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Greetings -- I'm a concertina newbie, just bought a Stagi 46 note (I know, I know, the concertina all love to hate, nevertheless, I like the sound, system and esp the price ? ). I was playing around with the strap tightness/looseness, and it suddenly occurred to me that no matter how I adjusted it, it still seemed awkward to reach some notes from some others. Then I thought what if really loosen it up and put all my fingers through, and when I did I realized I'd gained 25% more fingers (20% more if one is bad at math, so let's split the difference and call it 22.5%). Of course, the part of the back of hand that makes contact with the strap for bellowing is closer to the wrist, and resting each end of the concertina on the corresponding leg may be needed for stability given the looser straps and not using the thumbs for stability. Having all 10 fingers then permits easier interval stretches and more fingering options for both melodies and chords. I do allow for the possibility that as a newbie, I simply don't realize this is ridiculous, scandalous and will never work as I progress, but just wondering, does anyone out there use their thumbs to play concertina?