Anglo concertina is not a "tuning", it's a lifestyle! So why have I, a flute player for 15 years who's still learning how to play that fickle sliver of timber, chosen to try out the anglo lifestyle over the last three or so years? Many reasons:
1) I never have to waste time tuning. Indeed, others now tune to
me. (In fact, for a long time after I first got my 'tina and started bringing it to the session, I called it my $2000 tuner because playing the A was about the only thing I could do with it.)
2) Everyone else at my local session and elsewhere around town was taking up accordion as their second instrument, thanks to the easy availability of the Billy McComiskey Learner boxes. (Hi Rob!) I, being a contrarian, decided to squeeze a concertina instead - thanks in large part to the easy availability of high quality 'tinas from my neighbor Dana Johnson (
www.kensingtonconcertinas.com - check him out!) Of course, the downside of my contrarian choice is that I now have to compete to hear myself in sessions with anywhere from two to sometimes seven accordions. Oh well....
3) I now get to explore the notes below D that my flute never made available to me, and D minor is now (almost) my friend. The downside here is that much of this new exploration and comraderie has to take place via the weakest of my fingers, the left hand pinky.
4) I can now play more than one note at the same time. Of course, often that does mean that I'm playing one right note and one wrong note at the same time. But hey, that means I get to experience both the thrill of being a melody player and the agony of being an accompanist, all in one.
5) I can still get all my instruments in my carry-on bag when flying to Ireland. (Although thanks to the TSA I do have to remember to take my concertina screwdrivers out and put them in my checked bag.)
There are probably many other reasons, but I'm sure you're all plenty bored by now and my own attention is already beginning to drift...