mutepointe

Hey Folks: Thanks for the encouragement. After posting my first message yesterday, I came to understand what someone mentioned about the button layout being the same as a harmonica. The harmonica is cut right in half by the concertina. Now this is all making o so much more sense to me. Now I'm playing with multiple notes and chords and base notes. This is a whole new ballgame.

Hey Folks: I managed to play the First Noel well enough that my family recognized it. One note at a time. I'm just learning the top rows of keys in C right now. the key of G keys will come after I achieve this. When I get better, I'll let you know. I bet you folks have all been there. mutepointe

Hey Folks: Thanks for your interest in helping. Since you can't read my mind, I'll answer your questions. Yes, I do want to learn to play a 20 button Bastari. I do have a background in music. My instruments (in order of learning, not competency) are keyboard, 6 & 12-string acoustic guitar, harmonica, pennywhistle, irish flute, & boehm flute. My sister-in-law taught me to play the piano when I was in high school, my wife taught me to play the guitar, I learned everything else over the internet. I was never in band in school and have been a folk musician in church my whole adult life. My big talent with music is sight tranposing, so even though my concertina is limited in keys, that won't stop me. Until I learned all the wind instruments, I was strictly a sheet music person. I was completely suprised when I first picked out a tune on the pennywhistle and am working that into my skills. I keep a pennywhistle and a harmonica in my car and make the best out of a traffic jam or drive through wait. I live in West Virginia. The county library system doesn't have any books on playing the concertina. I can afford to buy a book to learn the basics. If that's what I would have to do, I would sure like some advice on which book to select to self-teach. I would like a book that is like those learn to play the piano primers like the Thompson seriers. I also learned piano from the different colored books that started on "A" and went on down the alphabet. The series went further than I did. The cost of a tutor, I imagine, is completely out of the question. I would like to learn folk tunes, church music, pop, and classical. I like the sound of irish instruments but other than slow airs, I am not particular fond of irish music. I have a picture of the notes on the buttons and noticed that chords are all over the place. I am a big believer in the school of "experiment and have fun" but I think the concertina is going to be a bit more complicated than the harmonica and pennywhistle. I think it would be easier if my eyes were like the eyes of a hammerhead shark so that I could see what both of my hands were doing. Baking soda got rid of 50% of the smell. I can't believe someone did that to an instrument.

does anyone know of any on-line free resources to learn to play?

Thanks, I hadn't thought of this in that direction. I'm getting rid of the smell right now, hopefully.

Dear Folks: I got a Bastari 20 button concertina for Christmas. I have no clue yet on how to play it other than the fingering chart that I found on the internet. But that's not why I'm writing. This concertina was just not taken care of. It must have been a knick knack on the shelf of a very heavy smoker. It's dirty, it has patches of gunk spots, the bellows are dirty and dusty. The dirt in the creases looked like felt. It smells like heavy smoker armpit sweat, especially when it's opened. What is a safe way to get the smell out, and get the dirt and grime off the bellows, ends and buttons. I don't want to damage it but it's dirty. On the sides of the concertina that were facing upwards on the shelf, the cigarette tar is over everything. the corners look like brass but the corners that were facing downwards are nice and silvery. that's how dirty it became. Any suggestions? mutepointe

I'm waiting to receive approval to post a new topic, I just joined. I received a Bastari 20 button for Christmas. It was sitting as a knick knack at a heavy smoker's home for many many years. It smells like heavy smoker armpit sweat, it is grimy and dirty, and had dust in the creases that looked like felt. Does anyone have any suggestions on cleaning this without harming it? It's not in the best of shape but it's a good way to see if I can learn how to play it.