow and quiet but then I go too slow and the reeds don't sound. It's very frustrating but I don't want to give up so soon on my learning journey. Any tips or ideas would be greatly appreciated

Hi there! This is my first post on this forum but not my first visit, so believe me I'm just as disappointed in myself for buying a wee 20 button Scholer as you will be. I own myself a lovely 48 bass piano accordion and wanted to branch out to other free reed instruments, my budget being what it is this Former German Republic model will do for now. Honestly it was bought as a bit of a project, having a broken strap (which I have already temporarily mended) and 2 missing buttons which should be easier to replace thanks to the cheaper wooden design. The daughter of a family friend has been envious of my accordion since I got it and I thought this would be a fine gift for her next birthday if I could get it presentable. The biggest issue I face is the notes themselves as I can't seem to figure out what keys the 2 rows of buttons are in. I won't kid myself into thinking this instrument will still be in tune after years of activity or lack thereof, but I hope enough of them are for someone to be able to help me. Using an online chromatic tuner I repeatedly tested each button on both the push and pull, to ensure as much accuracy as possible, and noted down the notes. I will attach an image of the results in the hopes that someone can help me figure out the key. (I will only be attaching the left hand notes as I presume that would be enough to identify the keys, but will happily post the right hand too if needed.) I'm not sure what I'll do for the reeds that are invariably out of tune, in my corner of Scotland I can't find a suitable shop and I certainly wouldn't want to try and tune them myself. I'll burn that bridge when I come to it though. Thank you in advance and I look forward to being a member of this fine community! ~Ethan

Greetings all, I am hoping to gain advice on which tutor book to purchase. I'm sure this has been enquired about multiple times before, but thought it was worth asking considering my specific experience and wants. For some background, I have wanted to learn the concertina since I was 17, (but opted for a electric guitar for my 18th birthday instead, I was a fool), and have now finally ordered a 30 button anglo. I have general music knowledge and experience playing folk music in an English session (on tin whistle) in Brighton where I live. I also finally learned to read music over the last year. My interest lies in English folk music and morris music, as well as in shanties, Finnish folk tunes, and in adapting other songs for the instrument. I've also done some research already, and as such I think learning the harmonic style will match my goals as a musician. I can play whistle, ukulele, guitar, as well as some harmonica, and very basic piano, so I think this puts me in good stead for learning a new instrument. Ideally I need a resource that will get chords, scales, and some tunes under my fingers, so i can look at the dots in my session's tunebook and pick up playing them with some ease, and also by ear - like i can with the whistle...not sight reading (yet), but able to pick them up easily after some practice without having to break it down to every part, bar, beat, sub-division. I am considering Gary Coover's books, as they have good reviews and recommendations, but do not know whether to buy 'Anglo Concertina in the Harmonic Style', or 'Easy Anglo 1-2-3: A Beginner's Guide to the Anglo Concertina', I worry the latter will prove too basic, but also that the former will prove too much too quick...When i have improved, I will surely buy his other books; I appreciate the songs being available on youtube, and when I listen to them, I think "that's what I want to sound like". Also, if there is an alternative available in the UK or as an e-book specifically for this style of playing, I'd be interested to know about it also. I found some PDFs of tutor books from the end of the 19th/ start of the 20th centuries ( 'Tutor for the Chromatic Anglo Concertina' by George Jones c.1946, and 'Howe's Eclectic School for the Concertina' by Elias Howe, c.1880) but I do not know if they will be worth looking at because of thier age and their seemingly steep learning curve (they may have been intended to be used in conjuction with formal lessons) Best wishes

I’ve had my concertina for 4 days, and I’ve began learning from “Easy Anglo 1-2-3” by Gary Coover. It’s certainly challenging, but so far quite rewarding. I also worked out scales in G and D and I’m working on getting them under my fingers. I can tell it’s going to take a while to get to the point where I can play melody and harmony and sound nice (instead of clumsily honking through a tune on a single row), but I look forward to the journey there. Its my mums birthday today and I had wanted to play her ‘Happy Birthday’ with a nice harmony, I transcribed a version Which I found on this site, which I will link below. While I can’t play it right now, I look forward to the day I can. I also wouldn’t mind learning a nice version of ‘Abide With Me’, the hymn, I’ve found some sheet music, but it will need transposing, and I can’t sight read just yet. So, I will work towards that as well as the tunes in 1-2-3. overall, I do not regret taking the plunge, very happy!

EDIT: okay, I have been convinced that I'm being too cheap. After a little more research it looks like something like a Stagi 20b is probably what I'm looking for, something like that to start out. I can push my budget up to about $200 if anyone has a solid reliable little thing they are trying to upgrade from. Y'all are some pretty helpful people, I have to say. Lots of great advice I really appreciate. I'm trying to be a little more patient so I can find a decent instrument. I am totally new to concertinas, but I want one to play in my history classes for students and to play with family at family gatherings. I am looking for something really cheap - like $100 or less range cheap, something I can get started on. I'm fine with an old Italian or German beater just so I can get started while I learn more and save for a better instrument. As long as it works and I can get started on it. I am in Texas. Thank you!

