Baker's Student Encyclopedia of Music | Concertina

A FREE-REED instrument with two hexagonal or octagonal (eight-sided) ends, each with a button keyboard and handle, connected by expandable bellows. The instrument was patented by Charles Wheatstone in 1829 and 1844.

Two basic types of concertina have been popular. In the fully chromatic English system, each button produces the same note on the extension and compression of the bellows. In the German-Anglo system, each button produces one pitch on the extension and a different pitch on the compression on a principle similar to the HARMONICA.

Concertinas come in registers ranging from soprano to double bass. Its repertory has included classical, light classical, novelty, and traditional music.