helmbelly Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 Hi I'm getting my first Conertina delivered tomorrow - it's English bc it was a good deal and I don't know a thing about them. I do play guitar and harmonica and the more I read up on anglo/english the more I'd like to spend an hour just seeing what an anglo is like. I mean before I get too deep into the English I'd like to play the field a bit 😉 If any one has an Anglo in the New Orleans or South Louisiana area maybe I could do you a favor with my pick up truck or just buy beer? Caleb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Barnert Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 You might want to play around with one of these, designed by concertina.net member, @eskin. That’s me in the video halfway down the page. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helmbelly Posted January 19, 2023 Author Share Posted January 19, 2023 Thanks David thats a great tip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helmbelly Posted January 19, 2023 Author Share Posted January 19, 2023 I'm going to try playing with this on my phone waiting for the mail truck today- but I think I still need to play the real McCoy bc the fingering (differences) can be learned but the idea of changing 'direction' with the bellows push-pull may be instinctive to a harp player. I've been blowing harp for so long the ole in/out is musically stamped into me ! I'm trying to figure what squeeze box is most amenable for my existing skills - with a minimum re-invention of the wheel. I keep looking at button accordions and thinking that those 10 buttons basically ARE my harmonica. It's complicated - I just wish I was in England again for a few days where I could find a shop and figure this out the old fashioned way! By doing it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill N Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 (edited) A 10 button melodeon (cordeen in Newfoundland) would be the most direct application of your harmonica skills. I also was a long time harp player before I picked up a concertina, so at first a 20 button Anglo was an easy transition. Really just 2 harps strapped to a bellows. But when you add a 3rd row and start to take advantage of the duplicates and reversals and accidentals (to play in other than the home keys) by playing "across the rows", rather than up and down one row like a harmonica, it quickly becomes a very different proposition. Edited January 19, 2023 by Bill N clarity 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helmbelly Posted January 19, 2023 Author Share Posted January 19, 2023 Thanks for the thoughts Bill. To me that is quite an eye opener to think of an Anglo 20 button that way. Heck I guess for starter I could just play one side! Well. wait- are they they same key harmonica on both sides? I bought an English which will be great fun to try out with my harp in a brace to try to get some interplay but my thinking was the Concertina was a steal at $95 shipped in perfect unused shape (and returnable) so I'm starting to think about re-selling it and buying and Anglo or 10 button And thanks for the Cordeen word, that will help me search as well as improve my 'Newfie' vocabulary from word SCREECH to two!@ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Barnert Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 3 hours ago, helmbelly said: are they they same key harmonica on both sides? Each of the rows of a two row (20-button) anglo is like a single key harmonica, broken in half with the lower notes on the left and the higher notes on the right. So it’s like 2 broken harmonicas in different keys (usually C and G or G and D). A third row on a 30-button anglo fills in some accidentals and convenient notes missing in one direction or the other. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Eskin Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 7 minutes ago, David Barnert said: Each of the rows of a two row (20-button) anglo is like a single key harmonica, broken in half with the lower notes on the left and the higher notes on the right. So it’s like 2 broken harmonicas in different keys (usually C and G or G and D). A third row on a 30-button anglo fills in some accidentals and convenient notes missing in one direction or the other. That’s how I explain the instrument to those not familiar with it when they ask. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Squeezer Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 I stopped in at the Martin (cajun) accordion factory in Scott, Louisiana on the way back home around Christmas time. I was surprised to see they had a few anglos in their repair area... There must be some concertina players in the area because of the prevalent accordion culture. Anyway yeah, put that harp in a brace and squeeze out some tunes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcoover Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 Although about 400 miles away from you, the Old Palestine Concertina Weekend in East Texas on March 23-25 will have quite a few Anglo, English, and Duet players, plus workshops and jams, so it would be an excellent opportunity to meet up with other players and also try other instruments. And the BBQ is pretty good too! Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIMON GABRIELOW Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 You can consider the Anglo concertina system as having its own set of lungs [ bellows] which take place of your own when you use mouth played instruments, [ mouth organ for example].. and likewise the bellows is important for not only air use [ to get air in or out when required] but also to make the notes themselves when need be. Example G natural in on bellows, and yet same button pulled out on bellows is an A and so on.. They are really very versatile instruments, which, and despite in appearance having fewer buttons than other types, are capable of a great deal of music, and effects, and all within reach of the fingers. [ of which more fingers, in number, tend to be used in playing Anglo, than English for example. But I am just denoting some differences, so please [anyone else reading this reply] do not think I am taking sides [ as to one type being favoured over another] ; I am just trying to help out in your enquiry. They are all great instruments regardless. If you can bear to watch my own little demo [ on my YouTube channel] I have just recently added a short video explaining the Anglo concertina and how it works, explained in my own personal viewpoint. I do not claim to know it all, it is simply my own attempt to enthuse others, and is really done for those who maybe never had chance to understand alternative instruments; and so, it is very basically explained. I do not recommend you copy my own way of holding the instrument, however, as I am noted for a very unusual way of putting hand and fingers inside the straps. [not usually expected]. But, otherwise, you might find it interesting. [ I hope]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7cPEDR776k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Tedrow Posted January 28, 2023 Share Posted January 28, 2023 Drive up to Alabama, I always have anglo and english concertinas in the shop. bob Http://hmi.homewood.net/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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