Beginner's Key & Notes Question

[Alex C.]

Hello All,

 

I'm a just-beginner searching for the 'right' concertina and have some questions about key & notes on 20-30 button anglo concertinas.

 

I know little about tuning of concertinas, and am worried that if I buy, say, a C/G keyed concertina that I won't be able to use it on songs in other keys. I play in a band and we don't want to transpose any songs we've already written.

 

What notes would a C/G 20 button concertina be able to play? What about 30 buttons?

 

Also, does the number of reed sets affect the number of notes played when depressing one button? I need a concertina that can play singular notes...

 

 

Thank you!

 

Alex

[CyberSpiff]

You can see the note layout for C/G and G/D concertinas at http://www.concertina.net/ms_finger_layouts.html. For a 20-button you can leave out the upper "accidental" row.

 

-jeff

[Daniel Hersh]

I play Anglo myself, but if it's a high priority for you to play in lots of different keys you might consider learning English instead. A 20-button C/G Anglo will play just one sharp (F#) and no flats. A 30-button plays all the notes, but even on a 30-button it's hard to play music of much complexity in major keys other than F, C, G, D and perhaps A.

 

Regarding the reed sets, a double-reed concertina plays unisons or octaves, so that won't cause a problem for you. Most six-sided concertinas are single-reed anyway--Chemnitzers and other big 4-sided concertinas are almost always multiple-reed, but their additional reeds are unisons and octaves too.

 

Daniel

 

Hello All,

 

I'm a just-beginner searching for the 'right' concertina and have some questions about key & notes on 20-30 button anglo concertinas.

 

I know little about tuning of concertinas, and am worried that if I buy, say, a C/G keyed concertina that I won't be able to use it on songs in other keys. I play in a band and we don't want to transpose any songs we've already written.

 

What notes would a C/G 20 button concertina be able to play? What about 30 buttons?

 

Also, does the number of reed sets affect the number of notes played when depressing one button? I need a concertina that can play singular notes...

 

Thank you!

 

Alex

[Richard Morse]

I know little about tuning of concertinas, and am worried that if I buy, say, a C/G keyed concertina that I won't be able to use it on songs in other keys. I play in a band and we don't want to transpose any songs we've already written.

A two row anglo is very limited. Even the 3 row is easiest played in it's "home" keys though others are possible to very difficult. The English type of concertina would probably work out best for you. It's also far easier to "read" music on English than with anglo.