Why the Anglo has two rows

An Anglo concertina is bisonoric: every button gives one note on the push and a different note on the draw. That is the source of most early frustration, and it is also the reason the instrument is laid out with two main rows rather than one. The C row and the G row stand a fourth apart and are designed to interlock. Between them you have the notes of both the C and G major scales, plus most of the harmony that goes with them.

A 20-button instrument has only these two rows. A 30-button adds a third row of accidentals, but the C and G rows still carry the bulk of English dance tunes, morris tunes and song accompaniments. Once you can find your way around those two rows, the third row becomes a set of useful extras rather than a mystery.

The C row: your home ground

On the C row, the push notes are drawn from the C chord — C, E and G — repeated up the row. The draw notes give you D, F, A and B. Put the two together and you have the whole of the C major scale.

That has three practical consequences. First, a C major chord is simply a push: press the three C row buttons that give C, E and G and you have it. Second, the draw side of the row gives you D minor from D, F and A, which is why tunes in D minor, and the D minor passages inside C tunes, sit so comfortably here. Third, the B on the draw is a note you will use constantly; it is the leading note into C and the third of a G chord.

Try the scale slowly in this order: push C, draw D, push E, draw F, push G, draw A, draw B, push C. Say “push” and “draw” out loud as you go. The aim is not speed but certainty.

The left hand covers the lower part of the range and the right hand the upper part, with some overlap in the middle. If you are not sure which C row button you are on, sing the note back before you press it.

The G row and the overlap

The G row works the same way, one row across. Its push notes come from the G chord — G, B and D — and its draw notes give A, C and E, with an F# on the instruments that have one. So the G major scale is split across the row in exactly the same push-draw pattern as the C scale on the C row.

Here is the part that confuses people, and the part worth understanding early: the two rows share notes. C, for example, is available on the push of the C row and on the draw of the G row. G appears on the push of both rows. B is on the draw of the C row and the push of the G row. Nothing is duplicated by accident. The overlap exists so that you can choose the version of a note that keeps your bellows moving in the direction you want.

Learn the shared notes deliberately. Play a C on the C row push, then the same C on the G row draw. Do the same with G and with B. It feels fussy for a week, then it becomes instinct.

Using the overlap to smooth your bellows

Beginners tend to play along one row and change bellows whenever the row demands it, which produces a gasping, hiccupping sound. The cure is to cross rows on purpose.

Take any simple tune in C. Find the places where you would otherwise have to reverse the bellows in the middle of a phrase. Often you can avoid the change by taking one note from the G row instead. Common candidates are C, E and G, all of which are available in more than one place.

• Play the phrase along the C row only, and mark every bellows change.
• Play it again, taking one or two of those notes from the G row.
• Count the bellows changes. Fewer is almost always better.

A phrase that runs on one bellows direction sounds smoother and gives you somewhere to breathe. This is the single technique that separates an intermediate player from a beginner, and it is not difficult — just slow to learn.

Chords and simple accompaniment

Accompaniment on the Anglo is largely about push chords against draw chords. On the push you can take a C chord from the C row and a G chord from the G row. On the draw the C row offers D minor, and the G row offers A minor from A, C and E.

That gives you a workable palette for most English tunes: C and G on the push, D minor and A minor on the draw. For a song accompaniment, hold a chord on the push, change to the nearest draw chord on the stressed beat of the next bar, and let the bellows do the phrasing. Keep the left hand light; the melody in the right hand should always be audible.

Habits worth building now

• Practise the C and G scales on their own rows first, then practise crossing between them.
• Never force a bellows change. If a phrase fights you, look for the note on the other row.
• Keep your hand still and let your fingers do the work. The hand strap should be snug enough that the instrument does not move when you push, but loose enough to reach the far row comfortably.
• Learn one tune properly rather than five badly. A morris tune or a simple air in C will teach you more than a page of exercises.
• Check that the bellows folds are not rubbing or catching before you blame your fingering. A stiff bellows will make a smooth phrase feel impossible.

Give the two rows a few weeks of patient, slow work and they stop feeling like two instruments. They become one instrument with a wider range of choices, which is exactly what the makers intended.