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 Wheatstone English concertina, produced c. 1920 | |
| Other instrument | |
|---|---|
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 412.132 (Free-reed aerophone) |
| Inventor(s) | Sir Charles Wheatstone, Carl Friedrich Uhlig |
| Developed | 1829, 1834 |
| Related instruments | |
| Accordion, harmonica, melodeon | |
A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It consists of expanding and contracting bellows, with buttons (or keys) usually on both ends, unlike accordion buttons, which are on the front.
The concertina was developed independently in both England and Germany.[1] The English version was invented in 1829 by Sir Charles Wheatstone,[2] while Carl Friedrich Uhlig introduced the German version five years later, in 1834. Various forms of concertina are used for classical music, for the traditional music of Ireland, England, and South Africa, and for tango and polka music.
The concertina has historically been a favorite instrument among people who travel often (due to its small and compact size), leading it to be a common instrument among soldiers, sailors, and cowboys. One was even brought aboard Robert Peary's 1891 expedition of the Greenland Arctic. Despite the pop-culture association of the concertina with the Golden Age of Piracy, the concertina was invented nearly 100 years after the heyday of piracy in North America.[3]
- ^ Dan Michael Worrall (1 January 2009). The Anglo-German Concertina: A Social History. Vol. 1. Dan Michael Worrall. pp. 4–. ISBN 978-0-9825996-0-0.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 824.
- ^ Worral, Dan. "The Concertina at Sea: A History of a Nautical Icon." Anglo Concertina. Accessed December 26, 2023. http://www.angloconcertina.org/files/ConcertinasatSea1.pdf