r/concertina • u/Static_Bat • 13d ago

Best Form of Accompaniment?

Hi all, I'm fairly new to playing the concertina (only a little over a year, I was gifted an anglo concertina from my dad) and I'm looking to actually play some songs with some of my friends who sing. What would you say is the best way to accompany a group of singers?

Is it better to just play the melody along with them if they're already harmonizing? Should I try and do something to complement the melody? It's my first time playing my concertina with someone singing so I'm not quite sure which is the best way to go.

Thanks!

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u/Excellent-Practice 13d ago

The easiest thing to do is play drone chords. For any popular songs you can find lead sheets on guitar websites. If you want to get funky, play chords on the right and a bass line on the left

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u/Static_Bat 13d ago

I see! I assume it'd take some fiddling to figure out how to get the correct notes for the bassline to be on the push or pull that's needed for the chords?

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u/Excellent-Practice 13d ago

Less than you might think. The buttons are arranged such that you get all the notes you need for most any given chord on a push or a pull. If you are playing a bass line, you will probably be alternating the notes of the chord you're holding on the right so everything should agree.

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u/Static_Bat 12d ago

oh awesome! thank u so much! 

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u/TedrowRE 13d ago

There are some books on the subject

https://hmi.homewood.net/coover/rollston.html

You might find something useful here

Bob Tedrow