1304  How to play the bandoneon

Date: Thu, 22 May 2003 17:34:27 -0400
From: Daniel Saindon <gardien@TANGO.MONTREAL.QC.CA>
Subject: How to play the bandoneon

Good evening

Clayton wrote:

>> I would be interested in knowing if musicians use either the expansion
>> or the contraction over the other, and what advantages each has as far
>> as phrasing, dynamics and timbre are concerned.

Bandoneonist use the expansion mode that is also called
"opening the bellows"; Bandoneonists may alsolimit their play
to opening the bellows only ( but the length of their
phrase is also limited because the bandoneon need
time to breath; tango phrases are usually short, so it helps )

More experienced bandoneonist use both directions;

There is an interesting CD and booklet of 80 pages
on the history and technique of the bandoneon;

This CD comes from the Smithsonian Center for Folklife
Program & Cultural Studies and is titled:
BANDONEON PURE: Dances of Uruguay by Rene Marino Rivero
( with a selction of tangos, milongas, vals, ranchera,
candombe, etc )

On page 28 he writes: The difficulties of bandoneon
playing do not lie in the fingering but in the
differentiated operation of the bellows and their
synchronization with the other constituents of both
chains of movement. Because the bellows operation,
which may be compared with the bowing of stringed
instruments, has to follow the musical sense, it
demands musical knowledge, imagination and
expressiveness on the playe^r`s part before he can
even begin with the technical work on a piece.

Date: Thu, 22 May 2003 23:48:42 +0200
From: Christian Lüthen <christian.luethen@GMX.NET>
Subject: Re: How to play the bandoneon

On 22 May 2003 at 17:34, Daniel Saindon wrote:

> Because the bellows operation,
> which may be compared with the bowing of stringed
> instruments,

with one big difference: with the string instrument the tone stays
the same wether the bow goes up or down ... with the bandoneon
opening or closing the bellow produces a different tone! (at least
for almost all of the buttons, only very few are the same [do not ask
how many, still struggling to learn the keyboard opening!]

one important point learning to play bandoneon seems to be that you
should start from the beginning on to play opening *and* closing the
bellow!!! but most of the playing seems to be opening, therefore you
also have to learn how to handle the air-valve to play closing *and*
simultaneously 'take a breath' (let in air through the valve) -
without loosing the tone.

learning to play bandoneon definitely has a masochistic aspect ...
but also a bandoneon is as tender and harsh as a woman, and if it's a
"nacarado" (fully decorated with mother of pearls) even more
beautiful than a woman. and a bandoneon does not walk away from you!
:-)

christian

christian@eTanguero.net
https://www.eTanguero.net/