Concertina Foundations Overview

  • 12 lessons teaching how to play 12 popular Irish tunes.
  • Progress at your own pace, pause & repeat videos.
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Concertina Foundations is aimed at those who already know how to play the anglo concertina but who want to learn or improve, on the basic foundations. It’s an excellent follow-on course for those that have already taken Concertina Basics.

By the end of the course, you will have added a further twelve popular Irish tunes to your repertoire plus mastered some common ornamentation styles. The course has 12 lessons, broken into 3 to 4 tutorials each, where tunes are taught phrase by phrase.

Course Structure

Concertina Foundations starts with polkas, slides and jigs and progresses to reels in the second part of the course.

The course is essentially a ‘bag of tools’ to have in one’s belt to help create variety and personality when playing the concertina. These ‘tools’ include the use of long notes, staccato notes, ornaments, upbeats, double octaves, chords, stops and emphasis. Ornaments and triplets are clearly broken down and demonstrated effectively.

A lot of time and attention is given to the integrity of a tune, with good rhythm, momentum and emphasis important above all else. Ornamentation is taught after the tune and its rhythm have already been firmly established. Tunes are frequently related back to the dancing tradition from which they emerged which is helpful in understanding their context and how to approach them.

The tutor accentuates using the whole concertina, not being stuck in rows but moving from either side of the concertina for optimal flow and personality.

In lesson 9, using The Edenderry Reel, students are taught how to double octave a tune.

In lesson 11 ‘ The Good Natured Man’, the notes at the very top of the instrument’s register are explored. In the last lesson ‘The Castle Jig’, attention turns to the notes at the very bottom of the range of the concertina.

The tutor plays a Jeffries C/G 38 button Anglo concertina.

The traditional Irish tunes taught in this course are:

The Humours of Glendart
Pull the Knife and Stick it Again
The North Road to Tralee
The Peeler and the Goat
Mol Roe
Na Ceanabhainn Bhána
The Glen Cottage Polka
Where the Lilies Grow
The Edenderry Reel
The Milky Way
The Good Natured Man
The Castle Jig

 

Your Tutor
Caroline KeaneCaroline Keane has been playing the concertina for more than twenty years and professionally since 2007. Growing up in Limerick, she was surrounded by the musical richness of both Clare and Sliabh Luachra, influences which have become the cornerstone of her uniquely vibrant, passionate and emotive style of concertina playing.

At the age of seven, Caroline began taking tin whistle lessons at her local Comhaltas branch, and soon afterwards progressed on to concertina. Under the guidance of her teacher, Noel Hill, she developed proficiency in her art, and by fifteen, was performing both nationally and internationally. In 2006, Caroline was awarded the prestigious Lán Mara award, in recognition of outstanding achievement in national music examinations.

She holds first-class honours degrees at both BA and MA levels in Irish Traditional Music and Traditional Irish Music Performance respectively from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick. Caroline is also a prolific composer of contemporary Irish repertoire inspired by her interaction with traditional music on a local and national level, since studying composition within her BA degree.

Read more.

For detailed Frequently Asked Questions check out the end of our Concertina Basics Course page.

Questions and discussion on the course can be found in the Community Forum, available to paying members only.

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Concertina Foundations Lessons

Level

Humours of Glendart

Concertina Foundations Lesson 1

  • D Major
  • Level 2
  • Melody

Practice the use of the air button in isolation.

Jig

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Pull The Knife And Stick It Again

Concertina Foundations Lesson 2

  • E Minor
  • Level 2
  • Melody

Focuses on ornamentation on the note of E.

Jig

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The North Road to Tralee

Concertina Foundations Lesson 3

  • D Major
  • Level 2
  • Melody

A lively Slide with snappy cuts.

Slide

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The Peeler And The Goat

Concertina Foundations Lesson 4

  • E Minor
  • Level 2
  • Melody

Continuing with Emphasis and Rhythm in the Slide.

Slide

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Mol Roe

Concertina Foundations Lesson 5

  • G Major
  • Level 2
  • Melody

Demonstrating the use of Triplets.

Slip Jig

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Na Ceannabhain Bhána

Concertina Foundations Lesson 6

  • A Major
  • Level 2
  • Melody

The use of Upbeats.

Slip Jig

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The Glen Cottage Polka

Concertina Foundations Lesson 7

  • E Minor
  • Level 2
  • Melody

Triplets, Cuts and Emphasis.

Polka

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Where The Lilies Grow

Concertina Foundations Lesson 8

  • G Major
  • Level 2
  • Melody

Triplets, Simple Ornaments, Emphasis and Variation.

Polka

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The Edenderry Reel

Concertina Foundations Lesson 9

  • G Major
  • Level 2
  • Melody

Introducing the Double Octave Technique.

Reel

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The Milky Way

Concertina Foundations Lesson 10

  • D Major
  • Level 2
  • Melody

Focus on Rolls.

Reel

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The Good Natured Man

Concertina Foundations Lesson 11

  • G Major
  • Level 2
  • Melody

Focus on the use of High Notes.

Hornpipe

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The Castle Jig

Concertina Foundations Lesson 12

  • A Minor
  • Level 2
  • Melody

Focus on the Low Notes.

Jig

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