Button-Accordion Tunes 2 Play 4 Fun
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      • Introduction to Site
      • Intro to youTube
      • Intro to Button Accordions
      • Intro to Accordion Music
      • Basic ACCORDION MUSIC
      • Basic BUTTON LAYOUT
      • Basic NOTATION
      • Basic PRACTICE ideas
      • Intermediate MUSIC
      • Intermediate LAYOUT
      • Intermediate NOTATION
      • Intermediate PRACTICE
      • Advanced MUSIC
      • Advanced LAYOUT
      • Advanced NOTATION
      • Advanced PRACTICE
      • Accordion Links
    • BA1-Main
    • BA2-Main
  • Canada
    • NL - newer >
      • Candlelight_and_Wine
      • Fishing_in_a_dory
      • Grey foggy day
      • Joe Batt's Arm longliners
      • Loss of the Marion
      • Music and friends
      • Northern Lights of Labrador
      • Outport people
      • Rose in her hair.
      • Rubber_boots
      • Saltwater joys
      • Song for Newfoundland
      • Sonny's dream
      • Surrounded_by_water
      • Take me to the country
      • The St. John's Waltz
      • This Is My Home
      • Towards_the_sunset
      • Woman of Labrador
    • NL - older >
      • Badger_drive
      • Cliffs of Baccalieu
      • Feller from Fortune
      • Great big sea hove in ...
      • Harbour Le Cou
      • I'se The B'y
      • Jack was every inch a sailor
      • Kelligrew's Soiree
      • Let me fish off Cape St Mary's
      • Lukey's boat
      • Now I'm 64
      • Ode to Newfoundland
      • Old Brown's daughter
      • Old Polina
      • Paddy and the whale
      • Ryans and Pittmans
      • Squid jiggin' ground
      • Star of Logy Bay
      • Sweet forget-me-not
      • Tiny Red Light
    • OTHER - newer >
      • Both_sides_now
      • Did_she_mention_my_name
      • (The) Farmer's Song
      • Four strong winds
      • I'm movin' on
      • Log_drivers_waltz
      • Make_n_Break_Harbour
      • Sea-People
      • Song-for-Mira
      • Working-man
    • OTHER - older >
      • Bluebird
      • Farewell_to_NS
      • Maggie
      • O Canada
      • Peggy Gordon
      • Red River Valley
    • Christmas Songs >
      • (A) Children's Winter
      • Christmas_fancy
      • Christmas in the harbour.
      • Mummers song
      • Old_Christmas_waltz
    • BY "EAR" >
      • Bluebirds_sing
      • Capelin time
      • From an island to an island
      • Land_of_fish_and_seals
      • Light and Power Boys
      • (The) Music takes me back
      • Mussels in the corner
      • Newfoundland_waltz
  • USA
    • USA - newer >
      • Adios_Amigo
      • Annie's song
      • Ballad of the Green Berets
      • Blowing in the wind
      • Blue eyes crying in the rain
      • Bridge over troubled water
      • Bye bye love
      • Country roads
      • Crystal Chandeliers
      • Four thousand years ago
      • Have I told you lately that I ...
      • I can't stop loving you
      • I overlooked an orchid
      • I recall a gypsy woman
      • I walk the line
      • Me and Bobby McGee
      • Missing in action
      • Moon River
      • Old flames
      • Rambling Rose
      • Ring_of_fire
      • Roses are red my love
      • Send me the pillow ...
      • Try _a_ little_kindness
      • Waltz across Texas
      • What a wonderful world
      • You're my best friend
    • USA - older >
      • America the beautiful
      • Billy_Boy
      • Careless_love
      • Down_in_the_valley
      • Hammer_song
      • Happy Birthday
      • Home_on_the_range
      • My grandfather's clock
      • Oh, what a beautiful morning
      • Old_lamplighter
      • Old_Smokey
      • Shenandoah
      • Star-Spangled Banner
      • Streets of Laredo
      • Tennessee_waltz
      • This land is your land
      • Wabash cannon ball
      • Wildwood flower
      • Worried man blues
      • Yellow_Rose_of_Texas
      • You are my sunshine
    • Christmas Songs >
      • An old Christmas card
      • Frosty the Snowman
      • Here comes Santa Claus
      • Jingle Bells
      • Jolly old St. Nicholas
      • Must be Santa
      • Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer
      • Silver Bells
    • BY "EAR" >
      • Edelweiss
      • If I should fall behind
      • Mary Ann regrets
      • Oh so many years
      • You're the nearest thing to Heaven
  • World
    • Australia - older >
      • Waltzing_Matilda
    • (The) Bahamas >
      • Sloop_John_B
    • England - newer >
      • Bread_and_Fishes
      • Fiddler's Green
      • Let it be
      • Let me be there
      • Streets_of_London
      • World_of_our_own
    • England - older >
      • Dirty_old_town
      • Drink to me only ...
