There is one golden rule that you must strictly adhere to, always have a ‘new finger’ available to play the next button. Playing two different consecutive buttons with the same finger is called hopping and is extremely undesirable. Make sure you ‘stride’ to the next button, don’t ‘hop’.

It would be ideal that you have your own Anglo concertina and that you’re looking forward to learn some traditional songs. Pull up a sturdy chair or stool and take the concertina. Rest your palms on the wooden bars with your fingers inside the leather straps with the thumb on the outside of the straps. Your thumb controls the air into the bellows as you’ll need to have air through the bellows throughout the play.

If the bellows are too compressed you will lose air through the chamber and if it’s too wide you will have difficulty controlling the instrument. Rest the instrument on one of your knees and move the bellows with both your arms.