First Concertina C/g Or G/d

[peggy]

Hi Everyone,

I've checked the archives and haven't found anything that would answer my question. So maybe someone on the list could point me in the right direction. I would like to buy an anglo concertina (30 button) to play mostly the folk songs of the Appalachian Mountains located in the U.S. Sometimes I may want to play with a group or just want to entertain myself. Which tuning would I want to get-- a C/G or G/D? I play the mountain dulcimer and the mandolin (taking lessons) and the music is usually in the keys of D, G, or C. Does it follow that I should get a concertina in the G/D tuning? My interest in music seems to be primarily folk (the Scots and Irish that settled into the Appalachian Mt. area). My mandolin teacher does not play the concertina and is not familar with the button set up and so is not much help. Thanks, Peggy

[Henk van Aalten]

Peggy

 

Welcome to this forum. For your questions about G/C or D/G iI refer to a recent topic in this forum. It will give a lot of ansers to your questions.

[Helen]

Hi Peggy,

 

I play the music that you like plus some others. I also play both types of dulcimer and the mandolin.

 

I have found the C/G to work very well for me.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Helen

[peggy]

I play the music that you like plus some others. I also play both types of dulcimer and the mandolin. I have found the C/G to work very well for me.

 

Thanks Helen and Henk for the info. The reason I put the question to the list was because the G/D tuning was recommended by someone who plays concertina with a group where the music is mostly "old timey". The reading I've done on the list shows that C/G is the most used (popular) tuning and his enthusiasm for G/D made me nervous. I will be placing an order with one of the U.S. concertina makers shortly and didn't want to make a HUGE mistake with the tuning. So it's C/G for me.

By the way Helen, will you be going to the dulcimer fest up in Evart, Michigan this July? Peggy

[Jim Besser]

>The reason I put the question to the list was because the G/D tuning was

>recommended by someone who plays concertina with a group where the music i

 

 

I play lots of oldtime music for dances, and C/G is great. The only real limitation, I think, is with some fast and complex A tunes, but that's mostly a matter of practice. And I love those OT tunes in F, which works great on a C/G.

Edited April 12, 2005 by Jim Besser

[Helen]

Hi Peggy,

 

I've got to go to Evert sometime. Have never gone. Where do you live?

 

Remind when it is again too, please.

 

Thanks,

Helen

[Chris Timson]

The reading I've done on the list shows that C/G is the most used (popular) tuning and his enthusiasm for G/D made me nervous.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Maybe just down to who replied. There are plenty of enthusiastic G/D concertina players around, among whom I would count myself.

 

Don't write offf the G/D for song accompaniment. It is basically a lower pitched instrument than the C/G, and my belief is that the lower pitch could potentially sound better with song accompaniments. But the basic issue is what keys you most comfortably sing in. In my case, though I play G/D for sessions I sing most readily in C, so I got myself a baritone C/G (i.e. one octave below normal C/G) made for me. For me it is perfect for most songs. When I accompany my partner Anne, however, I find that my accompaniments fit better on the G/D, so that would always be my first stop with her.

 

What I am trying to say is that you need to try some anglos in the flesh, as it were, to see which is right for you. If you don't currently play the concertina at all, you should also consider the English system, which might suit you also.

 

Chris