Anglo Concertina

Overview

The Anglo concertina (sometimes Anglo-German concertina, in older sources German concertina) is a hexagonal free-reed instrument played with bellows. It belongs to the wider concertina family invented in the 1820s and 1830s, but specifically to the bisonoric branch — that is, each button produces a different pitch when the bellows is pushed in than when it is drawn out. Wikidata classifies it directly as a type of concertina; in the wider Hornbostel-Sachs scheme, it sits with the free-reed aerophones alongside the harmonica, accordion and bandoneon.

The Anglo concertina is the standard concertina of Irish traditional music, of English Morris dance, of older Boer folk music in southern Africa, and of the Anglo-American sea shanty repertoire. It exists in 20-button, 30-button and 40-button forms; the 30-button is the modern standard for Irish playing.

Origin & History

The Anglo concertina originates in Germany. In the late 1820s and 1830s, German makers in Saxony — most prominently Carl Friedrich Uhlig — were developing small free-reed bellows instruments parallel to the simultaneous English concertina experiments of Charles Wheatstone in London. The German design used the bisonoric layout already familiar from the harmonica: one note on the press, another on the draw, with the buttons arranged in two rows giving the diatonic scales of two related keys (typically C and G).

The instrument reached England in the 1840s in considerable numbers as cheap mass-produced imports from Saxony. English makers — initially Lachenal in London, then George Jones, C. Jeffries and others — developed improved variants by adding a third row of accidentals and refining the action and reedwork. The English-built 30-button C/G Anglo with three rows became the workhorse instrument of Irish, English and Scots folk players from the late 19th century onward. C. Jeffries Junior’s instruments of the 1880s–1920s remain the gold standard reference for Irish-style players today.

The Anglo travelled with English-speaking emigrants. South African Boer farmers adopted the instrument in the late 19th century and built around it the boere musiek dance tradition that survives in modified form in Afrikaans-language country music today. Sailors and dockworkers carried it to ports across the Atlantic and Pacific, and the instrument became a fixture of working-class song traditions including the sea shanty and the English country pub.

The 20th century saw a near-extinction in the 1950s as accordions displaced concertinas, then a vigorous folk-revival recovery from the 1960s onward led by players including Noel Hill in Ireland, Alistair Anderson in Northumberland, and the South African Nico Carstens. Modern makers — Suttner in Germany, Carroll in the United States, Kensington in England — now produce concert-grade instruments to order.

Construction & Materials

A standard 30-button Anglo concertina has a hexagonal cross-section and weighs around 1.4 kilograms. The two end-plates are wood (rosewood, mahogany or ebony), perforated with grilles or open fretwork and carrying the rows of buttons. The bellows is multi-fold leather (typically 6 or 7 folds) folded between bookcloth, paper and leather hinge stays.

Inside each end is a reed pan — a wooden block carrying the brass or steel reeds, paired so that each button activates one reed for the press and another for the draw. The reeds themselves are riveted to small brass or aluminium reed shoes and held in slots in the reed pan with leather valves that close on the unused stroke. Concert-grade instruments use individually filed steel reeds (the Wheatstone, Jeffries and modern Suttner standard); cheaper instruments use accordion-type reeds clamped into removable plates.

The 30-button standard layout has three rows of buttons on each side: an outer C-row and middle G-row giving the diatonic notes of C and G, and an inner accidentals row giving the chromatic notes that allow play in flat and sharp keys.

How It’s Played

The player straps the instrument across both hands using leather thumb-straps and a wrist or finger-rest, and works the bellows by pulling the two ends apart and pushing them back together. Each button plays one of two notes depending on bellows direction. Because the same melody note can often be obtained by pressing one button in one direction or another button in the other direction, Anglo playing depends heavily on careful planning of bellows direction — what Irish players call bellows turnaround — to produce a singing legato line.

The Irish style developed by Mrs. Crotty in Clare and codified by Noel Hill emphasises an “across the rows” technique in which adjacent press-and-draw notes flow naturally into one another, producing a smooth dance-music line. The English Morris-dance style by contrast often uses a more direct “along the rows” approach with characteristic chordal accompaniment under the melody line.