Sold

So I finally made up my mind to get a squeezebox for song accompaniment. I've never played one before, so I figured out an Anglo would be the easiest choice for a folksy beginner. However, I'm still in doubt whether I should opt for a 20-button or a 30-button model. To be more precise: I'm aiming for good old folklore sound - think Peter Bellamy, A.L.Lloyd , Roy Harris etc., shanties, ballads and all that. Nothing fancy, just some basic accompaniment. Also, I'm a woman with a rather high-pitched voice, and I'm mostly planning to accompany myself but could do with a small band (say, a concertina, a tin whistle and two singers). What would you recommend? 20 or 30? Thank you very much in advance.

Howdy All- I'm a complete and utter beginner with this whole concertina thing (totaly playing time so far about 1 hour) so I joined this forum to learn from you all. Glad to meet you all. I've got me a brand new Jackie and hope to get the barest rudiments of playing it down eventually I learn best via negative feedback and have the scars to prove it so please feel free to beat me about the head and shoulders when I need it. Which brings me to the "Neanderthal" part of the thread title. About 1/2 my bones are diagnostically Neanderthal according to paleoanthropologists and my brain seems to work the old way, too. Just as Uncle Neanderthal chipped his rocks the same way for a quarter million years, and was considered avante garde by Grandpa Erectus who was stuck in his ways for over 1 million years, I have neither imagination nor capacity for innovation. But I know a good idea when I see one.so slavishly copy the inventions of today's new-fangled H. sapiens in my crude, unskilled manner. You could classify me as a Chateperronian Neanderthal, I guess. I have a bit of history with musical instruments. I played trombone all through school (and haven't touched it since), taught myself a tiny bit of harmonica (but had severe problems with the inhale/exhale thing), utterly failed at the bagpipe due to being left-handed, and reached my Neanderthal physical finger and mental creativity limits with a Stratocaster, I have never been able to make sense out of a piano and have a 1-(MIDI)-track mind anyway. But I can type 60 words per minute, learned on a manual typewriter. Thus, of all types of concertina, I seem most suited to the English, so I'm going to give that a go. Anyway, I look forward to this adventure and hoipe to learn much from you all.

Hello. I am very interested in learning to play the concertina. My main reasons for learning are that I like the traditional styles of music that are played on it, and the sound in general, and also because it would be a small, portable, and versatile instrument. (And it's cool. ) The problem I have run into is figuring out what kind I want to learn. I'm sure that is a very common question among beginners, but I haven't been able to find the answers to my exact questions on here, so I'm posting this in hopes someone can help. I've done a fair bit of research but the internet has reached the limits of its efficacy. I am at the point where I need a real person with knowledge to answer specific questions, and I've had absolutely no luck finding anybody who knows anything about concertinas locally. (I live in Corvallis, Oregon, USA. Apparently concertinas are not big in the Northwest...) I have played piano for about 18 years (since I was 6) so I am very familiar with music, can sight read very well, and I am very determined to learn, so I am not anticipating any troubles regarding the actually learning or playing of the concertina (beyond the normal learning curve of any new instrument.) So differences that effect ease of learning are not my main concern. I have ruled out Anglo concertinas, for various reasons. So I am looking at English or Duet. My main goal is to have the most options as to what styles of music I can play. Though to be realistic, especially in the short run, the most likely music I will be playing (and one of the main things I want to be able to play) is traditional hymns. (If I get to the point where I can sit down and play hymns out of my hymnal for myself or even to accompany singing I will consider that success.) From my research I had settled on the duet probably being the best fit for me, since it seems to be designed to easily play melodies and harmonies/chords (ideal for hymn playing). But I ran into the problems of cost and availability. I had decided that I could handle the cost of the Elise Hayden Duet from Concertina Connection, but then I realized that it is not chromatic. (I'm a pianist, so I'm having trouble dealing with the limitations of not having every note at my disposal!) How does one deal with that? Would you really just have to transpose any songs into the keys you have and hope there are no accidentals?? Is it possible to find chromatic duet concertinas that are not in the thousands of dollars range? Or there is the option of an English concertina. From what I can find they tend to be more available/less expensive. And at least the version from Concertina Connection is fully chromatic. I guess it boils down to this, which is more limiting to versatility: a duet concertina that is not fully chromatic, or an English concertina's layout? At first I had thought that English concertinas were not well suited to something like hymn playing, but they were very big with the Salvation Army, so obviously they work with hymns. So is it possible but just more difficult to play melody and harmony/chords on English (leading to the development of the duet) or did they mostly just play melodies if they were solo and play in a concertina band if they wanted harmony? Also, if I am starting with a less expensive concertina with fewer keys is it difficult to switch in the future to a larger concertina? i.e. Should I wait and invest in a concertina with a larger range to start with, or does it make no difference? Do forgive this novella I've just written... This is why I really need an actual human person who knows stuff to talk to; there are many variables and probably some that I don't even know about yet... Hopefully my dilemma is understandable and my questions do not sound silly. Grateful to anyone still reading, Rachel

