INTRO TO ACCORDION MUSIC
A. What is Accordion Music?
For the purposes of this mini-course, Music may be formally defined as any melodic, rhythmic and/or harmonic grouping of sounds that is composed for personal enjoyment, and/or to entertain and/or to inform.
For the button-accordion player, Music includes five principal components:
- Melody (including melodic rhythm) - as played mainly using the right-hand buttons.
- Tempo - the pace of the tune, relating beat intervals to real time (such as beats per minute).
- Rhythmic beat - usually involving the left-hand bass and chord buttons, and sometimes accompanied by regular variations in the strength of pushes or pulls on the bellows. The beat may also be provided by other accompanying instruments such as drums and/or guitars
- Harmony and chords - by playing multiple right-hand buttons at the same time, or certain single left-hand buttons, or a combination of both right-hand and left-hand buttons.
- Dynamics - includes how loud or how quiet each note should be played.
In the first half (Units 1 to 5) of this mini-course, the focus will be on the first two of these five components. Units 6 to 10 will introduce the remaining components.
B. Simple Basics of Playing Melodies on the Accordion
To play a melody on the button accordion we need to know
In Unit 1 of this mini-course, the focus will be on the first three of the seven items above.
It is assumed that at least two (perhaps more) of the songs-melodies in this Unit are so familiar that you can intuitively handle items 4 to 6.
Item 7 is always and forever something that accordion players strive for.
- which buttons to press (resulting in musical tones);
- whether we are pushing (compressing) or pulling (expanding) the accordion bellows;
- the order in which to press them (sequence);
- how long to keep each button pressed (the relative duration of each note);
- how powerful the push or pull (which mostly determines the loudness of the sound),
- the pace desired (the tempo), and
- how to make it smooth, pleasant and interesting for playing, listening, or dancing.
In Unit 1 of this mini-course, the focus will be on the first three of the seven items above.
It is assumed that at least two (perhaps more) of the songs-melodies in this Unit are so familiar that you can intuitively handle items 4 to 6.
Item 7 is always and forever something that accordion players strive for.