Concertina for Beginners: A Complete Guide

The concertina has a way of stopping people in their tracks — at a session, at a festival, even in a YouTube video at midnight. It's small, it's old, and it sounds like nothing else quite does. If you've arrived here because you've heard one and decided you want to learn, then welcome. This guide is for you: practical, honest, and in no particular hurry.

First: Which Type Are You Learning?

Before you pick up a concertina, you need to decide which type you want to play. This matters immediately because the three main types — Anglo, English, and duet — are played completely differently. You cannot simply switch between them the way you might move between different guitars.

If you want to play Irish traditional music — jigs, reels, slow airs, the music of the session — you want an Anglo concertina. Most learners drawn to folk music start here. The Anglo is bisonoric: each button gives a different note depending on whether you're pushing the bellows in or pulling them out. It's the same principle as a harmonica. This takes adjustment, but it gives the music a particular rhythmic energy that Anglo players find addictive.

If you're more interested in English folk song, classical music, or want a simpler note-layout to start with, the English concertina is unisonoric — the same note on both push and pull — and fully chromatic. It has a different set of demands, but the logic of the note layout is arguably more straightforward.

The duet concertina is a more specialised instrument for self-accompaniment, best approached once you know you specifically want that. It's less common in folk circles and harder to find good teaching resources for.

Getting Your First Instrument

A poor-quality concertina will hold you back in ways that aren't always obvious at first. The cheapest instruments — those under about £100 — are often barely playable, with heavy buttons and reeds that respond inconsistently. They're not a bargain at any price.

For a realistic starting point, budget £150–£300. The Rochelle (for Anglo) and Jackie (for English), both from Concertina Connection, are the most commonly recommended starter instruments. They use accordion-type reeds rather than traditional concertina reeds, which means they're less responsive than a better instrument — but they're functional, consistent, and designed with the learner in mind.

If you can reach £400–£600, you open up the second-hand market for instruments with traditional reeds — and the difference in how those feel to play is immediately apparent. A well-serviced Victorian Lachenal Anglo, for example, is an achievable target in that range and will serve you through years of serious learning.

What the Anglo Push-Pull System Actually Means

For Anglo beginners, the bisonoric nature of the instrument is the central puzzle. On a C/G Anglo (the standard tuning), the outer row of buttons plays in G, the inner row in C. Each button gives a different note on push (bellows closing) and draw (bellows opening). This means you have to think about your bellows direction as part of playing a melody — not just a mechanism for keeping the instrument going.

At first, this feels complicated. After several weeks of practice, it begins to feel intuitive, and eventually it becomes part of how you hear the music — shaping phrases with the bellows, using the push-pull changes for rhythmic effect. Most Anglo players who get through the initial learning curve find it one of the most satisfying things about the instrument.

One practical note: most beginners start playing their first tunes in the key of G, using the outer row of a C/G Anglo. Most beginner tutorials and method books are structured around this approach, so you don't need to understand the full system before you can start making music.

First Steps: What to Actually Practise

• Get comfortable holding the instrument — your thumbs go through the straps on each end, with your fingers resting on the buttons. The instrument hangs between your hands, supported by the straps. It should feel relatively balanced and not require you to grip hard.
• Learn one simple tune — a well-known tune in G (for Anglo) gives you something to aim for. "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" or "Mary Had a Little Lamb" in G is a perfectly legitimate starting point.
• Practise bellows awareness — try playing long, smooth notes and focus on keeping the bellows pressure even. Jerky bellows produce jerky sound.
• Use a method book or video series — Gary Coover's books are the most widely used Anglo concertina method materials; for English concertina, Tina Lege's online resources are respected in the community.

Finding a Teacher and a Community

The concertina has a small but genuinely welcoming global community. Online communities — the Concertina.net forum, various folk music Facebook groups — are friendly to beginners asking sensible questions. Many UK folk clubs welcome learners, and concertina workshops at folk festivals (Sidmouth, Cambridge Folk Festival and others) can accelerate progress dramatically through focused tuition and time spent around other players.

Finding a teacher who plays your specific type of concertina is ideal. Online lessons have made this vastly more accessible — a teacher anywhere in the English-speaking world can work with you via video call, and the concertina is well-suited to this because of its size.

Once you're ready to explore the different types in more depth, read our Concertina Explained guide. When you're thinking about upgrading, our buyer's guide covers the full decision. And for value recommendations at every price level, see the best concertinas for the money.

The Bottom Line

The concertina is not the easiest instrument to start, particularly the Anglo. But it rewards patience and consistent practice with a depth of expression that its small size doesn't suggest. Choose your type based on the music you love, get a decent starter instrument, and find even one tune you enjoy — the rest tends to follow.

Frequently Asked Questions