DG Melodeon to GD Anglo?

[Tarquinbiscuitbox]

I currently play a DG melodeon and I'm thinking of getting a GD Anglo. Does anyone know if it's easy to transfer playing from one to the other?  

Many thanks, 

Jon. 

[Devils' Dream]

Define "easy". 

[Tarquinbiscuitbox]

'Easy' would be that I don't have to re-learn the fingering patterns for the tunes that I play. 

[Bill N]

If you only play "in the rows" there will be some transferable skills, except that your keyboard will be cut in half and the lower half turned upside down and played with the other hand.  If you plan to play "cross row" or have 30 buttons, the melodeon patterns won't help you very much.  I tried going the other way, and except for familiarity with "push-pull" and bellows control, and the idea of having notes in more than one spot I didn't feel that there was much in common.  However I do know people that play both well, so your experience might be different.

[hjcjones]

I play both.  There's definitely a relationship between the two, especially playing straight up and down the rows.  However I assume you're aim is to play harmonic style with melody on the right hand and chords on the left. The right hand on the concertina is equivalent to playing in the upper octave on the melodeon., but the D/G is usually played in the lower octave, so you may find that some of the fingering is slightly different.  Playing across the rows is also different because the relationship between the rows is different. On melodeon, the G row is higher than the D row. On the concertina the D row is higher than the G row.  This makes for different cross-fingering patterns. However I don't find I ever get confused between melodeon fingerings and concertina.

 

While you will find some similarities, it is not as simple as transferring melodeon fingering to the concertina.  However you should already be familiar with the push-pull concept, bellows control, using the air button etc and these translate more or less directly.  Give it a go, playing melodeon will give you a head start, but you will need to think of it as a different instrument.

 

 

 

 

 

[Tarquinbiscuitbox]

You've explained it very well. Thank you for your help ?

[Wolf Molkentin]

This has of course been discussed before, like nearly every topic ?

 

(the latter being a gross exaggeration, to be sure)

 

Edited May 7, 2019 by Wolf Molkentin

[Devils' Dream]

Jones has it right, IMO.  

The Q, Biscuit, is "why"?  Are you wanting the size, the sound or the style, or ? of the Anglo. In some ways, maybe you want a DG Lilly? 

I got a GD Anglo because I liked the sound of the harmonic playing style.  I do find it completely different from playing melodeon, except the push/pull and scales are pretty much familiar along the 1-2 rows.

AND the buttons are damn close together, for better or worse. 

[Robin Tims]

I can endorse the comments by Howard Jones.

 

After 20 years for so on D/G melodeon I thought to add a G/D Anglo to my then novice  attempts on C/G Anglo would be a big help. Although it was a super box my playing ability with it was quite a disappointment, and I soon abandoned that G/D Anglo (though in retrospect that was a bit hasty and I sometimes wish it was still around). It just adds to the confusion in the early stages and the difference is greater than you might imagine. (love the lower pitch though). 

 

After making progress of course it is a different matter and very handy to have a G/D for open sessions.

 

Rob

[Mikefule]

An Anglo is like a melodeon inside out.

 

The right hand of each row is equivalent to the top octave of a melodeon.  That means the right hand buttons have the pull note lower than the push.

 

Also, where a melodeon is DG (D is lower than G, a 4th apart) the Anglo is GD (D is higher than G, a 5th apart).

 

Many people can play both.  I personally found that I forgot how to play melodeon as soon as I got deeply into Anglo.

[Robin Harrison]

Quote

Does anyone know if it's easy to transfer playing from one to the other

 I also play both..........and quite simply, I believe the answer is "No".

  If you are content playing melodeon, trying to learn an anglo will complicate your life.

Robin

[hjcjones]

Easy? No.  A concertina isn't a tiny melodeon.  But the instruments are complementary, and playing melodeon will give you a head start over someone who has never played one of this family of instruments.  If you want to try concertina, don't be put off, but don't expect to be able to play it immediately.

 

Will it complicate your life? Learning any new instrument, indeed taking up anything new, will do that.  Is it worth it? Definitely.

 

However be warned that Concertina Acquisition Disease is just as contagious as MAD, and considerably more expensive!

 

[Wolf Molkentin]

1 hour ago, hjcjones said:

be warned that Concertina Acquisition Disease is just as contagious as MAD, and considerably more expensive!

 

yes indeed ?

[Anglo-Irishman]

3 hours ago, hjcjones said:

However be warned that Concertina Acquisition Disease is just as contagious as MAD, and considerably more expensive!

Yes, and there's a non-specific version of the bug, known as MIAS (Musical Instrument Acquisition Syndrom), which gets progressively worse, the more different instruments you have. ?

So having a melodeon and wanting a concertina is, in fact, worse that having a melodeon and wanting another melodeon ...

 

Cheers,

John

[TedK]

I made the transfer, actually I ended up giving up melodeon for a few years although I've picked it up again recently. 

 

You've already had some good advice, but in my experience you definitely will need to relearn a lot of fingerings. It's quite variable depending of the range of the tunes, so some tunes which I knew well on the melodeon I could play almost immediately on the anglo, while others I still find a bit awkward several years on. 

 

Even the "on the row" layouts are not quite the same as a melodeon, for example the upper end of the G row.  The layout is very similar in some places, but much more cross-rowing is required- not just to access the right chord as tends to be the case on the melodeon, but to actually play the notes you need. 

 

I would definitely encourage you to try it though, I think the anglo concertina has a slightly higher learning curve in the initial stages, but is way more flexible than even a 2 1/2 row D/G.

[Wolf Molkentin]

After ten happy minutes with my "new" GD Lachenal (in the office! ?) I can only agree: go for the GD anglo if you feel the itch, it will well be worth it!

 

Best wishes - ?

[David Colpitts]

And I say, hooray for the G/D Anglo, no matter what the initial experience.  Although I started with the Anglo, I found the combination of the two no trouble at all.  But as others have said,  less trouble for the simpler along-the-rows style, which is why I got the G/D anyway.  I have “harmonica brain” and usually play “the keys stamped on the instrument.”  And, for Irish, Quebecois, Old Timey, and probably (but I don’t really know) English session tunes, it’s a natural.  Plus, the more-or-less can’t miss simple harmonies with the left hand make it a real winner.  Weighs less than a kilogram, too!

 

Have a great time!

 

David