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"For the original poster, asking about the 20 button C/G Anglo that he actually has, rather than the 30 or 40 button that he doesn't...\n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\tI have owned 7 Anglos over the last few years, and currently own 4.  I started on a 30 button.\n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\tI can honestly say that the biggest step forward I made was when I got my 20 button, which was the 4th concertina I owned, and some 10 years after the 1st.\n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\tI don't play it as often as my favourite 30, but I find four things about it:\n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\t1)  The limitations of the 20 button layout create a real sense of satisfaction when playing simple tunes and finding harmonies and alternative fingerings, although those tunes might be trivial to play on a 30 button.\n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\t2)  The limitations of the 20 button layout was the biggest encouragement for me to start playing in the higher of the 2 keys (G on a C/G) because of the additional cross row options and harmonies.\n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\t3)  The lack of a 3rd row adds a delightful sparseness to the sound.  It gives it that proper Anglo sound.  On a 30+ button, there is a temptation to do full and rich chords whenever you can, and \"over use\" (I am being highly subjective) of the extra buttons can take you too far away from the core of what makes the instrument an Anglo.\n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\t4)  When chords are not available, the octave always works, and playing in parallel octaves is a skill in its own right, and a link with the sound made by the untutored traditional musicians of the past.  (This is a sort of point 3A as it is closely linked to 3 above.)\n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\tPoint is, don't think of it as \"only a 20 button\".  Think of it as what it is: the heart and soul of all Anglos, but with no frills.\n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\tThe layout of an Anglo seems random at first.  On a 20 button, nearly all the notes appear at least twice, sometimes in the same bellows direction.  The push/pull thing confuses people unless they are used to the diatonic system.\n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\tIn fact, it is completely logical, in the sense that the more you play, the more you realise that the notes appear exactly where they are needed — at least for popular simple tunes.\n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\tTake the C row push.  Ignoring the bottom 2 buttons on the left hand, you just have a repeating pattern of the notes of the C major chord: C E G C E G C E.  That means that any 2 or more push notes will automatically be part of the C major chord.  Some combinations will sound better than others, but they will all harmonise.\n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\tOf course, you don't necessarily want to play chords, but you will find that a lot of tunes rely heavily on sequences of notes from the same chord.  You will also find that the notes C E and G tend to be on the beat when you're playing in C, so they sit nicely \"on the push\".\n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\tThere are 7 letter names available: A B C D E F G.  If only 3 of them (C E G) are \"allowed\" on the push, then that means you need to fit the other 4 (A B D F) on the pull.  This introduces one of the quirks of the Anglo layout: the fact that the scale goes &lt;&lt; push, pull, push, pull, push, pull, pull again, push &gt;&gt;\n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\tThe knock on effect of this is that the fingering of the first octave of the scale (left hand) is different from the fingering of the second octave (right hand).\n \n\n\n\tLeft hand goes (starting on button 3) &lt;&lt;push, pull, push the next, pull, push the next, pull\"\n \n\n\n\tRight hand goes (starting on button 1) &lt;&lt;push, pull the next, push, pull the next, push, pull the next...&gt;&gt;\n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\tIt takes some getting used to, but it soon comes with practice.\n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\tI said above, \"ignoring the bottom 2 buttons on the left hand.\"    The standard pattern is a repeated CEG.  However, those 2 buttons give you C and G.  There is no E.  This is simply because there is only room for 2, and the E is the least useful of the 3.\n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\tbecause the G is so useful, they also put one on the bottom button, pull.  This means that the bottom 3 buttons, pull, will give you a G major chord, and the bottom 4 buttons will give you a G7 chord.\n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\tAll the same rules apply to the G row, the push notes being the 3 notes of the G major chord: G B D repeat.  Also, some builders substitute different notes on the pull  the very lowest button, taking advantage of the fact that the pull D is readily available on button 3 of the C row.\n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\tAs all the notes appear twice on the instrument, once on each row, except for the F/F# which appear once each, there are over 100 ways of playing a C major scale.  You don't need to learn all of them, but you will find that some specific runs of notes \"across the rows\" will be really helpful.\n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\tHere's one to start with.  On the right hand, play C D E F  (push, pull the next, push, pull the next) then transfer your fingers to the G row and repeat the fingering to get G A B C.\n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\tYou say you want to play \"pirate songs\" and Irish session tunes.  Pedantry alert: the concertina was invented long after the so called golden age of piracy had ended.  However, simple chantey type songs will fit the Anglo well.  Tunes such as Blow the Man Down, Sam's Gone Away (aboard a man of war), and so on will be easy to pick out by ear, or you can find the dots/ABC file with a quick Google search.\n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\tI don't play much Irish, but Dingle Regatta and the Irish Washer Woman both fit a 20 b and will challenge you to cross the rows.  In fact Dingle Regatta, in particular, is a good tune for helping you to understand the quirky logic behind the layout, and why the manufacturers put the two rows a 5th apart.\n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\tAs a complete beginner, though, you may be better off playing some simple tunes by ear such as Donkey Riding, British Grenadier, Camptown Racetrack, When the Saints, and some slow waltzes such as Michael Turner's.  Look for alternative cross row fingering patterns, and try different options.  Listen to other players.  If you're on Spotify, you can find some of the \"old dead guys\" such as William Kimber and Scan Tester, and plenty of the living players who have a more modern style too.  There's also plenty on You Tube, and an almost infinite supply of free music and sound files if you search  on abcnotation.com .\n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\t \n \n\n\n\t \n \n"
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