Why G/c Vs D/c ?

[Doc Jones]

I'm somewhat new to "serious" concertina playing though I've had one for years. I play a lot of IrTrad music (fiddle, mandolin, whistle, flute) but have only recently begun to apply my concertina to this genre.

 

My question is: Why is the G/C tuning so dominant in 20-button concertinas? I occassionally see a G/D but haven't seen a D/C.

 

To my mind a D/C would be a much more versatile instrument as it would easily give three keys D, G and C (plus their minors and modes).

 

Or why not do a C#/D or B/C like the button accordian crowd and be fully chromatic?

 

I have ordered a Hayden duet so the point is somewhat moot but I dearly love the anglos and will probably get a good one at some point so was just curious.

 

Thanks,

 

Doc

[Chris Timson]

I'm surprised no-one else has had a go at this question yet. Oh well, in the absence of someone more authoritative ...

 

The thing about pretty well all anglos is that the two "key" rows are always one fifth apart: C/G, G/D, Bb/F, Ab/Eb und so weiss. This means that the relationships between the buttons of both rows are always the same and so you can transfer from one to another without changing your fingering. Of course if you just play up-and-down the rows, that is not much of an issue, but most players cross-finger to a greater or lesser extent.

 

As to how the "industry standard" of the one fifth separation arose in the first place, I cannot answer that though I would love to know (Wes, are you listening?). What I will say is that the standard seems to work pretty well and makes for a pleasant instrument. A fully chromatic anglo of the form C/C# or B/C, or even your suggested D/C would be a very differenr beast indeed.

 

Chris

[JimLucas]

The question of a B/C or similar layout for anglos arises periodically. I understand that a few have even been built (some as B/C/G, i.e., having a B row instead of the usual accidental row on a 3-row C/G), and people play them. But I couldn't tell you who, nor why more people aren't using such instruments.

 

Maybe the advantages of such an arrangement are more theoretical than practical. Maybe hundreds of them have actually been ordered, but won't appear for a few years, due to the makers' long waiting lists. Maybe most folks are satisfied with existing instruments and don't feel an urge to be "trailblazers". Or maybe the B/C or B/C/G will be the next big craze, but its popularity is waiting for a really hot player of that system to explode into public awareness.

 

Unfotunately, I have nothing but "maybes". I don't really know, and I'm not sure that anyone does.

 

As for your proposed C/D layout? That's a much rarer request. I'm not sure why, except that if one intends to abandon the fifth-apart relationship, going all the way to B/C (or C#/D, or...) seems to provide far more opportunities than just C/D.

 

As for why fifth-apart (e.g., C/G) became standard, I'll speculate on that later.

[Jax]

If you look at a three row international system ("tex-mex") accordion you find that three rows a perfect fourth apart (e.g., G-C-F) allow the following:

• you can play all the notes of the center row on either the draw or press
  
• you can play all the notes of the key of any of the three rows on the draw
  
• you can play all the notes of the two outer rows on the press except for one note (i.e., the F# on the G row and the Bb on the F row, both of which must be draw)
  

A two-row (e.g., your typical anglo concertina or your typical non-Irish two-row button accordion) has a limited amount of that advantage: with two rows a fourth apart, you can do a lot on the draw with both keys.

 

You might visit A Musician's Guide to the Tex-Mex Accordion / Acordeon Tejano / Acordeon Conjunto Norteño or A Musician's Guide to the Club System Accordion for more insights on row systems.

[Dave Weinstein]

A two-row (e.g., your typical anglo concertina or your typical non-Irish two-row button accordion) has a limited amount of that advantage: with two rows a fourth apart, you can do a lot on the draw with both keys.

Yep. My G/D (in which the D row is a fourth below the G, rather than a fifth above) can do some really nice runs on the draw, especially on the right hand side.

 

--Dave