Wheatstone English concertina, circa 1920

A concertina, like the various accordions and the harmonica, is a member of the free-reed family of instruments. The concertina was developed (probably independently) in England and Germany. The English version was invented in 1829 (with a patent for an improved version filed in 1844) by Sir Charles Wheatstone; the German version was announced in 1834 by Carl Friedrich Uhlig. Concertinas typically have buttons on both ends and are distinguished from an accordion (piano or button) by the direction of their button travel when pushed. Concertina buttons travel in the same direction as the bellows whereas accordion buttons travel perpendicular to the direction of the bellows. Additionally, each button will produce one note, as opposed to many accordions which have the ability to produce chords with a single button. Download high resolution version (1280x951, 106 KB)English Concertina, made by Wheatstone & Co around 1920, velcro added by owner! File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Download high resolution version (1280x951, 106 KB)English Concertina, made by Wheatstone & Co around 1920, velcro added by owner! File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... A sketch of a typical concertina wire obstacle Concertina wire is a type of barbed wire or razor wire that is formed in large coils which can be expanded like a concertina. ... This article is about the instrument as a whole. ... A harmonica is a free reed wind instrument. ... A free reed aerophone is a musical instrument where sound is produced as air passes a reed in a chamber, causing the reed to vibrate. ... Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1829 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Charles Wheatstone Sir Charles Wheatstone (February 6, 1802 - October 19, 1875) was the British inventor of many innovations including the English concertina the Stereoscope an early form of microphone the Playfair cipher (named for Lord Playfair, the person who publicized it) He was a major figure in the development of... This article is about the instrument as a whole. ...

Concertina Types (Systems)

The name Concertina refers to a family of hand-held bellows-driven free reed instruments constructed according to various systems. The systems differ from one another:

• in the notes and ranges available;
• in the positioning of the keys (buttons);
• in the sonoricity of the notes provided by the keys:
  • the keys of the bisonoric instruments produce differing notes on the press and on the draw;
  • the keys of the unisonoric instruments produce the same note on the press and on the draw;
• in the ability to produce sound in both bellows directions:
  • single action, producing sound only in one bellows direction (usually found only on bass instruments);
  • double action, producing sound in both bellows directions;
• in size and shape of the instrument and the technique required to hold the instrument;
• in the types of reeds that are used;
• the mechanical action that is used to open and close the valves to the reed chambers.

To a player proficient in one of these systems, a concertina constructed according to a different system may be quite unfamiliar.

The most common concertina systems are listed below. The list is not exhaustive, as the concertina is not only a venerable and widespread instrument, but also an evolving instrument: modern experiments in concertina construction include chromatic scales offering more than 12 steps per octave, and instruments which allow the pitch of the notes to be sharped or flatted by the performer.

Due to the fact that the Concertina was developed nearly contemporaneously in both England and Germany, the various systems can be broadly divided into English, German, and Anglo-German types.

English type concertina

English style concertinas traditionally share several features:

• Unisonoric, press and draw on each button yield the same note;
• Fully chromatic;
• Reeds individually mounted on a frame, laid flat on a chambered reedpan with a pair of reeds in each chamber;
• Each button has an independent pivot;
• Hexagon shaped ends (though octagons and other shapes were produced as well).

In music, chromatic indicates the inclusion of notes not in the prevailing scale and is also used for those notes themselves (Shir-Cliff et al 1965, p. ...

English concertina

English Concertina disassembled, showing bellows, reedpan and buttons.

