ACCORDION NOTATION 4
A. A Simple Basic Notation for the Right Hand
(Carried over from Unit 2)
(Carried over from Unit 2)
Recall (from Unit 2) that the right-hand treble buttons are numbered from 1 to 11 for the outside row (o), and from 1 to 10 for the inside row (i), from accordion top (near chin) to bottom. The melodic tone associated with each note, in a selected accordion key and row, is written in terms of right-hand button numbers, with
- plain button numbers (such as 4 5 7 3 ) if the bellows are to be pushed or compressed, and by
- button numbers and an asterisk, or star (such as 3* 6* 5* ) if the bellows are to be pulled or expanded.
B. A Rhythmic Notation for Simple Familiar Melodies
(Carried over from Unit 3)
Recall (from Unit 3) that we need to take account of the pattern of duration for the various notes that is essential to melody and melodic rhythm.
Our reference for duration is the beat, or beat interval, such as can be provided, for example, by tapping your foot at a uniform rate, or by the beating a drum at a uniform rate, or by the click or tone of a metronome.
Periods (or dots, if you wish) are my preferred way of representing whole beat-intervals, of duration one beat-interval or larger. For example,
(Carried over from Unit 3)
Recall (from Unit 3) that we need to take account of the pattern of duration for the various notes that is essential to melody and melodic rhythm.
Our reference for duration is the beat, or beat interval, such as can be provided, for example, by tapping your foot at a uniform rate, or by the beating a drum at a uniform rate, or by the click or tone of a metronome.
Periods (or dots, if you wish) are my preferred way of representing whole beat-intervals, of duration one beat-interval or larger. For example,
- a dot or period (such as .7 ) means press and hold button 7 for one beat interval.
- a colon, which is really two dots (such as :6 ) means press and hold for two beat intervals.
- a dot and a colon (such as .:6 ) for three beat intervals, and
- two colons (such as ::6 ) for four beat intervals.
C. Fine-tuning the Timing & Notation
(Carried over from Unit 4)
For durations of less than one beat interval, apostrophes (or quote marks) may be used. For example:
(Carried over from Unit 4)
For durations of less than one beat interval, apostrophes (or quote marks) may be used. For example:
- An apostrophe (or single quote), such as '6 , means press and hold the button for a count of one-quarter of a beat interval.
- Two apostrophes (or a double quote), such as "6 , means press and hold the button for a count of two quarters (= one-half) of a beat interval.
- A triple apostrophe (or triple quote, which equals a single quote & double quote combined), such as '"6 , means press and hold the button for a count of three-quarters of a beat interval.
D. Expanded Melodic Timing & Notation
In Unit 5, we may expand our notation further with the following three elements:
- Semi-colon ( ; ) to represent 1.5 beats. Some notes are to be held for an intermediate duration half-way between one and two beats, where we can combine a dot (for the full beat) and a comma (to conveniently represent half a beat interval) to represent one and a half beat intervals of musical time.
- Tilde ( ~ ) to indicate that the note should be continued longer than previously indicated. Sometimes the amount of extra time is up to the performer, and sometimes it is indicated in the notation ... more about this in Unit 6.
- Rest ( r ) to represent a pause (usually brief). The length of the pause, in musical time, is indicated using the same symbols (quote marks or periods, such as "r or .:r ) that are used for the button notes.