Which is easier to play, Concertina or Whistle?

[E = Fb]

Does anyone have experience with both?

[Paul]

I was wondering the same thing, E=Fb. I finally gave in and ordered a D/G Anglo from Frank Edgley about a month ago.

-Paul

[Azalin]

Well, there's just ONE possible answer for that: whistle. I mean, let's be honnest, whistle is one fo the easiest, if not the easiest, instrument in irish music (do you consider the bodhran an instrument? hehe).

I'm about to get a concertina, and come on now... 15 buttons each side, two notes per button. On the whistle there's like 6 holes.

[E = Fb]

I asked because our button box fella has been playing for six years and spends many hours practicing. He's good, but he doesn't have as much stuff under his belt as I would expect. And maybe it's because of the instrument. He tells me there's a model that gives the same note whether you push or pull the bellows. Invented in the 70's and easier to play. Anyway, I'm sticking with whistle.

BTW, an OT comment on bodhran. It should be treated as an instrument by those who play, but usually is not. The problem is that people who finally figure out he wrist action think they have it mastered at that point. I prefer hand drums over bodhran because they can deliver a clearer beat, and those who know how to hit one with their hands are under no illusion that they are masters of the instrument.

[Sourdoh]

For my first post to this wonderful forum I have to put forward that the concertina is easier. I have been experimenting with many instruments over the last (blank) years, and for the last month have been learning the English concertina. I found that my low grade carpal tunnel wouldn't let me play stringed instruments for long enough to even think about getting decent on them. After years of going between tin whistle and harmonica I decided I really needed an instrument I didn't have to blow in.

The concertina has turned out to be the right choice for me. Using an old trick of the Victorians to take the majority of the weight off my hands (sitting) I am able to play without stressing my joints. The 48 buttons make just as much sense as the keys on a piano and the instrument sounds sweet and beautiful even when the player makes mistakes.

I have to admit though, I am glad I didn't find this forum until after I bought the concertina. I might have been led to postpone the purchase for much longer. (Let's see, I can buy one concertina, or how many whistles )

Just what I found to be easiest for me. I say try them both! You may find they both fill a special spot in your heart.

- Keith

[lixnaw]

I say try them both! You may find they both fill a special spot in your heart.

- Keith

hi keith, welcome. i like them both! i didn't like the concertina, but realy liked the button accordion.
i don't practice more than an hour a day on whistles, so i ordered a saltarelle Cs/D box.
it's mostly played on the inner row with plenty puch and draw on the bellows.
it's hard at the start, but once you know the whereabouts of the notes, you'll learn qiuck.
i believe the button box is an ergonomic-friendly instrument, and a nice change from whistling.

[csharpd]

I play two kinds of concertina (English and anglo), button accordion, and whistle. For me, the concertinas have been easiest, the button accordion hardest, and the whistle in-between. But it's hard to separate out how much is due to difficulty and how much is due to lack of practice. My whistle-playing is the weakest because I tend to practice it the least.

He tells me there's a model that gives the same note whether you push or pull the bellows. Invented in the 70's and easier to play.

Now, that gave me a laugh! He's probably speaking of the English concertina, or possibly one of the several "duet" types, all of which give the same note on press and draw. (Buttons on the anglo concertina play different notes on press and draw.) The English concertina is the oldest of all concertina types, having been invented about 1830 by Sir Charles Wheatstone.

Concertina players can debate endlessly about whether English or anglo instruments are easier to learn. I think it depends on the invidual.

[Caj]

That's a tough one. I guess I'd say the whistle is easier than an anglo concertina, all things considered. Easier to buy that's for sure.

Thing is, an anglo concertina does very easily some things that are a pain on other instruments. But then there are basic tasks which are a pain on the concertina. Further complicating matters is that different people use different rules to finger the same concertina, since you can have the same note in 3 different places. For different fingering systems, different phrases and different tunes are a pain to play.

Story: I took a short class from Jaqueline McCarthy, who taught us lots of lovely tunes. One advanced student asked her: can you give us a tune that you would consider difficult to play? So she played a tune for us, which was neither speedy nor long, but a real finger-twister. Again, this depends on the way you hit the buttons: the same tune can be easy or awkward depending on the system you use, and each system has its share of nice and awkward tunes. For my own system this tune wasn't so bad.

