A solo concertina item in which one player performs traditional Irish dance tunes on the small hand-held, hexagonal free-reed instrument, entered individually in one of four age bands and judged on tone, bellows control, fingering, rhythm and the lift of the tune.
The concertina is a small, hand-held free-reed instrument with a bellows between two end plates. The player holds one end in each hand, works the buttons with the fingers and thumbs, and pushes and pulls the bellows to sound the reeds. It has no keyboard and no shoulder straps, so the whole instrument is steadied by the hands, and every phrase of the tune depends on the arms and fingers working together. In Irish traditional playing the concertina is usually the Anglo type, in which a button gives one note when the bellows are pushed and a different note when they are pulled, so the player must always know which way the bellows are travelling.
On the eTalenter templates the item belongs to the Irish traditional music festival template, where it is the sixth class in the programme, following the fiddle, button accordion, flute, whistle and piano accordion. It runs in four age bands, A Under 12, B 12 to 15, C 15 to 18 and D Over 18, and the programme repeats it in each band’s block. Every entry is Individual and open to both genders, no spoken language is attached because the class is played, and the scoring label is a rating out of 10 with a maximum of 100. The ten-minute ceiling is an app default; the source rules do not print a time limit or a marking scheme for the item.
A round is brief and exposed. The entrant is called up, settles the instrument in their hands and plays the tune or tunes they have prepared, most often a reel, jig, hornpipe or polka, with no accompaniment shown in the template. The adjudicators listen to whether the notes are clean when the bellows turn around, whether the rhythm is driven by the bellows and the left hand rather than rushed by the fingers, whether ornaments are small and well placed, and whether the playing sounds like Irish dance music. The template’s Evidence records that adjudicators sit apart and mark separately, and that results are compiled on a points system of 11, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 for the top places, so a placing rests on several independent opinions.
Organisers keep a separate concertina class because it is played quite differently from the piano and button accordions, even though all three are free-reed instruments. A player on a small instrument with a short bellows run has to phrase around the air available, and judging that skill against a large accordion would not be fair to either. The class also gives a stage to a smaller community of players who might otherwise be lost in the larger instrumental classes.
Where Concertina comes from
The concertina was developed in England in the late 1820s and patented by the scientist Charles Wheatstone in 1829. Cheaper German-style instruments spread widely in the nineteenth century, and the concertina became a popular home and dance instrument in many places, including Ireland, where it took root as a traditional instrument and remains a recognised solo voice in the music today.
Where Concertina is run
On the eTalenter templates Concertina is used in a single template, the Irish traditional music festival template in the Cultural and Folk Festival category, where it sits among the solo instrumental classes beside Fiddle, Button Accordion, Flute, Whistle, Piano Accordion, Uilleann Pipes, Harp and Banjo. The concertina is also played at folk, sea-shanty and morris-dance gatherings in other countries; this page describes only the item as the template carries it.
- Ireland
Key facts
- A solo item, so the template records every entry as Individual
- Four age bands: A Under 12, B 12 to 15, C 15 to 18 and D Over 18, all open to both genders
- Hand-held with no keyboard or straps; the accordions have their own separate items in the same programme
- Part of the Irish traditional music festival template only; no spoken language is set because the class is instrumental
- Rating out of 10 with a /100 maximum and a ten-minute ceiling; these are app defaults, as the source rules print neither a time limit nor a per-criterion marking scheme
- Adjudicators mark separately and places are compiled on a points system of 11, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1; first prize may be withheld and first and second places qualify to the next level
On eTalenter, Concertina is filed under On Stage and typically scored with Rating out of 10. It appears in 1 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Concertina is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to around 10 minutes where a limit is set.
What judges look at in Concertina
What a Concertina panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Bellows control: smooth, even travel with no gaps, bumps or sudden swells where the bellows reverse, so the line of the tune is never broken
- Clean fingering: notes sounded cleanly at the speed of the tune, with no stray buttons caught and no hesitation on awkward changes of direction
- Ornament: small, exact cuts, rolls and triplets placed where the tune wants them, rather than crowding every note
- Rhythm and lift: a steady, danceable pulse with accents where a dancer would feel them, and a tempo that suits the tune instead of running away with it
- Tone and balance: a full, even sound at the chosen volume, with the two hands balanced so the melody always leads
- Style: phrasing and variation that sound like Irish dance music, and a tune choice the player can handle comfortably at pace
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Concertina under Scoring Setup, or start from the full instrumental music judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for Concertina
How entrants and their teachers usually get Concertina right on the day:
- Choose tunes that sit well on your instrument and that you can play cleanly from memory; a steady jig played with care beats an ambitious reel that falls apart in the second part
- Learn which notes fall on the push and which on the pull in each tune, and mark the bellows reversals so you can plan your phrasing around them
- Practise the bellows alone with a repeated note or slow scale until the sound is the same going in and coming out
- Work each tune slowly with a metronome and raise the tempo only when the ornaments and bellows changes are still clean
- Listen to good traditional players and copy how lightly they ornament and how steadily they keep the beat before you add your own variation
- Record a full run, listen for rushed passages and noisy changes of direction, and choose three bars to repair each week
- Check the instrument is in good order, with no sticking buttons or leaking bellows, before the day, then rehearse the whole performance from walking up to finishing, and read any adjudication feedback afterwards to set one target for the next event
Ready-made event templates that include Concertina
Open any template to preview it in eTalenter and install it as a live, editable event.
| Template | Category | Score label | Competitions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fleadh Cheoil (Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann) | On Stage | Rating out of 10 | 4 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Concertina judged individually or as a team?
Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Individual entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.
Is a concertina the same as an accordion?
No. Both are free-reed instruments with bellows, but the concertina is a small, hand-held, hexagonal instrument with buttons at both ends and no keyboard, while an accordion is larger and strapped to the shoulders. The template carries Button Accordion and Piano Accordion as their own separate items, so choose the class that matches your instrument.
Do I have to play in the traditional style?
The template sits inside an Irish traditional music programme, so entrants are expected to play traditional dance music in that style. The source rules do not print a marking scheme, so check the festival notice for the tune types and any other requirements before you enter.
Is Concertina a team event?
No. The template records every entry as Individual. Duets, trios and bands are separate items in the same programme and are not covered by this page.
Which age band do I enter?
The template has four bands: A Under 12, B 12 to 15, C 15 to 18 and D Over 18. The source rules define them as age-group codes, and the date on which your age is counted is set by the festival, so check the notice before you enter.
Can I use backing or an accompanist?
The template does not show any accompaniment, and the item is a solo class. Check the festival notice if you plan to use anything beyond your own playing.
How is the winner decided?
The template’s Evidence records that adjudicators sit apart and mark separately, and that placings are compiled on points of 11, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1. First prize may be withheld, and first and second places qualify to the next level.
Want the full judging picture? Read the full instrumental music judging criteria guide, or browse every on stage competition item.
Try Concertina in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs Concertina, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
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