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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 am selling my 4-CD set, “300 Gems of Irish Music for All Instruments,” for only $5.99 USD. See https://greylarsen.com/shop/product/300-gems-recordings-mp3s-or-set-of-4-cds/. This price is good through March 31st, 2018. All six of my Irish music books and most of my CDs are also heavily discounted throughout March. For all the info, go to: https://greylarsen.com/webstore/st-patricks-month-sale/. This audio collection is a companion to my book “300 Gems of Irish Music for All Instruments.” (See https://greylarsen.com/shop/product/300-gems-of-irish-music-for-all-instruments/). All 300 tunes are notated in the book. Free excerpts are available as PDF downloads (at http://greylarsen.com/webstore/books/). (Scroll down a bit to find the excerpts.) Many of the transcriptions pay homage to recordings by great musicians and groups such as Matt Molloy, Martin Hayes, Sharon Shannon, Mary Bergin, Kevin Burke, James Kelly, Willie Clancy, Altan, the Bothy Band and the Mulcahy Family, as well as early 20th century recordings from revered masters Michael Coleman, Paddy Killoran, Dennis Murphy, Bobby Casey, Paddy Canny and others. The tunes are notated in a style that makes them equally accessible to players of fiddle, flute, whistle, accordion, concertina, harp, keyboard, guitar, mandolin, banjo, uilleann pipes – to all melody players. I play the tunes on Irish flute, tin whistle, and 49 of the tunes on my Wheatstone 12-sided anglo concertina from the 1930s. (See photo below.) This is an excellent resource for repertoire building and makes a nice gift. Also, I designed the tune sequence such that good medleys result when you play consecutive tunes one after another. (At least I think so.) To buy only the 49 concertina tunes, go here: https://greylarsen.com/shop/product/49-concertina-tunes-from-300-gems-of-irish-music-for-all-instruments/ For $9.99, you can get the entire collection as 300 downloadable mp3s, and save shipping costs. This costs less than getting the CDs if you are in Canada, Mexico or outside of North America. The mp3s can be found here: https://greylarsen.com/shop/product/300-gems-recordings-mp3s-or-set-of-4-cds/. Choose “MP3s” from the drop-down menu. The CD set is so inexpensive because I have piles of them on my shelves! Time to move them out into the world. I make no profit at this price, but I have the pleasure of spreading the music around. Thank you for your attention! - Grey

Hi Everyone, I bought my first concertina this fall and this site has been very helpful. Thank you. I'm working on 3/4 time tunes, mainly English ones. I can play melodies, but find chords very challenging. I've read 'Faking it' but need more help. Is anyone familiar with the 'Anglo Concertina Tutor Book' by Pip Ives? There is also the 'Anglo Concertina Course' from the Concertina Academy, but I couldn't find which key it is for. Am I correct in thinking that which key the tutor is written for is very important to a new learner with very little musical experience? Would these books be helpful to a new learner? Thank you.