English concertina

The English concertina is a member of the concertina family of free-reed musical instruments. Invented in England in 1829, it was the first instrument of what would become the concertina family.

It is a fully chromatic instrument, having buttons in a rectangular arrangement of four staggered rows; its buttons are unisonoric, producing the same note on both the push and pull of the bellows. It differs from other concertinas in that the scale is divided evenly between the two hands, such that playing a scale involves both hands alternately playing each note in sequence.

The invention of the instrument is credited to Sir Charles Wheatstone; his earliest patent of a like instrument was granted 19 December 1829, No 5803 in Great Britain.

The English concertina was initially used for playing classical music, virtuosic solos, and chamber music. By the 1860s-1870s, the English concertina grew more popular in the music hall tradition. The evangelical Salvation Army adopted all systems of the concertina as a more portable and flexible alternative to brass instruments, and published a number of tutor books showing the complexity and range of the music they played on the English system.

In the English Folk Revival of the 1960s, though the English concertina had been more an art music instrument, it became popular with British folk musicians. Karl Dallas has suggested that the mere presence of 'English' in the name attracted some of the revival's demographic; however the instrument's versatility and portability were also important as factors in the instrument's adoption. Alf Edwards was a regular accompanist to both A L Lloyd and Ewan MacColl, and taught the instrument to Peggy Seeger. His virtuosic and reliable playing was a key element in the adoption of the English concertina by the English folk revival, featuring prominently on influential records such as The Iron Muse and on the Radio Ballads. Later in the 1960s Alistair Anderson became known for interpreting the traditional dance music of Britain, particularly that of Northumberland. The English concertina has a strong representation amongst amateur players of English folk music; modern nationally known folk performers on the English concertina include Robert Harbron, Sandra Kerr and the Scottish musician Simon Thoumire.

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