Anyways, so I learned the tune, and it fast became one of my favorites. A friend in NJ plays mandolin, and she likes the tune, and asks me to teach it to her---turns out it is a collosal pain in the butt to play on a mandolin. Part of the B part goes "bgdG gGBG | DGBd gdbg", which I think is the painful part. I don't know if a fiddler or mandolin player here can confirm this.

Caj

[Wombat]

He tells me there's a model that gives the same note whether you push or pull the bellows. Invented in the 70's and easier to play. Anyway, I'm sticking with whistle.

That sounds like the English concertina which has been around since the mid 19th century at least. Very few people play Irish music on it. Although I play Anglo, I don't think there's any reason to avoid English concertina for Irish music.

[Wombat]

For me, it was much easier to pick up whistle than Anglo initially although I could play a tune on both more or less straight away. I played sax which has a similar layout to whistle and harmonica which is similar to Anglo. I made a lot of progress in the first six months on whistle and much less on Anglo. Since then, my rate of progress on whistle has slowed down but my progress on Anglo has speeded up. As an instrument, I still probably find the whistle easier to play. But I think it might be easier to get swing or lilt on Anglo than on whistle where I find it hard to figure out good places to breathe. Again, though, it depends a lot on the tune. It also depends on how I'm feeling, if I don't feel like blowing, Anglo will be a lot easier to get into.

[Easily_Deluded_Fool]

I play anglo concertina.

It's not easier than the whistle,
but it's not that hard either.

Like everything else, you go with what suits you.
Some find strings easy, others blowy things, others squeezy things,
and they all get easier/better with practice.

There are some major drawbacks with the concertina though.

First they are very loud - much louder than a whistle,
so the potential for disturbing others is very high.
So, if the little darlings wake me up when they come home,
at 3 am, after a nights activities with friends in the local
amusement emporium, I can get my own back by practicing
the accordian at say 5 am

The other drawback is than you can't use it for self-defence.
A low whistle is a formidable weapon at close range!
Wielding a concertina isn't quite as intimidating.

Also try getting a concertina in yer pocket

[Darwin]

Anyways, so I learned the tune, and it fast became one of my favorites. A friend in NJ plays mandolin, and she likes the tune, and asks me to teach it to her---turns out it is a collosal pain in the butt to play on a mandolin. Part of the B part goes "bgdG gGBG | DGBd gdbg", which I think is the painful part. I don't know if a fiddler or mandolin player here can confirm this.

The third note (d) and the fourth (G) are on the same fret on adjacent strings, which can be a pain on a fast song--and you can't use your second finger for the G, because it will be needed for the g right away. That means you have to use your little finger for the d, which is not the kind of thing that happens a lot, so it's not the first response. However, once you realize that, it requires much less finger movement than any other solution. You can hold a G chord and move only the little finger for the whole first bar.

There are lines that feel very natural on the mandolin, but are a bit tricky on the guitar, and vice versa. Nowadays, almost everything feels natural on the guitar, though, because that's about all I've played regularly for at least a decade.

Regarding the concertina, a friend has a Anglo that I found very unintuitive the few times I tried it. I'd like to try an English. I'd say that the whistle is much, much easier than the Anglo. Of course, I don't play many fast tunes on the whistle.

She started out with a relatively cheap model that was very stiff and began developing tendon and joint pains. She finally switched to a more expensive one and hasn't had any more problems, so far. (She mostly plays mandolin and guitar.)

[GaryKelly]

Having just taken up English concertina meself, I can state with certainty that (for me!) concertina is harder to learn than whistle!

At least with the whistle I was able to play recognisable tunes by the end of day one (it was kind of the gentlemen at Clarke's to include the tunes in the box with the whistle, I thought!). Two weeks into my concertina journey I can play a tune... paaaainfully slowly ... bellows control I have none.

[amar]

ok, I don't play the concertina, but it's beyond me how anyone can say that learning a concertina is easier than learning a whistle...

[jbarter]

I play whistles and a D/G Anglo. One of the advantages for me is that playing by ear I find that the intuitive leaps are the same for both instruments. At sessions I find that I consider some tunes are whistle tunes and some are box tunes, not because they are easier on one or the other but just because I enjoy them more that way. Having said that, most tunes are interchangeable and get played with whatever instrument is in my hand at the time.
I have been told in the past that an English concertina is better for music readers as all the 'line' notes are on one side and all the 'space' notes on the other.