My daughter (17) thinks she would like to learn the concertina. She is not the most musical person in the world but she does play the guitar. Which is the easiest type of concertina for a novice to play. She probably would play it as a solo instrument. We are in west London.

Hi everyone! I´m a new member of this great Forum. I felt in love with concertinas after hearing Jon Boden a couple months ago. Since then I have been trying different concertinas. I think I have settle down in the English System. I had an Anglo Rochelle and I just didn´t feel comfortable with the diatonic feature. The size of the Rochelle was also a problem for me. Now I have two EC. One is an old Bastari and the other one is a Louis Lachenal. Would you help me date this Lachenal? From what I have learned online 1865 is my best guess. The serial number is 14.228. Here are the pics: Thank you so much! cheers from Argentina

Hello all. I was directed here from another forum. I expressed my interest in finding a good cheap concertina to knock about on and they directed me to both the 20 button anglo and this fine board. I understand that that model is a bit limited, but due to how likely it seems that I will be able to get one within my budget and how easy it should be as a starter instrument I think it is a good fit. It also seems to be the perfect fit for the sort of music I'm interested in playing. Sea chantys, fiddle tunes, backup to a few drinking songs, that sort of thing. From what I understand I could then move on to a quality 20 button or even upgrade to a 30 button without having to relearn much if I ever feel the need. On the subject of budget I can potentially go as high as $200, but if at all possible I'm hoping to find something a bit cheaper. Thanks for taking the time to check out my request.

Hello! So here's my story: I have always loved Irish music. I recently crossed paths with a great Irish flute player who inspired me to give Irish music a shot. We discussed different types of instruments that I could learn, and he seemed really excited about the concertina. To be honest, I didn't even know what that was, so I spent the next several hours online watching the concertina in action on YouTube. Needless to say, I immediately decided that I wanted to play one. Now I want to make sure I'm on the right path: From perusing different forums around the web, the general consensus is that one needs to invest a little money in a decent instrument to start out with, and concertinaconnection.com came up in several discussions. I checked out their starter models and listened to various players on those three models (Jackie/Jack english, Rochelle anglo, and Elise duet). Does anyone have any personal opinions or experience with these models? My second question is in regards to which style to pursue. I've read lots of discussions on this very question, so I hope I don't open a can of worms here. I've been playing classical piano for about 15 years, and the button layout of the duet system seems to make the most sense to me because of the parallel nature of the fingerings (like playing two mini piano keyboards on their sides). Any thoughts? Is it also reasonable to assume that I would be able to play various styles (including Irish) on a duet system? I've heard people playing classical music on english systems, can duets do the same? Ok, I think that's all of my questions for now. Thanks for any help/advice!

Hello, My name is Dave and I have recently taken an interest in the concertina. I'm hoping that this forum might be a good place to meet friendly folks who are enthusiastic and knowledgable about this very unique little instrument. I have yet to purchase a concertina of my own. I am still in the research phase. I do have some prior background in music. Mostly, I play guitar and ukulele. I also play piano and tenor sax to a lesser degree. Still, I feel like I'm searching for my holy grail instrument. An instrument that is portable like the ukulele, but not as quiet. An instrument where melody notes can be be played with a lot of sustain like with an electric guitar, but without the need to drag an amplifier around. An instrument that excels at playing both melody and accompanyment simultaneously like a piano, but which can be easily picked up and brought outside to play in the back yard. An instrument that can be very expressive like the saxophone. I think that the concertina may well be my holy grail instrument. Now that I've begun focusing on the concertina, I've become aware of how many variations there are. In a word, MANY. I am hoping that perhaps some of you folks who have been on the concertina path might be able to share some guidance and tips to help get me started on my journey. So far, I think I've narrowed it down to the English style concertina. Most of the music I play, I figure out by ear/memory. So I would want an instrument capable of playing in any key. I understand that the Anglo instruments are more limited as to which keys one can play in. Also, I think that the concertinas, which play two different notes on the same button depending on whether you are squeezing or pulling the bellows, would make things more complicated for me. But, obviously, I cannot say from personal experience. So I was wondering if some of you might introduce yourselves and tell me which sorts or concertinas you prefer and why. I am excited and curious to see what the concertina community is like and I'm anxious to learn as much as I can about this instrument. Thanks! Go Cat Dave