The eponymous English concertina is a fully chromatic instrument having buttons in a rectangular arrangement of four staggered rows, with the short side of the rectangle addressing the wrist. The invention of the instrument is credited to Sir Charles Wheatstone, his earliest patent of a like instrument granted 19 December 1829, No 5803 in Great Britain. The two innermost rows of the layout constitute a diatonic C major scale, distributed alternately between the two sides of the instrument. (I.e., in a given range, C-E-G-B-d will be on one side, D-F-A-c-e on the other.) The two outer rows consist of the sharps and flats required to complete the chromatic scale. This distribution of scale notes between sides facilitates rapid melodic play (Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee" was transcribed for English concertina early in the instrument's history), while to some extent rendering chords more difficult to learn than scales. Giulio Regondi was a virtuoso performer and composer on this instrument as well as the guitar, and helped to popularize the instrument during the 19th century. Allan Atlas, in his book "The Wheatstone Concertina in Victorian England" identifies six known concertos written for this instrument. There are still many sonatas and other pieces that survive. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (776x848, 567 KB) Photograph of a disassembled English Concertina by Charles Wheatstone. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (776x848, 567 KB) Photograph of a disassembled English Concertina by Charles Wheatstone. ... In music, chromatic indicates the inclusion of notes not in the prevailing scale and is also used for those notes themselves (Shir-Cliff et al 1965, p. ... Sir Charles Wheatstone (February 6, 1802 - October 19, 1875) was the British inventor of many innovations including the English concertina an early form of microphone the Playfair cipher (named for Lord Playfair, the person who publicized it) and the Wheatstone bridge. ... Giulio Regondi (born 1822 in either Geneva or Lyons; died May 6, 1872 in London) was an Italian classical guitarist, concertinist and composer. ...

The English concertina is typically held by placing the thumbs through thumb straps and the little fingers on metal finger rests, leaving three fingers free for noting; alternately, both the ring and pinkie fingers support the metal finger rest, leaving two fingers for noting. In the classical style of Regondi, the little finger is used as well as the other three fingers and the metal finger rests are used only very occasionally. This allows all eight fingers to simultaneously play the instrument so large chords are possible. In pieces such as the Wilhelm Bernhardt Molique "Concerto No 1 in G for concertina and orchestra", or Percy Grainger's "Shepherd's Hey", four, five and six note chords are not uncommon, and would be difficult or impossible to play without using all the fingers. Wilhelm Bernhardt Molique (October 7, 1802 - 1869), German violinist and composer, was born at Nuremberg. ... Percy Aldridge Grainger (8 July 1882 – 20 February 1961) was an Australian-born pianist, composer, and champion of the saxophone and the Concert band. ...

Duet concertina

Instruments built according to various duet systems are less common than other concertinas. Duet concertina systems were developed in order to simplify playing a melody with an accompaniment. To this end the various duet systems feature button layouts that provide the lower (bass) notes in the left hand and the higher (treble) notes in the right, with some overlap (like a two-manual organ). They are unisonoric. The most common duet systems for concertina are the Maccann System and the Crane system (also adopted by the Salvation Army under the name Triumph). Rarer are the Jeffries and Wheatstone duet systems. The newer Hayden System was conceived in the 1960s -- although the layout was initially proposed and patented by Kaspar Wicki in Switzerland in 1896, but no known instruments were constructed with the Wicki layout, and Hayden was unaware of Wicki's patent when developing his system. Most duet systems are held by placing the hands through a leather strap, with the thumbs outside of the strap and the palms resting on wooden bars, though some Wheatstone models use the thumb strap of the English concertina.

German type concertina

German style concertinas traditionally share several features:

• Bisonoric, each button produces a different note on the push and the draw of the bellows;
• Diatonic or semi-chromatic;
• Reeds are mounted on a long plate, with separate chambers for each set of reeds;
• The buttons in each row pivot on a shared pivot arm;
• Square shaped ends.

Frequently, German concertinas also use more than one of reed for each note to produce a fuller sound. Depending on the manufacturer, each note may have up to five reeds spread across three octaves. Sometimes these reeds may be slightly out of tune with each other in order to produce a vibrato effect; this is called wet, musette, or Chicago tuning. With dry or Minnesota tuning the reeds are in tune with each other and do not produce this effect. In Music theory, the diatonic major scale (also known as the Guido scale), from the Greek diatonikos or to stretch out, is a fundamental building block of the European-influenced musical tradition. ... For other uses, see Octave (disambiguation). ... Vibrato is a musical effect where the pitch or frequency of a note or sound is quickly and repeatedly raised and lowered over a small distance for the duration of that note or sound. ...

