How long is a piece of string? There is no right or wrong answer to this question. All we can do is give a few general pointers. A proficient player of any particular system will be able to extract the most from it. At the top level, it’s often hard to tell, without seeing the instrument, which kind is being played.
The type of concertina that will suit you will depend to quite a large extent on what you want to do with it, the type of music you want to play, and whether you want to play in a group or on your own. What you buy will also be determined by your budget!
Basic, Intermediate, or Vintage/Traditional? New or Old?
Student/Basic/Starter concertinas are designed for beginners. They generally use accordion reeds that are mounted internally on accordion-style reed blocks. Newer ones are made in China or Italy, while older ones (often with a different reed set-up) were also made in Germany. These are likely to use less durable materials and have less refined sound and quality of action than the more expensive concertinas. You may want to trade up once you become more proficient, but they can see you through the beginning of your concertina journey.
Intermediate/Mid-range concertinas use accordion reeds, but they are built to a higher quality than the student/basic concertinas. These concertinas can be as well-made as a vintage/traditional concertina, and their reeds are often very responsive. Their tone is not quite the same as on a vintage/traditional concertina, but some players like the tone of these as much as they like the vintage/traditional sound.
Vintage/traditional concertinas use concertina-type reeds. They were made by the major 19th and 20th century manufacturers such as Wheatstone, Jeffries, Crabb, and Lachenal and are made today with a similar design and quality. Prices of vintage concertinas vary from very little up to several thousands, depending on condition, make, model, and relative market demand. You must expect to pay several hundred at least for a vintage instrument that is in reasonable condition, in tune, and ready to play. Unrestored vintage concertinas can be less expensive, but the cost to bring them up to playing condition may make them more expensive in the long run.New vintage/traditional style concertinas will cost in the thousands rather than hundreds. They may be built to a standard design or tailored to your own specific wishes. Such instruments will use top quality materials and a high degree of workmanship to produce an heirloom instrument that, if properly looked after, will last at least a lifetime, with a refined sound and easy action.
Information on concertina makers and dealers is here.
Small or Large: The Concertina Systems
How large an instrument you need (or want!) might depend on factors such as your budget, whether you have great ambition as a player, and whether you expect to play sitting or standing. Larger instruments do usually weigh more, and you may need a neck-strap if you plan to play a large concertina while standing or moving around.
So here are a few notes on the different types of concertina. We hope you find them useful, and that they encourage you to further exploration. The descriptions are necessarily generalised – variations are frequently encountered! More detailed descriptions of all the systems are on the Concertina Systems page.
English Concertina
The standard English concertina (also referred to as a treble English concertina) has 48 buttons or keys and a range similar to a violin, from G below the treble clef to two octaves or more above the clef. It is fully chromatic – it has all the sharp and flat notes that are within its range (like the black notes of a piano). The two centre rows on each side are in the key of C, with the accidentals distributed between the outside rows. Playing a scale involves alternating between the left and right hands, unlike other concertinas and unlike most musical instruments. The English concertina is well suited to expressive melody playing and band or ensemble playing as well as song accompaniment, though the creation of chordal accompaniments may be more challenging. Though some student/basic English concertinas are available, beginning English concertina players often start out with lower-end vintage concertinas, while more advanced players generally play higher-end restored vintage concertinas.
Well known exponents of the English Concertina include Rob Harbron, Dave Townsend, and Alistair Anderson.
Anglo (formerly Anglo-German) Concertina
Anglo concertinas are bisonoric: each button sounds two different notes, depending on whether the bellows are compressed (pushed) or opened (pulled). This makes them different from English and duet concertinas. The higher notes are generally on the right-hand end of the instrument, and the lower notes on the left. A basic Anglo of 20 keys or buttons has two rows pitched a fifth apart, each in its own home key (most commonly C and G, sometimes G and D or other combinations).; An Anglo with more buttons will have more accidentals (sharps and flats), and/or alternate notes that provide more flexibility in chord construction. The Anglo is popular for Irish traditional music and for Morris and other traditional dance forms, and is also used in song accompaniment. The Anglo is probably the most popular concertina system on a worldwide basis, and new Anglos are made today at all pricing levels. Top-quality restored vintage Anglos are among the most expensive of all concertinas due to high demand.
Well-known exponents of the Anglo Concertina include John Kirkpatrick, Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne, Noel Hill, Caitlín Nic Gabhann, and Mohsen Amini.
Duet Concertinas
Duet concertinas are fully chromatic and can be found in sizes from about 35 to about 80 keys. Like the English concertina, the same note is produced by any key regardless of the direction of bellows travel. Like the Anglo, duets are arranged with higher notes on the right hand side, and lower notes on the left. Duet concertinas are designed to play melody with the right hand and accompaniment with the left
However, a complication arises for the prospective buyer, because there are four different keyboard layouts for duet concertinas! These four duet systems are quite different in layout from each other, as they are from Anglo and English. The most common vintage duet concertina systems are Maccann and Crane. Jeffries duet concertinas are the rarest, but they are often relatively lower-priced because few people play the Jeffries duet system. The Hayden duet system was invented fairly recently – it is the only duet system where student/basic concertinas are being made today. Beginning players of the other three duet systems usually start out with a lower-end vintage concertina.
Duets (of all kinds) may have a reputation for being difficult to learn, but in practice it is probably fair to say that for a beginner starting from scratch, they are no harder than any other system. If a player has prior experience of learning piano, a duet might well be as suitable as any other system. Because of market supply and demand, a restored vintage duet concertina may well cost less than a restored vintage Anglo or English concertina of comparable size and quality.
Exponents of the duets include Iris Bishop (Maccann), Jon Boden (Maccann), Tim Laycock (Crane), Geoff Lakeman (Crane), Didie Sendra (Hayden), David Barnert (Hayden), and Michael Hebbert (Jeffries).
Chemnitzer concertina
The Chemnitzer (pronounced kem-nitzer) is related to the other concertina systems, and looks essentially like a large square-section concertina, but it has a number of different characteristics, including usually the use of multiple reeds for each note. Its closest concertina relative is the Anglo, as it has two notes per button, according to the direction of bellows travel. Chemnitzers are usually larger and heavier than other types, and usually played seated. They are most popular in the USA, where there is an active association, the USCA.
Bandoneon
One step further away from the English, Anglo and Duet concertinas is the Bandoneon. In appearance it somewhat resembles the Chemnitzer, and it is popular in Argentina, where it is used for tango dance music, and to a lesser extent in other Latin American countries and in Italy. Bandoneon music was brought to a wider global audience through the compositions and performances of Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) and others.