Handbook for Anglo-Chromatic Concertina [Paperback]

Roger Watson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1992 | Series: Concertina

The first complete instructional book for the Anglo-chromatic concertina! This book assumes no knowledge on the part of the student, taking the beginner from first notes to famous folk melodies. Features easy-to-follow text with clear diagrams.

Product Details

• Paperback: 24 pages
• Publisher: Music Sales America (January 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0860018520
• ISBN-13: 978-0860018520
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9.1 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,040,452 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Too Thin and The Title Is Inaccurate, September 23, 2001

By 

E. Richards "Herself" (Alone with my thoughts) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Handbook for Anglo-Chromatic Concertina (Paperback)

This book is priced as it is, I assume, due to the obscurity of the subject matter. There are several pages, outlining the history of the concertina, some tips on playing and concertina care, which one can find on the Web for free.

There are two pages of useful chord diagrams. These are only useful if you play the 30 button Anglo. Those of us (beginners) who purchased a (cheaper) 20 button are out of luck on those. The same can be said about the fingering chart provided.

Therefore, I think he should have titled this thin tome, "Handbook for the 30 Button Anglo-Chromatic Concertina".

Then, there are 10 songs printed out. One can do better than that, especially for songs in the public domain.

If someone is serious about finding tunes, they can be found in various web pages or in actual compilations of music that have more songs than this one. Given that concertinas are used for folk songs, one can find large compilations of tunes in the public domain. Also, one can just learn to play by ear.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Its a Concertina Book, February 24, 2007

By 

Aluric "of house de Londres" (Hudson Valey, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Handbook for Anglo-Chromatic Concertina (Paperback)

As someone who owns a copy of just about every concertina book you could find, this is middle of the road.

I actualy bought it for the 2 pages of chords, since I own a 30 button anglo. But it give a bit of insight into cords for the 20 button also if you understand chord composition.

But if your looking for a book to help you learn to play the concertina, I wouldnt start with this one.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential guide for 30-button anglo concertina, February 14, 2010

By 

Robbie Chandler (Sunnyside, WA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Handbook for Anglo-Chromatic Concertina (Paperback)

If you have a 30-button anglo concertina (different notes if you push or pull out), then you really need this book. I had been looking for something like this for quite sometime. Most concertina books only provide Celtic melodies so that you can play jigs.

But what if you want to play simple, country or everyday songs, and add a chord?

While the book is not that long, what it does provide is a key for some 20 left-handed chords.

Why is this important?

If you have been practicing your concertina, at some point you will want to play songs with chords. Just playing one line of notes for the melody won't sound that great after awhile.

So if you are familiar with using "fake books" that allow you to play the melody, you can use this book to also play the chords.

To get ready to also play familiar songs, I also purchased three simple guitar/ukelele books so that I could play lots of songs with just three chords. In those guitar books, they provide the melody, plus the chord written as a letter above the staff.

Playing chords on the anglo concertina is more difficult than on the guitar, since you need to know the chord pushing in as well as pulling out.

For example, if you are playing a song that has a G chord and a melody with notes like B and D, you will need to know how to play the G chord pulling out since I don't think there is a D or B note on the instrument when pushing in.

If there is a G chord and you need to play a G as part of the melody, you will need to know the G chord when pushing in.

So if you want to learn how to play simple melodies using just three chords, think about getting this book, along with the 3-chord guitar/ukelele book.

And of course, to play three chords on the concertina, you will actually need to know six chords, three chords pushing in and three chords pulling out.

This is a good book to get you started on playing songs, and not just Irish jigs.