English Concertina Layout

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Key Layout of a treble English Concertina (from the player's perspective)

This is a 6-row (48key), with middle C the red key on the right hand side; good instruments more commonly have 7, or even 8, vertical rows extended treblewards from those shown here.

Tenor/trebles are usually 64 key, extended one row bassward and one row trebleward; trebles, baritones and basses have the above layout, but each key plays a fifth, an octave, or 2 octaves below that shown.

The English is played by placing the thumbs in the thumb straps (the dark rectangles above the keyboard) and the little fingers in the finger rests. The basic playing pattern is to use the first finger for the top two (horizontal) rows on each hand, the second finger for the third row, and the third finger for the bottom row.

The basic pattern often results in the same finger having to play two notes in succession; sometimes, that can add a jaunty effect to the playing, but if the tune needs a smooth flow, the better alternative is to cross-finger. Cross fingering just means using a finger on other than its normal row.

The same issue arises when chording, but then another alternative becomes available: using the same finger for two buttons (usually in the same row). This is easy for plain chords, but gets interesting with swelled chords. With a complex tune, it can take some time to figure out a workable fingering, as the ramifications of a cross fingering can continue on for some time. Some of the top players even pull their little finger in from the finger rest to join in the fun, but that's real virtuoso stuff.

English concertinas play the same note on push and draw, except that basses and some baritones only play at all on the push (on the draw, large valves open and the instrument can rapidly gulp another breath). This halves the space needed for reeds, which gets to be an issue when crowding large bass reeds into a fairly small body.

Bob McKay's Home Page

English concertina Page

25/6/1996