Kettle Bridge Concertinas

Kent Community Orchestra

When Kettle Bridge Concertinas play in public it is usually to an audience of no more than a dozen or so in an informal setting. However, we were invited by local musician Ciara Considine to take part in an evening concert at Invicta Grammar School with the Kent Community Orchestra. This was quite a challenge for us but Ciara, who has hosted a workshop for us in the past, had every confidence in us, so we accepted her invitation.

During the evening, we played a few tunes on our own but also joined in with the orchestra for a rousing performance of Thaxted. The audience was very appreciative and we were very pleased to support the event which was raising funds for local charity Space 2 B Me.

Click here to see an illustrated report.

World Concertina Day 2024

Kettle Bridge Concertinas’ contribution to the 2024 World Concertina Day was a visit to Maidstone Museum to raise the profile of the concertina with a session of performances and education.

Click here for a report with pictures.

Everything You Wanted To Know about Concertinas ...

Do you know the difference between an English concertina and an Anglo one?
Is your concertina unisonoric or bisonoric? Hint "unisonoric" is nothing to do with being able to play along with others, and "bisonoric" does not relate to North American buffaloes!
Is there such a thing as a "Franglo" concertina or have I just made that up?

The answer to all these questions and more can be found on the Wikipedia page dedicated to your favourite instrument. Read the article, become an instant expert and completely bore thoroughly impress your friends and family.

The Circle of Fifths

Let’s be honest, music theory can be a bit dry but if you are interested in understanding more about scales and keys, there is a very informative video available on YouTube all about the Circle of Fifths.

Click here to view it. As always, you may need to skip over the ads to get to the video.

Image courtesy of Just plain Bill, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Concertina Tinker

Dave Elliott is an associate member of Kettle Bridge Concertinas and a thoroughly useful chap to know. He is an experienced repairer and restorer of traditionally constructed concertinas of all types — large bass through to piccolo — as well as miniature instruments, and all fingering systems.

He is very happy to provide individual advice, event clinics, or group workshops and is the author of 'The Concertina Maintenance Manual'.

For more information, visit his website at http://concertina-repair.org.uk/.