Cultural Significance

In Ireland the Anglo concertina is one of the four canonical traditional melody instruments alongside the fiddle, the tin whistle and the uilleann pipes, and is closely identified with the music of County Clare. In England it is the standard accompaniment instrument for many Morris-dance traditions including the Cotswold and Border styles. In South Africa the boere musiek tradition centred on the Anglo concertina remains the foundation of older Afrikaans folk music. Across the English-speaking maritime world, the Anglo is the instrument most associated with the singing of sea shanties and the broader Anglo-American sailor song repertoire.

The instrument’s distinctive bisonoric character — and the sometimes-vigorous defence of that character by traditional players against the chromatic uniformity of the English concertina or the piano accordion — has become part of its cultural identity. The 1990s and 2000s revival of high-end concert Anglo making has restored the instrument’s status as a serious modern folk and concert voice.

Notable Examples & Recordings

• Noel Hill, The Irish Concertina (Claddagh) — the modern standard reference.
• Mrs. Crotty (Elizabeth Markham Crotty), 1950s Clare recordings reissued by RTÉ Lyric FM.
• Niall Vallely, contemporary Irish concertina including jazz and contemporary fusion.
• Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne, English Morris and song accompaniment.
• Nico Carstens, Boere Musiek recordings — the South African tradition.

Related Instruments

• Concertina – the wider family.
• English concertina – the unisonoric chromatic concertina invented by Wheatstone in 1829.
• Duet concertina – the third concertina type, with melody and accompaniment split between hands.
• Bandoneon – the German free-reed instrument that became Argentine.
• Melodeon – the larger button accordion that overlaps in role with the Anglo concertina in folk music.

Where to Hear It

The Willie Clancy Summer School in Miltown Malbay, County Clare, is the most important annual gathering for Anglo concertina in Ireland. The Concertinas at Witney festival in Oxfordshire is the principal English event. South African boere musiek festivals continue in the Free State and Northern Cape. Recordings appear extensively on Irish labels including Claddagh, Cló Iar-Chonnachta and Compass, and on English folk labels including Topic, Fellside and Park Records.

• Wikipedia: Anglo concertina
• Wikidata: Anglo concertina (Q18639099)
• Wikimedia Commons: Anglo concertinas

Learning Resources

Noel Hill’s annual Irish Concertina School in Clare is the most established teaching event. The International Concertina Association (UK) maintains teacher registers, holds annual events, and publishes Concertina World magazine. Method books include Mick Bramich’s Absolutely Classic, Niall Vallely’s Anglo Concertina Tutor, and Bertram Levy’s The Anglo Concertina Demystified. A serviceable Asian-built student Anglo (Rochelle, Wren) starts at around 400 USD; mid-range hand-made instruments (Morse, Edgley) run from 2,500 USD; concert-grade instruments by Suttner, Carroll or Kensington begin at around 8,000 USD with several years’ wait.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between an Anglo and an English concertina?
The Anglo is bisonoric — each button produces a different note on push and pull. The English concertina is unisonoric — each button produces the same note in both bellows directions and the entire chromatic scale is split alternately between the two hands.

What keys is an Anglo concertina in?
The standard Irish-style 30-button Anglo is in C/G (the two outer rows are diatonic in C and G respectively). 20-button instruments are available in many keys; specialised instruments in C/G/sharp accidentals are made for English Morris work.

Is the Anglo concertina hard to learn?
The basic technique is straightforward, but the bellows-direction planning needed to play smooth legato in Irish style takes years of practice. Beginners can play simple tunes within weeks; competent dance-music playing typically takes two to three years.

Who makes the best Anglo concertinas today?
The most highly regarded contemporary makers are Suttner (Germany), Carroll (USA), Kensington (UK) and Wakker (Netherlands). Vintage Jeffries instruments from the 1880s–1920s remain the reference for Irish playing.

What kind of music is the Anglo concertina used for?
Irish traditional dance music; English Morris and country-dance music; Anglo-American sea shanties; South African boere musiek; and a growing range of contemporary folk, world-fusion and chamber repertoire.