Bandoneon Concertina 128 Tones To Play Tango

[Ricardo]

Hello Guys, I am new in concertina.net.

I wonder if someone can give me an advise. I recently got a Bandoneon Concertina 128 tones Alfred Arnold and I want to learn the instrument to play tango. I posted in teaching and learning too. Does anyone know about tutoring on this instrument?...thanks

[ceemonster]

there are tutors now who give lessons on Skype. you can find them through google research or at the Yahoo Groups bandoneon forum.

 

but before thinking about lessons, here is two cents worth of opinion: you can save yourself a lot of money and time if you grit your teeth and make a systematic project out of memorizing your note layout. I will assume your instrument is in tune with all notes correct and to pitch? if not, that will need to be done first.

 

you can print diagrams of the layout from the internet. compare to your instrument---are they basically the same with the exception of your instrument not having the super-high and super-low notes? if so, use the diagram. if not, figure out what notes are on each button and make your own diagram (this assumes the instrument is properly tuned). use a colored pencil or colored marker--assign one color to each octave. use that color to shade all the notes from that octave on your diagram. (Note: on bando, sometimes one button will have a note from one octave in one direction, and a note from a different octave in the other direction).

 

then memorize--- proceed one octave at a time, push, and then pull. start with the left-hand (bass) side octaves, then move on to the right. every day, play the notes you've already memorized to anchor them in your brain. do not begin another octave until you have thoroughly memorized the previous octave.

 

if you work regularly, you can have this done in six months or probably much less than that for 128 buttons. trust me on this--the woods are full of people who start bandoneon and do not do this. four years later, they can "hunt and peck" through a few musical pieces, but they still have not learned their keyboards and are telling everyone how hard bandoneon is to learn. it isn't. okay, it is, but not as hard as these folks would make it out to be. you can be playing simple waltzes and beginner tangos in less than a year if you do this. suck it up, memorize your notes.

 

THEN spend money on a teacher..... :)

Edited March 5, 2014 by ceemonster

[Ricardo]

Thank you very much for your wise advise . I really appreciate .

Ricardo