ABC notation for the anglo concertina .
It is always interesting to learn a new piece by ear , if it doesn’t have too many melodic , harmonic or rythmic difficulties . Teachers often favour it , traditional musicians used to do so because it was impossible to rely on written material .
But using staff or ABC notation has its advantages and it would be a pity to do without it : memory help , easier learning for a complex piece , time spared for an efficient fingering . It is only a stage in the process of learning and the ideal is to memorize quickly and get rid of the music scores when playing live .
Anglo concertinas often differ from one to another : 20 , 30 , 40 keys , positions of the sharps and flats , basic scales … The first task is to learn to know one’s instrument perfectly , that means knowing where the notes are , if you push or pull . Some fingerings might not suit according to your instrument . Sometimes different fingerings are possible for equivalent results . The ones I propose are suggestions , each player can choose her/his favourite fingering , by listening to the final sound . My concertina is a 36 keys anglo .
A few tips to read my ABC notation .
Using letters .
In some countries , notes have names , in others we use letters :
A/a = la , B/b = si , C/c = do , D/d = ré , E/e = mi , F/f = fa , G/g = sol .
On what side of the instrument is the note to play ?
A capital letter is played on the left , a small letter is played on the right .
Examples : G is played on the left , g is played on the right .
On what row is it ?
Letter without a dash : played on the inside row .
Letter with a dash : played on the middle row .
Letter with double dash : played on the outside row .
( Examples : b played on the inside row , on the right . G’ played on the middle row , on the left .
g” played on the outside row , on the right .
Push or pull ( press or draw ) ?
The « push »notes are written higher on the line than the « pull » notes , for example :
| E’ | played on the left , middle row , push . | b | played on the right , inside row , push . | ||
| G” | played on the left , outside row , pull . | a’ | played on the right , middle row pull . |
Example of a musical phrase :
| E’ | c” | B | c” | c” | B | |||||
| A | A | E’ | f | E’ |
The push notes are on the top line , the pull ones on the bottom one .
Which fingers to use ?
1=index , 2=middle finger , 3=ring finger , 4=small finger or « baby finger » .
Examples :
| G’4 | played on the left on the middle row , push , with the small finger . | |
| a2 | played on the right on the inside row , pull , with the middle finger . |
How to read the rythm ?
The ABC notation goes along with the staff notation . Refer to it for the rythm . You can also refer to the recordings .
NB : The letters in alt (above the stave ) indicate chords ( G=G major , Am= A minor , C7 … )