Which concertina would a pianist find easiest to play?

[Rich C R]

Would a pianist find any particular concertina system easier to play.   I don't know enough about Duets but I think probably one of the Duet systems would be favourite but then maybe the EC?   Any pianists out there who can give their opinion?

 

I should add I am not a pianist myself although I am attempting to learn the piano and I do play the EC albeit not as well as I would like.

Edited December 30, 2018 by Rich C R

[W3DW]

A pianist would find an EC to have a familiar pattern since the two central vertical columns on both sides are "white keys" with the outside columns providing the "black keys" adjacent to the appropriate white key. A Crane duet follows this pattern in its own way. 

 

Also, all the duets and anglos have the higher notes on the right side and lower notes for the left hand, a familiar pattern to pianists as well. 

 

However, I think that similarity to the piano is less important to your choice of instrument than choosing one that suits what you wish to play. For myself, I wanted to play melody and harmony together and chose a Hayden duet to accomplish that goal. It's button pattern is logical, but not at all similar to the piano, however I found it quicker to learn than the more piano-like EC.

 

Listen to all the concertina types, and try to play them as well.  We all seem to adapt to new instruments differently, and you'll see which one speaks to you. Enjoy the search! 

 

Daniel 

Edited December 30, 2018 by W3DW

[David Barnert]

Then, of course, there’s the Jedcertina, with buttons arranged just like a piano. I’ve never tried one, but they don’t come highly recommended.

 

[Mikefule]

The Jedwartina?  Eek!

 

[wunks]

Appears to be a unisonoric duet.....?

[Don Taylor]

ITM - a hundred years from now....

[Don Taylor]

16 hours ago, W3DW said:

For myself, I wanted to play melody and harmony together and chose a Hayden duet to accomplish that goal. It's button pattern is logical, but not at all similar to the piano, however I found it quicker to learn than the more piano-like EC.

Maybe one could argue that playing a Hayden is like playing a piano but always using the fingering for C.  When you want to play in other keys then you just shift your hand to a new root note and use the same fingerings for the new key.  In a way, all notes are white notes.

 

My argument breaks down for music with accidentals outside of the key or for music in keys that are 'off the edge' of a Hayden layout.

[Little John]

1 hour ago, Don Taylor said:

Maybe one could argue that playing a Hayden is like playing a piano but always using the fingering for C.  When you want to play in other keys then you just shift your hand to a new root note and use the same fingerings for the new key.  In a way, all notes are white notes.

 

My argument breaks down for music with accidentals outside of the key or for music in keys that are 'off the edge' of a Hayden layout.

 

There is another similar between Hayden and piano. When you play a scale on a piano you run out of fingers, so you pass your thumb under your palm and start again. Moving up a row every three or four notes on the Hayden is very similar - you run out of fingers so move up and start again. The piano analogy breaks down for all accidentals, since they are not adjacent to their natural as they are on a piano.

Edited December 30, 2018 by Little John
To clarify.

[McDouglas]

Rich CR

On 12/29/2018 at 4:01 PM, Rich C R said:

Any pianists out there who can give their opinion?

 

I've been playing piano since I was eight so it is the instrument I'm most comfortable with although I also play or have played saxophone, guitar and bass.  I asked this same question almost exactly a year ago before purchasing an English Concertina.  I suppose I hoped by picking a system that was somehow analogous to the piano (in some way) it would help me advance more rapidly.  (One might make the case a Duet is a better analog: LH vs. RH).

 

But here's the thing I've realized.  I learned to play piano and guitar and saxophone at different times in life.  Each informed the other and perhaps accelerated learning - but each required its own unique development of skill and muscle memory.

 

I'm not sure I was asking the right question when I posed this a year ago.  And maybe there is no correct answer.  Bottom line: I've had a great time learning to play the EC and met some great folks this past fall in the UK because I dared to try to learn something new.