BA1-Advanced Tutorial Info

Button-Accordion Tutorial Project

(Dual-row A-D, D-G, G-C or C-F, with Accidentals)
Based on tunes2play4fun.com & Facilitated by ZOOM

Advanced Tutorial Materials for Individualized Session

An Overview of Harmonic Matching

Between Bass-end Chords & Treble (inside-row) Notes

Tutorial Slides with Comments & Explanations

(If you are not ready for these materials, that is OK. We'll return to it later
in BA1 & BA2 instructional sessions when you have had more experience.)

Zoom Slide 1

This slide set has been prepared for participants who would like to add chordal harmony (outside & inside bass-end chords) to melodies (played on the inside treble row).

Use as much or as little of this as you find useful at this time.

Zoom Slide 2

Summary:

Consonance sounds great.

Some dissonance can add interest.

Zoom Slide 3

Summary:

Music can affect our emotions, with a whole range of feelings from "joy" to "tension".

Zoom Slide 4 - Labelling CHORD
buttons on the bass-end:

Outside bass row
Buttons ob1 (push) and ob1* (pull)
Buttons ob3 (push) and ob3* (pull)

Note that: ob1 (push) = ob3* (pull)

Inside bass row
Buttons ib1 (push) and ib1* (pull)
Buttons ib3 (push) = ib3* (pull)

The next two "consonance-reference" tables are borrowed from Unit 4 of the Intermediate BA2 mini-course, and represent one listener's conclusions about the consonance matching between each note (on the the inside treble row) and each of the chords (on the bass-end). Other listeners, with different accordions and listening skills, may draw different conclusions, and that is OK. Trust your own accordion and judgement.

Table 1 (below) shows that, for one listener at least, on the PUSH, the outside bass-end chord button ob3, provides great (or at least good) consonance with the treble inside-row buttons 2 to 9, but only fair with button 10. The blank spaces show matchings with significant dissonance, usually (though not always) avoided.

Zoom Slide 5 - Consonance Table 1

For bellows PUSH:

Playing individual treble buttons (2 to 10) on inside row ...

along with the available bass-end chord buttons.

Referenced here to a G-C accordion, but the button numbers (treble & bass) apply to all such dual-row accordions.

Table 2 (below) shows that, for this same listener, on the PULL, the outside bass-end chord button ob3* provides great consonance with the treble buttons 3* & 6*, and good consonance with buttons 2*, 4*, 7*, 8* and 10*, but only fair consonance with buttons 5* and 9*.

Zoom Slide 6 - Consonance Table 2

For bellows PULL:

Combining the individual treble buttons (2* to 10*) on inside row ...

with the available bass-end chord buttons.

Referenced here to a G-C accordion, but the matching button numbers (treble & bass) apply to all such dual-row accordions.

For this listener, on the PULL, a great consonance can be achieved using the bass-end inside-row chord button ib3* with the treble buttons 4* and 8*, and a good consonance with treble buttons 5* and 9*.

This inclusion of ib3* with treble inside-row buttons 4*, 5*, 8* & 9* often (though not always) represents harmonic improvement. For reasons that we will get to in later BA2 instruction sessions, there are tunes where other bass-end chord buttons may be preferred.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Normally at this stage you have a choice of

EITHER a brief tap of the indicated chord button for each treble note,
OR pressing and holding each chord button for the length of each treble note played.

Some tunes may sound better one way, and some the other.

HERE, I'm encouraging you to use the press & hold method, playing the chord button for the
same length of time that you play each treble button. That is, you play them both together.

The practice melodies that follow are given with two versions for playing bass-end chords:

Version 1 features only the bass-end outside chord buttons o3 and o3*.

Version 2 features o3 & o3*, and also the inside chord button i3*

Each is first illustrated in the next slide with a single line in two tunes.

You may observe that:
the melody (treble) button-notes are shown above
the lyrics, and
the chord (bass-end) buttons are shown underneath

Slide 7 - Chordal Accompaniment

Version 1: For inside treble row, our
our main (most often used) bass-
end chords are on buttons ob3
and ob3*

Version 2: Improved consonance
by playing inside chord ib3*
with inside-row treble note 4* (on
pull)

Slide 8 - Chordal Accompaniment

Version 1: Use only chords ob3 & ob3*

Version 2: Improved consonance by
including inside chord ib3*

On way of proceeding: Do version 1 for all the tunes; then do version 2 for all of them.

Alternate: Do version 1, followed by version 2, for each of the tunes.

Your choice.

Zoom Slide 9 - Practice

Version 1: First verse of This Land is
Your Land.

Zoom Slide 10 - (Optional) Practice

Version 2: First verse of This Land is
Your Land.

Zoom Slide 11 - Practice

Version 1: First verse of Jesus
Loves Me.

Zoom Slide 12 - (Optional) Practice

Version 2: First verse of Jesus
Loves Me.

Zoom Slide 13 - Practice

Version 1 First half of first verse of
Down in the Valley.

Zoom Slide 14 - (Optional) Practice

Version 2: First half of first verse of
Down in the Valley.

Zoom Slide 15 - Practice

Version 1: First verse of NL hymn
We Love the Place O God.

Zoom Slide 16 - (Optional) Practice

Version 2: First verse of NL hymn
We Love the Place O God.

Closing Comments: 1.  In our BA1 & BA2 coverage of this topic we assume that the best
   sounding chord match for each treble note, when played in isolation,
   will also be the best match when used in a melody. For somewhat
   complex reasons, that we may explore in a future BA3 (if there is
one), there are melodies with musical phrases where this is not
   necessarily the case, and where other chords may sound better.

  2. Coordinating the left & right hands can be a challenge for beginners.
Lots of practice and lots of patience are required. However,
using the bass & chord buttons can add to the fun of the button
   accordion.