What Key For Your Second Anglo?

[asdormire]

Ok, so I've aleady have a 30 button CG (and a twenty, but that is beside the point), and I use it for tunes in F, D and A, as well as C and G, so do I just get a GD box, or would there be a better tuning to choose?

 

Alan

[Jody Kruskal]

Alan,

 

Well it sounds like you've got it covered. To answer your question properly we would like to hear more about what kind of music you play and what you do on your Anglo. Do you play harmonic accompaniment along with the melody, melody only, chordal accompaniment to your singing... Irish, English, French, Klezmer...

 

Bb/F is very nice and would allow you to play in some keys that you didn't mention. Gm is very nice on the Bb/F. Lots of folks prefer Bb/F for singing. I have an A/E that I find useful on occasion. One great thing about having different keys is that they allow you to play in different registers (octaves) or the same tunes with different (and perhaps better) fingerings.

 

If you are looking for an expansion, why not get a 38 button instrument in the key of your choice. These give you lots more options as to alternate fingerings, very useful for harmonic (English) style as you can play whole phrases all on the draw or the push without the need for in/out action. That changes the articulation of the phrase and gives you a smoother sound.

 

For my repertoire and style I prefer a 38 button G/D.

[mike averill]

More buttons definately helps. I have a 38 key C/G and find it comfortable to play from Eb through to E for melodies. Harmony playing on a CG does tend to be a real mix of tune and chord an both hands so if you want to seperate the two and do accordian style bass chord bass chord accomaniements go for a low pitched instrument like an GD or AbEb.

[ceemonster]

i have a 30-button c/g and am mulling over the possibility of adding a 38-key and using the added buttons for extra c's, f's, b-flats & e-flats so that i can easily play traditional irish tunes in my beloved east clare/east galway "flat" keys as well as in the higher standard keys without having to carry two concertinas....

[Robin Madge]

As I started with a C/G anglo my second was a G/D. However, with the benefit of hindsight and in view of my voice range being on the low side of Bass, my preference would have been to start with a D/G then get a Baritone C/G. These are the two instruments that I take with me to sessions etc. as defaults. The normal C/G and Bb/F get taken if I know in advance that I want to perform certain items.

 

Robin Madge

[Frank Edgley]

It looks as though you already have an instrument you are happy with. A 38 button would be great, but these are mostly jeffries and are difficult to find & afford. Also, you would have to expand your fingering to get the other keys, although that is not necessarily a bad thing. A second instrument, ideally, should give you the ability to play in other keys without having to learn a whole new fingering. I made myself a G/D, and while I love the tone, a lot of music I play can be played on it in the same keys, but an octave lower, since I play mostly in G & D on my C/G. An Ab/Eb, or Bb/F would be good choices. You would have a radical departure from the keys you usually play in, without changing your fingering. They have a nice sound, as well, without being as low as the G/D.