      • Girl_I_left_behind
      • Heave_away
      • It's a long way to Tipperary
      • Long_long_ago
      • Navvy_boots
      • Scarborough Fair
    • Germany- newer >
      • A_little_peace
    • Germany- older >
      • Brahms_lullaby
    • Ireland - newer >
      • After all these years
      • (The) Ferryman
      • Fields of Athenry
      • Gypsy Rover
      • My lovely Rose of Clare
      • Nancy Spain
      • Roads of Kildare
      • Rose of Mooncoin
      • Town_of_Ballybay
    • Ireland - older >
      • Black velvet band
      • Come back Paddy Reillly
      • Danny Boy
      • Galway Bay
      • Galway Shawl
      • Irish washerwoman
      • Maid in the Garrett
      • Molly Malone
      • My wild Irish Rose
      • Red_is_the_rose
      • Rose of Aranmore
      • Wild_Colonial_Boy
      • Wild Rover
    • Norway >
      • You_raise_me_up
    • Scotland - newer >
      • Come by the hills
      • It's a dream come true
      • Mull of Kintyre
      • We'll meet again my friends
    • Scotland -older >
      • Auld Lang Syne - New Year's
      • Loch_Lomond
      • Miari's Wedding
      • My_Bonnie
      • Road to the isles
      • Wild mountain thyme
    • Wales-older >
      • The Ash Grove
      • Sweet_Jenny_Jones
    • Mixed origins >
      • Jolly good fellow
    • Christmas Songs >
      • Christmas in Killarney
      • Deck the hall
      • Good_King_Wenceslas
      • We wish you a Merry Christmas
    • BY "EAR" >
      • Among the Wicklow Hills
      • Hills of Glenshee
      • In an Irish country home
      • It's good to see you
      • Love me when I'm old ...
      • My homeland
      • The little shirt my Mother made for me
      • Going out the same way you came in
  • Dance Tunes
    • Jig family >
      • Auntie Mary (Cock of the North)
      • Irish washerwoman
      • Up_the_pond
    • Reel family >
      • Aunt_Rubys_garden
      • I rowed up in a dory
      • Maple-sugar-reel
      • Maxwell's rant
      • Pretty_little_Mary
    • Marches >
      • Banks of Newfoundland (Up the Pond)
      • Cock of the North (Auntie Mary)
  • Gospel
    • Songs - newer >
      • Because He lives
      • God on the mountain
      • He touched me
      • I_know_who_holds_tomorrow
      • It is no secret
      • May_the_Good_Lord_bless
      • Millenium Prayer
      • One day at a time
      • 'Till the storm passes by
      • Unclouded Day
      • Will you walk with me
      • Wings of a dove
    • Songs - older >
      • Beautiful isle of somewhere
      • Church in the wildwood
      • Count your blessings
      • Do Lord
      • Give me oil for my lamp
      • Higher ground
      • How beautiful Heaven must be
      • I'll fly away
      • In the sweet by and by
      • Just a closer walk with Thee
      • Keep on the Sunny Side
      • Kum ba yah
      • Let_the_lower_lights
      • Life is like a mountain railroad
      • Mine eyes have seen the glory
      • Precious memories
      • Shall we gather at the river
      • Standing in the need of prayer
      • Stranger of Galilee
      • When the roll is called up yonder
      • When the Saints go marching in
      • Whispering hope
    • Hymns - newer >
      • Give_to_us_laughter
      • Here I am Lord
      • How great Thou art
      • Jesus you have come to the lakeshore
      • Morning has broken
      • Pass it on
      • Spirit, Spirit of Gentleness
    • Hymns -older >
      • All people that on earth
      • Amazing Grace
      • Be Thou My Vision
      • Blessed_Assurance
      • Crown_Him_with_many_crowns
      • For_the_beauty
      • In the garden
      • I love to tell the story
      • Immortal_invisible
      • Jesus loves me
      • Joyful, joyful, We ...
      • Precious_Lord_take_my_hand
      • Softly and tenderly
      • Take time to be holy
      • We love the place O God
      • What a Friend we have in Jesus
      • Will your anchor hold
      • Wonderful_words_of_life
    • Christmas Carols >
      • Away in a manger (JRM)
      • Away in a manger (WJK)
      • The First Noel
      • The friendly beasts
      • Go, tell it on the mountain
      • Hark the herald angels sing
      • I heard the bells (Marks)
      • I saw three ships
      • Joy to the world
      • Mary's Little Boy Child
      • O come, all ye faithful
      • O little town of Bethlehem
      • Silent Night
      • When a child is born
    • BY "EAR" >
      • Lord, don't give up on me
  • Kids
    • Billy_Boy
    • BINGO
    • Frere Jacques
    • If you're happy
    • London_Bridge
    • Mary had a little lamb
    • Twinkle little star
    • Where has my little dog gone

