I found a Lachenal Anglo C/G concertina, 20 buttons, restored and in concert pitch for 390 Euro. It is sold by a shop. If I don't like it, I have 2 weeks to return it and get my money back.

Should I buy it?

If you're serious about playing Irish music on an anglo, you really need a 30-button C/G. This one won't have a C# on it anywhere.

if i was going to buy a 30-buttons, i could only afford a Stagi at this point. maybe the 20-buttons would be good enough for a beginner's first steps?

Have you heard about the Rochelle 30-button beginner concertinas? My friend bought one based on recommendations on concertina.net, and is finding it a very satisfactory instrument for learning. The price is very affordable.

Here's a direct link to it:

http://www.concertinaconnection.com/rochelle%20anglo.htm

thanks for the interesting link. i will keep that in mind.

If you want to spend 3 hours reading about the subject of 20-button versus 30-button anglos, go to http://www.concertina.net/forums/ and use their search engine. Variations on this topic have been discussed at great length.

Try typing something like

+"20 button" +"30 button"

into the search field.

Here are a couple to get you started:

http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=6045&st=0

http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=4021&st=0&p=39768&

It seems to be a question of quality vs quantity? Anyway I bought it now. I would rather have a vintage 20 button than a cheapo 30 button. It will certainly allow me to see if I really like concertina, and there are still a lot of tunes than you can play without C#. Often it is also possible to play another note instead. If I find that I prefer concertina over accordion, I will probably buy a nice 30 button in a few years. Accordion is nice, but it is heavy and bulky to carry around, at least compared to a flute. So the concertina might be handy for sessions .... guess I will just wait and see ....

Thanks for your help and advice!

Claudine,

Last year I got to try a Tedrow 30b c/g on one of his tours! It was his newest, smallest model! It came in a small camera case...the cuitest little instrument you have ever laid eyes on! The craftsmanship was suburb from the bellows to the wood work. A real work of art that you can play!

The price was not bad either, only 2000$ But yes, it had accordion reeds and not the old heavy brass shoes with spring steel reeds. For that you would pay 5-6k!

Anyways, to make a long story short, I found it very difficult to get a D or Em scale from a c/g! I know people do it, but it just didn't work for me. Also, I was use to the large round buttons on an accordion. I have small hands but I found it hard to get a good clean push on those little buttons.
I thought if I could have Tedrow make a B/C or C#/D concertina with 21 larger, buttons wider spaced that I would be in accordion/concertina heaven! Alas, I bought a casti/lilly and went back to the accordion. It is small, light, and cute, with a beautiful sound for a single reeded instrument! It sounds much better than an accordion reeded tedrow! You can also get some great chords and basses from the lilly too! Sorry to say, I don't have my Dancemaster anymore. I really like the buzz you get from two reeds but it was a matter of money and keeping peace in the house. I still like Dancemasters and wish I still had one!

Anyway's, good luck with your concertina. It may be a good fit for you!
You will probably need a good teacher and alot of time for that one!!

Nate

_________________
Whistling in the Rockies!!

Also a question of playing style, I think... on a 20-button you will probably be playing "along the rows" like some of the older trad players, such as Kitty Hayes (who plays tunes, naturally enough, in C rather than D, etc.), or "across the rows" like most of the modern players using 30-button C/G concertinas.

I'm not quite sure where Mary Mac Namara fits into this picture, but I seem to remember reading that she uses a predominantly "along the rows" style. Need to hear from somebody more knowledgeable here.

(Where are all those tina players who insisted so vociferously that this forum should cover concertinas as well as accordions, and have since contributed SFA to it? )

But it's not as if whatever you learn on a 20-button will be useless if you move up to a 30-button, just that you may end up learning a rather different style of playing to get the most out of the 30-button instrument.

So sure, why not go for it?

My main session instrument is still the flute. Recently I have begun to play polkas on the accordion and right now I try to learn "fiddle jigs" on it, tunes that go down to low A and low G. Sounds a lot better on box than on flute. But for all the fast and/or difficult stuff I use my flute. So it is not important if there are a lot of tunes I can't play on the accordion. And for the concertina it will be the same. That's why I think a 20-button could be fun nevertheless for me. It will be like the cherry on the cake (the cake being the flute).

Whoa, I totally missed this thread!

Claudine, I think you made an excellent choice. People undervalue 20-button concertinas because they lack a C#, but the fact is that you can still play half of all Irish tunes on them. Since you already play another instrument, it's not a problem.

Indeed, I know one major concertina teacher/seller who advocates exactly this for students. He sets them up with sweet sounding and well restored 20-buttons.

There shouldn't be a difference in playing style from 20 to 30 button. There is nothing about a 20-button concertina that hinders playing "across the rows." My own playing style is across the rows, and I in no way adapt my playing style when I pick up a 20-button (except since they are much lighter, I have more fun with them.)

Caj