One thing I have found - as someone who has been teaching myself the English Concertina for about a year - is that I get to the stage where I can play a tune ok on my own, but if I try to play it with other people, if I miss just one note, I get completely lost and cant join in again until we get back the the start of a section. Then I get even more flustered, and make more mistakes etc. As I am a shy retiring soul.... this has made me more nervous about taking my instrument to sessions as I am sure I will fluff it all the time. So I have recently decided to buy a set of books from Folkworks which give you the dots for the tunes, as well as a CD with the tune which you can play along to. I think it also has a version of each tune played slowly for you to play along to when you are learning it. I think this might make it easier for me to get used to sticking with the timing and not pausing when I make mistakes, but to find my place in the tune easier when I do make mistakes.

For details, go to this folkworks page and click on the link to Folkworks Session Collection for details of ordering.

Folkworks also do absolute beginners workouts now and again if you can get to NE England. Not sure if they do the anglo concertina though as a rule, but I have been to one on the english concertina and I learnt a lot in just one day.

Bagpuss