2.5 Row Melodeons (including Club models)
The 2½ row melodeon has been making quite a comeback in England in recent years - it is by no means a new invention, the "Club Models" have been around for years although modern keyboard layouts are different from the club. The 2½ row melodeon is unfortunately the most varied in terms of fingering; different manufacturers supply different fingerings from the factory and many players change the reed setup to reflect their own playing styles. I have included a B/C (Irish chromatic) 2½ row layout which makes some fingering on the B/C system easier.
MODERN 2½ ROW MELODEONS
Modern instruments in this category have 12 bass buttons as standard
• D/G 21+5 buttons Castagnari Layout
• D/G 23 +4 buttons Saltarelle Layout
• D/G 21 +5 Andy Cutting's Layout (Castagnari Mory)
• D/G 21 +5 Steve-freereeder's Layout (Castagnari Mory) *
• D/G 21 +5 Clive Williams' Layout (Castagnari Mory, semi-unisonoric) *
• D/G 23 +4 John Spiers' Layout (Saltarelle Connemara II)
• B/C 23 +4 Layout (Irish Chromatic)
CLUB MODEL MELODEONS
Club models have 8 basses and a peculiar unisonoric button in the middle of the inside row. The keys listed below are the most common to find Club Models in.
• D/G 30 button Club Model
• C/F 30 button Club Model
• Bb/Eb 30 button Club Model
• Bb/Eb 25 button Hohner Club Model II* (layout sent in by Francois Ouellette)
All pages and diagrams in this section are by John Spiers apart from those marked *.