TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

Hi Simon,

This will probably seem like a very callow. naive question but what are the differences between the various squeeze boxes, melodeons, accordians, piano accordians, concertinas, anglo concertinas etc

Cheers,

jackdaw

Careful where you tread Jackdaw, the physical differences between squeezy things may be small but they can spark riots amongst devotees and other waring factions  :o  ;)

Cheers

Nick (Cohabitee of the owner of a brace of melodeons)

Nice to see that, along with other things designed to be shot at with a 12-bore (pigeons, duck etc.), they come in a brace, not a pair. ;D

A Piano Accordian has a piano keyboard and only plays one note per button/key
A melodeon has buttons and play two notes per button depending on which way the bellows are moving
An Anglo concertina is hexagonal and operates on a similar method to a melodeon.
An Enlish concertina is usually octagonal and operates on the same system as a piano accordian
A squeezebox can be used as a description of all of the above.
As Phil Beer once said about a squeezebox 'never confuse it with music'

Simon

And leading on from this question, if someone with negligible musical talents was looking at starting to play a squeezy thing, waht would you suggest?

And what about 'dual' concertinas? Where do they fit in? Are they Anglo or English?

Oh, and esteemed melodeon player John Kirkpatrick plays a Button Accordian according to the notes on a Richard Thompson album I acquired recently. Is there a difference between button accordian and melodeon? or are these just different names from different places?

Cheers

Nick

DUET, dear, DUET...but I know nothing hardly about concertinas...they do here though www.concertina.net (http://www.concertina.net)

There would be more than a brace of melodeons if I had my way/was astonishingly rich  ;)

JK plays a British Chromatic Button Accordion (which looks like a cross between a P**** A******** and a Melodeon) and also a one row four stop hohner pokerwork (Am hugely excited to be having him teach me next weekend).

The Irish call a melodeon an accordion (and so do the Italians and Americans I think)


I never miss a chance to evangelise!!  ;): Get a D/G melodeon (Hohner Pokerwork is what most start on, mainly due to cost) and just get going! I found it really easy to pick up. I think having very little experience of chromatic instruments is possibly a help since the diatonic  - push/pull - nature of the melodeon has messed with the head of my piano playing/flautist friend. She's a piano teacher and pronounced it 'impossible to play'.

Once you can play 'Three Blind Mice' and 'Bobby Shaftoe' go to your local morris side and they will more than likely let you join in and you will learn tunes faster than you thought possible. Eventually you will be spending every 2nd weekend in Nov in Witney, one night a week all summer outside some boozer or other and June, July and Aug at festivals. Extreme cases are diagnosed with 'Melodeon Aquisition Disorder'

All things squeezy (and Squeezy himself sometimes) can be found here: www.melodeon.net (http://www.melodeon.net) along with any number of melodeon obsessives...me included  ;D

Cheers

Fi (where's me bellows....)

Perfect Fi,
That saved me having to explain. Might see you at Witney,,,,,,,fancy a beer!

There's an offer you can't refuse Fi!

He hasn't said what size. I'd ask for a barrel! :D

Yep, may see you there! I always fancy a beer, problem is you can't get to the bar for the 50 odd melodeons + owners in the boozer on the Friday night, and even if you can, the bar staff can't hear you over massed playing of 'Soldiers Joy'  ;)

Well i'll only be there for the Saturday lunchtime......i've got a young student there and thought i'd pop in to see if he is doing OK
Simon

So how did the lad get on? Is he one to watch out for?

Any other up-and-coming players we should keep an eye on?

Cheers

Nick

yeh he did good.......His name is Ben Farendon........maybe in a couple of years.

He was in  my Sunday group I think, where Issy Emeney was teaching us how to play chords (or chirds as it said on the music... ;D). He's very good already...makes me wish I'd started sooner (but then I always wish that ::)!)

And he won a £5 off voucher for a place at Witney next year...

Cheers

Fi

Yep,,,,,lucky beggar......he says he is going next year already