Chemnitzer concertina

Chemnitzer concertina made by Star Mfg., Cicero, Illinois, USA in 2000

There are various German concertina systems which share common construction features and core button layout. In the United States, particularly in the Midwest, the term "Concertina" often refers to the Chemnitzer concertina. Chemnitzer Concertinas are bisonoric (see above) and are closely related to the bandoneón, but with a somewhat different keyboard layout and decorative style, with some mechanical innovations pioneered by German-American instrument builder and inventor Otto Schlicht. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Midwest is a common name for a region of the United States of America. ... A Chemnitzer concertina is a musical instrument of the hand-held bellows-driven free-reed category, sometimes called squeezeboxes (Ed. ... Bandoneon Cardenal (made by ELA for Hohner) The bandoneón is a free-reed instrument particularly popular in Argentina. ... German Americans (German Deutschamerikaner) are citizens of the United States of ethnic German ancestry and currently form the largest ancestry group in the United States, accounting for 17% of US population. ...

Bandonion or bandoneón

Of special note is the bandonion or bandoneón, a German concertina system the original bisonoric layout of which was devised by Heinrich Band. This type of concertina is traditionally featured in Tango music due to the instrument's popularity in Argentina in the late 19th century when the Tango developed from the various dance styles in Argentina and Uruguay. When the Tango spread to Paris, France, as a fashionable dance in the early twentieth century, the Bandoneón was adapted with a new unisonoric finguring option known as the French or Piguri system -- however, the bisonoric layout is often preferred as the more 'traditional' option. Bandoneóns with more than one reed for each note are typically dry tuned. Bandoneon Cardenal (made by ELA for Hohner) The bandoneón is a free-reed instrument particularly popular in Argentina. ... Tango is a style of music that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay. ...

Anglo concertina

The Anglo or Anglo-German concertina is historically a hybrid between the English and German types of concertinas. The button layouts are generally the same as the original twenty button German concertinas designed by Uhlig in 1834. Within a few years of that date, the German concertina was a popular import in England, as well as Ireland and North America, due to its ease of use and relatively low price. Due to this popularity, English manufacturers began offering their own versions -- these concertinas were built using traditional English methods: concertina reeds instead of long-plate reeds, independent pivots for each button, and hexagon shaped ends. Initially the term Anglo-German only applied to the concertinas of this type that were built in England, however, as German manufacturers adopted some of these techniques, the term came to apply to all concertinas that used the twenty button system patented by Uhlig. Use of the "German" part of the title Anglo-German ceased in the UK during WW1.

The heart of the Anglo system consists of two ten-button rows, each of which produces a diatonic major scale in a pattern devised around 1826 by a Bohemian called Richter for use in a harmonica. Five buttons of each row are on each side. The two rows are musically a fourth apart, e.g., if the row closest to the player's wrist is in the key of G, the next outer row will be in C. Advantages of the Richter scale include that pushing three adjacent notes in one row will produce a major triad, and because the travel direction inverts as you progress up the scale at the point where the scale crosses from one side to the other of the concertina (to the other hand) octaves can be played in the home keys. A third row of extra notes was quickly added consisting in part of accidentals omitted by the diatonic rows, and in part of notes which already exist in the diatonic rows but in opposite bisonoric orientation to make additional chords possible and certain melodic passages easier. At this point the instrument was "chromatic" over two octaves, though the layout of the buttons is not straightforward. There is little variation between makers and models in the layout of the notes in the core diatonic rows, but somewhat more variation in the number and layout of the helper notes. The two most common layouts of this thirty button variety are the Jeffries and Lachenal systems. Thirty-six, thirty-eight and forty button layouts are common, and a few anglos have as many as fifty. In Music theory, the diatonic major scale (also known as the Guido scale), from the Greek diatonikos or to stretch out, is a fundamental building block of the European-influenced musical tradition. ...