THIS  GUITAR SITE :   An Introduction


1.  Checklist:  Before You Start
Picture
First, you will need a guitar that you are familiar with.  Familiarity, at a minimum, means that you already know
  • *  how to handle and hold the guitar;
  • *  how to replace old or broken strings;
  • *  how to tune your guitar and keep it in tune;
  • *  the "open" chord finger positions  for  some
  •     common major chords, such as C, F and G;
  • ​*  how to do simple (down-stroke) strumming;
  • *  how to finger and strum for a few simple (perhaps
  •     slow) songs using the C, F and G chords.

You will also need access to a computer with a good Internet connection and an up-to-date browser, so that you can access this site, and control and play youTube videos, without interruption.  

If there is anything in the minimum list above that you cannot do, you can check with a guitar-playing friend, get help from a guitar-teacher, or you can perhaps learn how with the aid of the Internet, using such tools as Google and/or youTube.


Then, decide which of the following best describes your current level of ability:
  • Prepared Beginner - one who knows the finger positions for only a few major chords (such as C, F and G), and can form and strum these chords for  only a few simple (perhaps slow) songs, where the chord symbols are given with the lyrics .
  • Early Intermediate - one who (i) knows some of the musical terms (such as PITCH, NOTE, OCTAVE, HARMONY, MELODY, BEAT, KEY and TRANSPOSE),  (ii) knows the finger positions for several major chords (such as A, C, D, E, F and G), a few minor chords (such as A, D and E) and a couple of dominant 7th chords (such as D7 and G7),  (iii) can strum these chords for several simple tunes, and (iii) can use a capo to transpose to other musical keys.
  • Early Advanced - one who (i) has "muscle memory" of all of the chords  can smoothly play many melodies with the right-hand, and enhance the rhythm using a matched pair of left-hand outside-row buttons.

Set realistic guitar-playing goals that this site can help you meet over a reasonable time period, and still have fun.  Achieving these goals will take you to the next level from the one on which you started.
  • Prepared Beginner - Goals related to (i) learning to finger additional major chords (such as A, D and E major), selected minor chords (such as A, D and E minor), and selected dominant 7th chords (such as D7 and G7),  (ii) learning to move smoothly from one chord to another;  iii) improving your strumming so it matches the desired beat and tempo, (iv) improving the smoothness and rhythm of your playing, and (v) using a capo to transpose to keys that better match your singing voice (or other instruments you may be accompanying).
  • Early Intermediate - Goals related to (i) learning to smoothly play new treble (right-hand) melodies (a few / several / a dozen or more?) following an accordion notation for some and by "ear" for others, (ii) enhancing the rhythm by playing the matched pair of left-hand outside-row buttons, (iii) including tunes with accidentals.
  • Early Advanced - Goals related to (i) learning to smoothly and rhythmically play new tunes, mostly by "ear" (a few / several / a dozen or more?), using both left and right hands, (ii) enhancing harmony by including, as appropriate, the left-side inner-row buttons, (iii) playing tunes in minor keys, and (iv) adding interest through embellishments, including cross-playing and right-hand chords.

You will need to be sufficiently motivated to 
  • learn the basics of the guitar and its music;
  • become familiar with this site's button-accordion notation, as illustrated at right, and 
  • learn to play and control the embedded youTube videos.  Try clicking on the button in the center of the screen at right.

