From: takoosma@utkvx1.utk.edu (Toby Koosman)
Subject: Re: Concertina wannabe
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: University of Tennessee Computing Center
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 17:39:00 GMT

djb@mailer.cc.fsu.edu (David Brightbill) writes...
>I'm looking for hints and tips for getting started on the concertina.  I'd like
>to hear about begining books, albums to listen to, sources of used instruments,
>what to look for in an instrument, etc.  So far, I think that I should look for
>a 30 button anglo instrument.  I'm into irish and contra dance music..also sea
>chanteys.  A lot of stuff in D and G, some in Em, Am, etc.  My understanding is
>that the 30 button instrument has the range to be able to play in most common
>keys.  My current primary instrument is the tin whistle and I am assuming that
>it should not be too hard a transition.  Thanks in advance.  Davie
>..
As a whistle and (more recently) Anglo-concertina player I would not
characterize the transition as "easy," although of course it will help you to
be familiar with the music you want to play.  Myself, I was tricked into
playing the concertina: I kept picking up these shitty twenty-button plastic
things (people give them away, you know), and would play one until I couldn't
stand to listen to it anymore, then give it away, only to have another one
fall into my lap a few years later.  Finally I decided to get a real
instrument, so I bought a 30-button Bastari, which some people would perhaps
not call a real instrument, but you can hardly do better for the money.  It is
not, I must warn you, as trivial to play as those fat-buttoned two-row
affairs.  It has long skinny buttons that your fingers slip off of, and in
order to reach the top row of buttons your palms have to rest closer to the
bottom row than you might like.  You'll get used to these things in time, of
course, but breaking it in is a struggle.

No matter how many extra buttons you have, the Anglo is a diatonic
instrument and it is only practical to play in keys that are within a note or
two of the basic scales.  In other words, on a C/G box you can play in F and D
(and related modes); maybe A and Bb if you have _lots_ of time on your hands. 
Besides the baroque fingering, the farther you stray from the basic keys the
fewer appropriate chords you can make in the direction of travel.  Anglos are
hard to play fast because of having to change direction all the time, but
Irish players prefer them and there are ways to finesse the limitations of the
beast (I hope you enjoy solving puzzles).

I've had the Bastard for two years and can live with it for a while longer,
but I'm saving and shopping for a better box.  By the way, anyone who wants to
give me advice about choosing a good 30(or more)-button Anglo--prices,
vendors, caveats--I'm listening.

In response to a query I posted to the morris discussion list about locating a
good concertina, I was recommended to Hobgoblin music in California
(phone#415-991-4040).  They are connected with Hobgoblin in the UK and might
be able to get you a good instrument for a less than astronomical sum (I
haven't checked this out yet myself).  Joel Cowan, the editor of _Concertina
and Squeezebox_, also deals in instruments and can probably give you help and
advice.  Some kind soul will no doubt post or mail you C&S's subscription
address, which I don't have at hand (if not, email me and I'll get it from
home).  

I haven't seen it but Bert Levy's _Anglo-Concertina Demystified_ (available
from Elderly, I think) is reputed to be the only decent tutor around.  Levy is
the best North American player I've heard and I recommend his recordings with
Frank Ferret, for something in the bent-interpretation-of-traditional vein. 
For some excellent Irish playing check out Noel Hill's "The Irish Concertina". 

Toby Koosman
University of Tennessee   Knoxville, Tennessee  USA
Internet: takoosma@utkvx1.utcc.utk.edu     Bitnet: takoosma@utkvx.utk.edu