The Anglo concertina is typically held by placing the hands through a leather strap, with the thumbs outside of the strap and the palms resting on wooden bars. This arrangement leaves four fingers of each hand free for noting and the thumbs free to operate an air valve (for expanding or contracting the bellows without sounding a note) or a drone. The Anglo concertina is often associated with the music of Ireland. Instruments in the key of C/G are typically used in traditional Irish music sessions, although they are used in other musical contexts as well, particularly in music for the English Morris dance and Boeremusiek. Other key combinations are also available, the keys of G/D and Bf/F being the most common alternatives. Bf/F and Af/Ef were popular with the Salvation Army. Irish music is a folk music which has remained vibrant throughout the 20th century, when many other traditional forms worldwide lost popularity to pop music. ... Cotswold morris with handkerchiefs A morris dance is a form of English folk dance usually accompanied with music. ... Boer music is a type of South African instrumental folk music. ...

George Jones is often credited as the first English maker of the Anglo concertina. British firms active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries include those founded by Charles Wheatstone, Charles Jeffries (who built primarily Anglo-style concertinas), Louis Lachenal (who built concertinas in both English and Anglo styles and was the most prolific manufacturer of the period), and John Crabb.

History

In the mid 1830's the concertina was being manufactured and sold in Germany and England, the two types distinguished from one another by their country of origin. Both systems continued to evolve into the current forms, even as the popularity of the instrument increased. The difference in the prices and the common uses of the English and German systems led to something of a class distinction between the two types of the instrument, with the German or Anglo-German concertina being regarded as a lower-class instrument and the English concertina having an air of bourgeois respectability. The English concertinas were most popular as parlour instruments for classical music, while the German concertinas were more associated with the popular dance music of the day.

In the 1850's, the Anglo-German concertina's ability to play both melody and accompaniment led English manufacturers to start developing the various Duet systems, with the popular Maccann system being developed towards the end of the century. Meanwhile, German manufacturers were producing concertinas with more than twenty buttons for local sale. Three different keyboard systems for German Concertinas eventually became popular: Uhlig's Chemnitzer system, Carl Zimmerman's Carlsfeld system, and the Bandoneón's Reinische system. Several efforts were made by the various German manufacturers to develop a single unified keyboard system for all German concertinas; however, this was only partially accomplished at the end of the 19th century when the Chemnitzer and Carlsfelder systems were merged into the unified concertina system and a unified bandoneón system was created. Despite the new standards, the older systems remained popular into the twentieth century.

Throughout the 19th century, the concertina was a popular instrument. The Salvation Army in England, America, Australia and New Zealand commonly used concertinas in their bands, and other concertina bands and musicians performed in all parts of the English speaking world. German emigrants carried their Chemnizter and Bandoneóns with them to the United States and Argentina, respectively, where they were regionally popular. In England, the United States and Australia the concertina became nearly ubiquitous. This was not to last. Shield of The Salvation Army The Salvation Army is a non-military evangelical Christian organisation. ...

Early in the 20th century, the concertina's popularity started to rapidly decline. Factors behind this decline included the increasing relative popularity of the accordion, the mass production of other instruments such as the piano, increasingly chromatic and less tonal forms of music such as blues and jazz, and the overall decline of amateur musical performance due to radio and the phonograph. By the middle of the century, only a very few concertina makers remained, and most of those manufacturers used accordion reeds and inexpensive, unreliable button mechanisms. Despite this general decline in mass appeal, in a few areas the concertina in its several forms did survive: the Anglo in Irish traditional music, the English and the Anglo in English Morris dancing, the Anglo in Africa amongst the Afrikaaners and the Zulus (who call it a "squashbox"), the Chemnitzer in the United States as a polka instrument, and the Bandoneón in Argentina as a prominent part of the Tango tradition. During the period between World War One and World War Two there were many Concertina and Bandonion bands in Germany; but with the rise of the Nazi regime these musical clubs disappeared. “Blues music” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... Tonearm redirects here. ... Street musicians in Prague playing a polka Polka is a fast, lively Central European dance, and also a genre of dance music. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... This article is becoming very long. ... National Socialism redirects here. ...