In this one-line example, the notation includes button-number pushes and  pulls* for the pitch of each tone, dots for each tone's time duration (in beat intervals), and vertical lines for the basic rhythmic counting intervals (bars).  The lyrics-line uses forward /slashes / to separate musical phrases.

 | .3  .4   .5  | .:6  | .:7* |  .6* .5* .5  | .:5*  | .:5 |
/ Mor-ning has    bro -  ken, /   like the first    mor  -  ning, /
2.  Climbing Tune Mountain:  Accordion Activities

Learning to play the button accordion is an up-hill progression from the initial creation of squeaky sounds to the competent and confident playing of musical tunes.  In learning a new tune, it may also be viewed as a progression from a dependance on notation (such as printed lines of button numbers) to being able to play by "ear" after listening to it being played or sung and then practiced a few times. The following is one way of dividing these progressions into (hopefully enjoyable) accordion activities:
  1. Get the tune in your "head", by listening to it as many times as necessary. 
  2. Exercise your right fingers by playing some accordion treble (right-side) buttons.
  3. Play and practice the melody, using the button-accordion notation.
  4. Further develop the melodic rhythm and tempo (pace), with the aid of youTube videos.
  5. Play & practice the full tune along with youTube, using the accordion-notation as needed.
  6. Exercise your left fingers by playing the accordion bass & chord (left-side) buttons.
  7. Play and practice the tune with both hands, using the accordion notation as needed.
  8. Play & practice, with both hands, along with youTube, mostly by "ear" (using the notation as little as possible).
  9. Add your own flavour to the tune, with your own embellishments, or those suggested.
  10. Play & practice the tune by "ear" (or memory), without youTube or the accordion notation.

3.  Learning Accordion Tunes:  A Practice Schedule

The tune web pages (drop-down menus at top in eight categories) are designed for practice at the beginner, intermediate and advanced levels of player ability.  It is recommended that:
  • Beginners focus on the first five activities listed above.,
  • Intermediates on the first eight activities (perhaps passing relatively quickly through the first two or three for familiar tunes), and the
  • Advanced focus on all ten (though perhaps passing relatively quickly through the first four or five for familiar tunes).

If you want to learn these tunes, but don't want to bother with practice activity details, that is OK as well. 

4.  Learning Accordion Tunes:  Using the Tune Pages

The tune pages, from the eight drop-down menu categories, make up the bulk of this web site.  Each tune has its own page with three parts:
  • Its button-accordion notation, with some lyrics in the case of songs.  This notation includes the treble buttons to be played, the duration that each button is held, the time-grouping of beat intervals, and the melodic phrasing identified in songs.
  • A number of youTube videos of the tune, along with each video's musical key and tempo (pace).
  • Relevant information.  Its time-signature, typical tempo or pace (in beats per minute), and the name(s) of its composer(s) are included in the header.  Extra lyrics and other background information may be included at the end.

How these three components are used is up to each person, with his or her individual approaches to learning tunes.  Some may use them for all ten of the activities outlined earlier, while others may dive directly into the accordion notation, or move immediately to the embedded youTube performances.  Some may stick with playing the right-hand melody, while others may want to play the bass and chord section as well.  Whatever works!

However you do it, do it for fun.  A number of short sessions will usually be better than one long tiring one.  Also, don't "try" to memorize tunes, as that might make it burdensome;  rather, just let it happen, and take pleasure in the progress you are making.  Finally, you may want to begin and end each playing session with a tune you already know and enjoy, thus starting with a warm-up and ending with a warm-feeling!

Heads-Up 1:  The tune pages assume an awareness (though not necessarily an in-depth knowledge) of the contents of the various About pages, especially the "basic" Accordion Music, Button Accordion, Button Layout, and Accordion-Notation pages.  For those at the  Intermediate and Advanced levels of learning, there are additional materials, if you are interested.  Don't try to memorize this stuff; a single reading should make you aware of what it is and how to find it again if you need to; you can always come back to it.

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NOTE  1 - Copyright:
​Most of 
the contents of this site, in print, audio and video formats, is "copyright" protected.   
Users are responsible for ensuring that their usage is permitted by Canadian and international copyright law and agreements.  Check the Heads-Up (Read & Heed) button on the home page for additional information.

NOTE 2 - Composers, Performers & Publishers:
Though not revenue generating
, this non-profit educational site high-lights and celebrates some of my favorite composers, performers, and publishers, and encourages you to purchase their products, as I have done and continue to do, whether in paper, CD or electronic formats.
​

DISCLAIMER 1:  Browser Compatibility:
This site has been tested on the 2021 Chrome, Edge and Brave browsers without problem.  Your browser may or may not provide proper alignment for my accordion notation, requiring adjustments on your part.

DISCLAIMER 2 - Errors & Omissions:
Many of these tune pages are still in early stages of development, probably with many errors and omissions.  Make corrections as needed.

Copyright © 2015