General usage differences for treble, tenor, and baritone concertinas

[Cliff Ermatinger]

Pardon my ignorance.

 

I was hoping members here might share their usage for the differently ranged instruments they possess; for example, baritone for singing, tenor for playing in groups, or treble for solo playing, or whatever.

 

I'm quite new to this world of concertinas and am still trying to figure things out.

 

Thank you. 

[Cliff Ermatinger]

I suppose a more adroit way asking the question would be:

Is one of those sizes more appropriate for song accompaniment (it seems Lou Killen used a treble and I can tell what size Liam Clancy's was) and another for playing with musical groups or am I complicating things?

[Matthew Heumann]

I use both Treble & Baritone equally. But like Lou Killen, when I play treble, I prefer to play "above voice" (higher pitch).

[Cliff Ermatinger]

Thank you, Matthew.

[gcoover]

Different tools for different jobs, and it all comes down to individual preference. It all depends on what you want the concertina to do for you, and like many of us you may very well end up with several different instruments in different pitches and keys.

 

Gary

Edited February 19 by gcoover

[Cliff Ermatinger]

Thank you, Gary. I appreciate that. Only recently I've discovered your fascinating books. Are they English concertina friendly or solely for Anglo?

[Tiposx]

A baritone English system concertina can be useful when playing along with other treble concertina folk. I have trouble hearing what I am playing in that situation on a treble, but I can clearly hear my baritone playing the same melody an octave lower. Some baritone concertinas can be slow for this, depending on the pace of the music of course. I don’t have any trouble keeping up on a Morse, or A.C Norman baritones, but I can’t get close on my own vintage instrument. A better player might, of course.

I mainly play itm and hornpipes.

[gcoover]

6 hours ago, Cliff Ermatinger said:

Thank you, Gary. I appreciate that. Only recently I've discovered your fascinating books. Are they English concertina friendly or solely for Anglo?

Although definitely Anglo-centric, all the books have the dots for the melody, and sometimes chord symbols, so I would hope someone with an EC could work with that to make their own arrangements.

 

I would love to print a translated version of Miyuki Miura's tutor for the EC, so stay tuned!

 

Gary

[Cliff Ermatinger]

That would be wonderful. I look forward to it.

[Ty Bowen]

On 2/18/2025 at 4:26 PM, Matthew Heumann said:

I use both Treble & Baritone equally. But like Lou Killen, when I play treble, I prefer to play "above voice" (higher pitch).

Here's an example of this. My former teacher Jeff Warner showed this video to me in 2020 and it cemented my love of the concertina.

 

 

 

 

[Matthew Heumann]

I first heard & met Lou Killen while volunteering at the ARK Coffeehouse in 1972 & bought my first English (disassembled in a pillow case) in the kitchen of the ARK a few weeks later. I loved his above voice style better than the usual low chord approach used by many singers. Here's my use of higher accompaniment:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11I0s8GirB8

 

But I also don't dislike playing my baritone well below voice. And Tiposx was correct, many baritones aren't up to the speed of trebles for sessions or dances, but fortunately for me, my Lachenal baritone is plenty fast in the action and reed sounding, so I use it for fast tunes as well as slow as you can see in my video with Frank Edgley.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QpniZEh3Dc

 

[John Wild]

I notice another well known concertina player just to Louis Killen's left.

[Cliff Ermatinger]

Thank you, all. I appreciate the willingness of the members of this forum in so readily sharing their experience with the obtuse questions of a novice like me.

[4to5to6]

I was playing a 12 button miniature English and my wife a 25 button piccolo English tonight.  Clashed a bit as we are both in the same piccolo range but we had fun.  12 button is G to B and 25 button is piccolo C to C (no enharmonics).  The big advantage is I can put the 2-3/4" mini in my pocket and she can put the 4" piccolo in her purse.

 

With English, It generally goes... piccolo, treble, baritone, G-bass... all 48 keys with the exact same fingering but an octave apart from each other.  There's also a lot of other overlapping ranges such as the popular 56 key tenor treble (C to C, four octaves) or the very rare model 14, 56 key BT (G to G, still four octaves but a bit lower) both with the middle C on the LH side like a treble. The Wheatstone price lists have a lot of info:

 

Wheatstone English Concertina Pricelists 

 

*** I'm selling my model 14 soon if anyone is interested.  PM me.  It's a wonderful sounding, good period, 56 key, English BT Aeola... metal ended for clarity but still a smooth rich tone to die for, medium volume, amazing dynamics, very musical and expressive.  It's similar to a tenor treble but a bit lower, 4 octaves, G to G instead of C to C as explained above.  I have been playing it for the last 2 weeks to make sure it is played in well but I usually never use it since getting a baritone and a G-bass.  I may regret letting it go as it took me over two years to find one (David Robertson said I would find a purple unicorn first) but the deal is "one in, one out" (happy wife = happy life).

.

Edited March 19 by 4to5to6