The folk revival movements of the 1960's led to a modest resurgence in the popularity of the concertina particularly with respect to the Anglo. More recently the popularity of the Anglo in Ireland in particular (coupled with that country's economic turnaround), has driven prices up dramatically. Particularly good examples of a Wheatstone or Jeffries Anglo from the late 19th or early 20th centuries have fetched more than US$10,000. Renewed interest in the Tango since the the 1980's has seen interest in the Bandoneón increase as well. A roots revival (folk revival) is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. ... Cartoon of the Celtic Tiger. ...

Currently, there are at least eleven makers of hand-made concertinas of all types in the traditional styles in Europe, South Africa, Australia and North America; typically they have waiting lists that extend for several years and the price for such instruments can be from US$2,000 up to $10,000 or more. These traditional manufacturers generally offer many different options with regards to materials used in the construction of the instrument, bellows decorations, button layouts, tuning, and other options with regards to customizing the instrument. At the low end of the price continuum are mass-produced accordion reeded instruments, which are generally of a less reliable quality but which only cost from US$100 to $700. Options are limited for instruments of this quality, if options are even available. Since the late 1970's, hand-made accordion reeded Anglo and English concertinas (sometimes called "hybrids", a term to which some manufacturers object) have become a high-quality alternative to both the cheap factory-made instruments and the far more expensive traditionally reeded instruments; costs for such instruments are about US$1,500-$1,900. Hybrid manufacturers use otherwise traditional building techniques, tend to have waiting lists of only a few months, and like the makers of traditional concertinas can build customized instruments to order. Due to the use of non-traditional reeds, 'hybrid' instruments may have some differences in tone and response -- though this can also be true of traditionally built instruments as well. While some players have a strong preference for traditional reeds, others actually prefer the sound or performance of accordion reeds. There are players who own several concertinas so that they can take advantage of the range of tonal qualities available between the different varieties.

See also

• List of All Ireland Concertina champions
• Category:Composers for concertina

This page lists those who have won the Senior title at the Fleadh Cheoil since its foundation in 1951 by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. ...

References

Including online resources used to provide the above information.

• Atlas, Allen (1996). The Wheatstone English Concertina in Victorian England. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN-13: 978-0-19-816580-4
• Chambers, Stephen (2004). An Annotated Catalogue of Historic European Free-Reed lnstruments
• Doktorski, Henry (1998) The Classical Bandoneón and The Classical Concertina
• Dunkel, Maria (1996). Bandonion und Konzertina: Ein Beitrag zur Darstellung des Instrumententyps (2nd ed.). München-Salzburg: Musikverlag Emil Katzbichler. ISBN 3-87397-070-8
• Eydmann, Stuart (2005). The Life and Times of the Concertina: the adoption and usage of a novel musical instrument with particular reference to Scotland
• Worral, Dan (2007). A Brief History of the Anglo Concertina in the United States

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Concertinas

• The Netherlands Accordeon club Concertina!
• Wheatstone Biography
• Concertina FAQ
• Concertina.com
• Concertina.net
• Edgley Concertinas
• Herrington Brothers Concertinas
• International Concertina Association
• Jax Hayden Duet Concertina Page
• Wheatstone's Symphonium
• Maccann Duet Concertina
• Crane Duet concertina
• The cheminitzer concertina website
• Squeezebox, an open repository of squeezebox knowledge on Wikia.
• Wheatstone & Co. Concertina Ledgers - original factory records of production and sales of Wheatstone's concertinas
• THE Concertina Page from Germany