A concertina is a free reed acoustic musical instrument, falling in the same family as the accordion and the harmonica. The concertina musical instrument has buttons and bellows much in the same was as an accordion does, however the buttons typically exist on both ends rather than just on a single side. When pressed, these buttons travel in the same direction as the bellows do, which is what separates a concertina instrument from the capabilities of an accordion, because accordion buttons only travel perpendicularly to the bellows. Each button in the concertina only produces a single note, while accordions tend to produce chords with each button rather than a single note.

The concertina was initially developed in Germany and England, possibly independently although the truth is not known for sure. The English version of the concertina was invented by Sir Charles Wheatstone in 1829, and then he filed a patent in 1844 for an improved version of the same instrument. The German version of the concertina was announced by Carl Friedrich Uhlig in 1834, and it is unknown whether his design was drawn from Wheatstone's concept or developed independently.

The term "concertina" actually refers to an entire family of different hand held, free reed instruments that are bellows driven and that are constructed according to a variety of different systems. These systems are unique in many different ways, including the notes available and the ranges that are available, the specific positioning of the keys or buttons, the sonoricity of the notes provided by the keys, the size and the shape of the instrument, the technique required to hold the instrument, the types of reeds used to play the instrument, the ability to produce sound in one or both bellows directions and the mechanical action required to open and close the reed chamber valves. The keys of bisonoric instruments produce completely different notes on the push or on the draw, but the keys of the unisonoric instruments produce the same note both on the push and the draw. Single action instruments produce sound only when the bellows are moving in one direction, which is common on bass instruments, while double action instruments produce sound in both directions of the bellows.

Because the concertina saw development both in Germany and in England during the same period of time, the different systems can be broadly divided depending on the type of concertina that is being played. A player can be truly proficient in one of the systems mentioned above, and then find an instrument using a different system to be quite unfamiliar to them because the systems were developed so far apart from one another. There are a number of different styles and types of concertinas because the concertina is an evolving instrument, even today. The concertina is an instrument that is both widespread and venerable in nature.

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Originally posted 2008-11-18 05:37:10. Republished by Old Post Promoter

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Acoustic Musical Instruments, Concertinas, Instrument History

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