Many people buy or acquire an Anglo concertina and find that it is less intuitive to play than it first appears. What is needed, instead, is a systematic approach and, at last, here it is. You don't have to play specifically Irish music to utilise this style; the system employed is one of the most efficient ways of exploiting the peculiar nuances of the this instrument and can be applied to any genre. Keys are tackled in order of difficulty and all types of tune - including slow airs - are tackled. A decent selection of tunes is included.
The book contains 17 photographs and numerous illustrations and diagrams; 14 reels, 20 jigs, 10 hornpipes and 12 miscellaneous tunes, (56 in total, many with chords), rudiments of music, list of dealers, extensive bibliography and discography and a chord chart. The optional tape contains extracts from each chapter on side A and a selection of the tunes from the book on side B.
As an active song club organiser for many years before moving to Devon in 1983, Mick Bramich's connections with traditional music go back to the heyday of its revival in the mid-sixties. He comes from the Birmingham area where he trained as a tool maker and later as a teacher.
He is known as a singer and guitar player to many older hands on the folk club circuit but has been an enthusiast of the Anglo concertina since about 1979. His style of playing developed independently and it was by accident that he discovered he was playing in what is loosely termed the 'Irish' way. This tutor combines his teaching skills with an inherent love for the material being taught.
 
Contents
 
Index of tunes
Introduction
Choosing the right instrument
Blank 30 button layouts
About the Anglo concertina
The key of G major
Some tips on air control
Another way of playing G major
The key of D major Scales
The key of A minor
The key of E minor
Modulation
The key of D minor
The key of F major
The key of B minor
The key of A major
The key of G minor Decoration of melodic lines
The slow air
Conclusion and acknowledgments
Appendix one (a selection of tunes)
Appendix two (other tunings)
Appendix three (chordpatterns)
Appendix four (rudiments of music)
Appendix five (dealers and suppliers)
Appendix six (bibliography).
Appendix seven (discography)
 
Tunes
 
Apples in winter 
Boys of Bluehill 
Carman's jig 
Carolan's welcome 
Christmas Eve 
Cliffs of Moher 
Cock o' the north 
Cúil Aodha jig 
The home ruler 
Dear Irish boy 
Drowsy Maggie 
Dullagen reel 
Eavesdropper 
First House in Connaught
Flogging 
Flowing tide 
Garrett Barry's jig 
Glen of Aherlow Hag with the money 
Her mantle so green 
Hullichan jig 
Humours of Ballycastle 
Humours of Westport 
I ne'er shall wean her 
Wish my love was a mire 
Kesh jig 
Kinnegad slashers 
Lannigan's ball
Martin Wynne's no. 2 
Mist on the meadow 
Morning star 
Off to California 
Britches full of stitches 
O, love, lie beside me 
Out on the ocean 
Paddy Fahey's no. 1 An Páistín fionn 
Peggy Levin 
Pipe on the hob no. 1 
Plains of Boyle 
Pleasures of home 
Princess royal
Rakes of Kildare 
Rights of man 
Rolling wave 
Sailing into Walpole's Marsh 
Shandon bells 
Shannon's flowery banks 
Six mile bridge 
The Steeplechase 
Sullivan O'Moore's march 
Tomgraney castle 
Top of the Maol 
Wheels of the world