Mayne Singers

Concertina

The concertina is the small hexagonal bellows instrument with buttons on each end — distinct from an accordion (rectangular, piano-style keys) and a melodeon (rectangular, button keys, one-row). It was a common shipboard instrument in the mid-1800s — sailors carried them because they were small, durable, loud for their size, and didn't need tuning. Stan Hugill, the great shanty scholar and singer, played one his whole career.

A concertina in a shanty band brings something no other instrument can: a continuous wash of sound (the bellows can sustain forever), tight close-harmony chord voicings, and the unmistakable "tuned wheeze" of trad maritime music.

The three types — pick one before buying

This is the most important decision and the one beginners get wrong most often:

Anglo concertina

  • Two notes per button — one on bellows push, a different note on bellows pull (like a harmonica).
  • Designed for playing melody in two main keys (usually C and G, sometimes D and A).
  • Strong, punchy, rhythmic feel because of the constant bellows reversal.
  • The standard choice for Irish traditional music and most folk repertoires.
  • Most shanty band concertina players use Anglo.

English concertina

  • One note per button — same note on push and pull.
  • Designed for playing melody fluidly in any key.
  • More chromatic flexibility; smoother sound.
  • Common in English folk traditions and classical concertina music.
  • A second-place choice for a shanty band.

Duet concertina (Hayden, Crane, Maccann)

  • Layout splits melody (right hand) and accompaniment (left hand) like a piano.
  • Designed for accompanying songs — exactly what a shanty band needs.
  • Less common, harder to find, more expensive.
  • If you can get a Hayden duet, it's arguably the ideal shanty-band concertina.

Default recommendation: Anglo in C/G. It's what most teachers teach, what most YouTube tutorials cover, and what the rest of the trad music world expects.

What the concertina does in the band

Three roles, used in different songs:

1. Drone / sustained chord

Hold a single chord open for a verse — the bellows let you sustain forever, which a guitar can't do. The sustained chord creates a drone underneath the singer. Particularly good for:

  • Wellerman — sustained Dm under the verses
  • She's Like the Swallow — D drone under the whole song
  • Don't Forget Your Old Shipmate — sustained chord changes under the harmony

2. Rhythmic chord stabs

Punch out short chord hits on beats 2 and 4, like the mandolin chop. The bellows reversal between hits gives the rhythm a natural "breath." Particularly good for:

  • Drunken Sailor
  • South Australia
  • Roll the Old Chariot

3. Melody / counter-melody

During an instrumental break, play the melody on the concertina — particularly effective for tunes with an Irish/Scottish lilt. Or, while the voices carry the melody, play a counter-melody (a separate line that harmonises against the vocal). This is the most advanced role and the hardest to do without stepping on the singers.

Tone and dynamics

The concertina has a piercing, focused tone that cuts through a room — which is both its blessing (it's audible at low volume) and its curse (it's very audible when it's wrong). Discipline:

  • Use less bellows pressure than you think. Reduces volume and makes the tone sweeter.
  • Drop out for the verses; come in on the chorus. Same advice as the bodhrán — the lead vocal should be the focus.
  • Match the singer's phrasing. When the shantyman breathes, you breathe — let the bellows close briefly so there's space.
  • Don't compete with the mandolin in the same register. If the mandolin is chopping mid-range, drop your concertina chords down an octave or sustain a long low drone.

The "two-row Anglo in C/G" — what you'd actually buy

Specifications to look for:

  • 30-button Anglo concertina (sometimes called "30b Anglo"). Some have 20 buttons; the extra 10 give you accidentals and make the instrument actually playable in keys other than the home two. Don't buy 20-button.
  • C/G tuning for trad / shanty work. (G/D and other tunings exist for specific traditions.)
  • Concertina-reed (not accordion-reed) construction — concertina reeds are sweeter and respond faster. Accordion-reeded concertinas (sometimes called "hybrid" concertinas) are cheaper and acceptable but a noticeable step down in tone.
  • Bone, metal, or wooden buttons (player preference; metal is brightest, wood is softest).

Price ranges

  • Under $300: avoid. Cheap hybrid concertinas with sticky bellows, buttons that don't return, and reeds that go out of tune within months.
  • $400–$800: serious entry-level (Wren, Rochelle, Stagi). Accordion-reeded but playable. The Rochelle in particular is the standard "first concertina."
  • $1,500–$3,000: real concertina-reeded instruments (Morse Céilí, Edgley, Marcus). Lifetime instruments.
  • $3,000+: traditional vintage Wheatstone, Lachenal, Crabb — collector territory. Beautiful but you don't need this for a shanty band.

The Rochelle 2 (around $450 USD new) is the most widely-recommended starter concertina — well-built, well-balanced, holds resale value. If you're not sure you'll stick with the instrument, buy a used Rochelle; if you don't, it sells in a week.

Practising

The concertina has a steeper learning curve than guitar or mandolin because the layout isn't intuitive — push and pull give different notes, and the two rows interleave. The first three months are mostly about button-finding.

  1. Find single notes on the C and G major scales, push and pull. Five minutes a day. Sounds tedious; is essential.
  2. Two-chord drone exercise: hold the C chord on push for four beats, switch to G chord on pull for four beats. Repeat. Builds bellows control.
  3. Play the melody of Drunken Sailor — short, in Dm, sits naturally on the Anglo. This is most teachers' first song.
  4. Sit in on a rehearsal with the concertina silent for a whole song first. Listen for where the air would fit. Then play that.

What not to do

  • Don't play melody and chords simultaneously until you've been playing two years. It's hard and rarely needed.
  • Don't play loudly. The instrument carries; let it.
  • Don't change which row you're playing from in the middle of a chord change. Pick a key, stick to it for the song.
  • Don't try to be the chord instrument and the lead instrument in the same song. Pick one role per song; let the guitar or mandolin take the other.
  • Don't buy a 20-button. It will frustrate you out of the instrument within six months. 30 buttons is the floor.