Button-Accordion Tutorial  Project

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

MINI-COURSE BA1:   BASIC MELODIES

UNIT ONE (of TEN)
Playing Very-Familiar Melodies (on the Dual-row Button Accordion)

Return to  BA1 - Unit 1 Page
SLIDE SET & NOTES - INSTRUCTIONAL SESSION ONE

Zoom Slides 1 to 4

Welcome to our beginner-level dual-row button-accordion mini-course.

This mini-course is based on the premise that all learning involves a lot of supported self-teaching by motivated individuals.

With the button accordion, self-teaching involves lots of "fun" practice.
Zoom Slide 5

Disclaimer:  This mini-course has been assembled by a (mostly) self-taught player, who is neither a professional  musician nor a professional music-teacher, but with a tutoring and instructional development background, and with a new-found love of the button-accordion.

Hence: No charges, no fees, no exams, no guarantees ... just playing for fun.
Zoom Slides 6        

Support covers both instruction and practice, facilitated by Zoom, the Web and Email.
Zoom Slide 7      Bi-weekly schedule
​
5 instructional sessions (over 10 weeks)

5 individual demo/practice sessions
​
Lots of home practice.
Zoom Slide 8             

The Fall schedule is shown at left.

Winter schedule will be posted later.
Zoom Slides 9 - 10

List of Units for Fall, 2021

Although the lists looks rather technical, and there is some of that, the main focus of each unit is on your improved playing.

Remember that with your microphone muted, you can play as much as you want in the instruction session, and the rest of us can't hear you!
Zoom Slide 11        Unit 1 - Topics
​
If this were Sesame Street, Unit 1 would be brought to you by the letter "L".  

Learning to play the button accordion does involve a lot of looking, listening and learning. 

However the two most important words in learning are Practice, and Fun, brought to you by the letters "P" & "F",
Zoom Slide 12           Looking "at"

In Unit 1, we are looking AT the accordion, the outside.

Later (in Unit 5), we'll look INTO an accordion (one of my older ones), to see what is going on inside when we press on buttons and push & pull the bellows.
Zoom Slides 13 to 15     Exterior parts

In Units 1 to 6, the focus is on melodies,
playing the buttons on the treble end.

However, the bass-end is still important, as we pull & push on that end to open and close the bellows, and we will make frequent use of the Air Lever.

​In Unit 7 to 10 we will make extensive use of the bass-end buttons.
Zoom Slide 16 - 18       Looking After.
​
As demonstrated, make sure the bellows straps are initially closed before handling, and do not lift by the thumb strap.

Transport in a cushioned container.

Store at moderate room temperature and humidity in a low-dust environment.

Playing will be demonstrated.
Zoom Slide 19 - 21      Demonstrations

Melodies are played by the right hand, using the treble buttons.

Tunes involve playing with both hands, where the left hand adds harmony and/or beats.

"Tunes" are defined this way for the purposes of this button-accordion project.  Not every musician or music teacher agrees with this definition.   
Zoom Slides 22 - 23   Learning
​                                     approach

We'll begin this Mini-Course with very familiar melodies, the most universally familiar of which is the birthday song.

So, our challenge is to move from the song in our heads to playing the melody on our accordions.
Zoom Slide 24 - 26        What we need
                                        to know

​For a very familiar melody, we need to know which buttons to press, when to push and when to pull the bellows, and how to match this to the song-lyrics.
It is assumed that if we can sing it, then we already have a feel for the rhythm.    

Although perhaps we could learn "by ear" using "trial & error", we are going to enable a faster process by developing a button-accordion notation.
Zoom Slides 27        Which treble
                                   buttons?

We'll give each treble button a number, starting with 1 at the top (nearest chin)

In the cases where we have to distinguish between rows, we'll use "o" for the outside and "i" for the inside row.
Zoom Slide 28               Push or pull?

Each pressed button can generate two notes, on for the "push" & one for "pull".

 A push on the bellows closes them, pushing air out of the bellows cavity.

A pull on bellows opens them, pulling air into the expanding bellows cavity.

This mini-course uses a naked button- number for push, and a button-number with star (or asterisk) for pull.
Zoom Slides 29     Matching with lyrics

This is the easy part.  We simply print the melodic button-note above the sung syllable, as illustrated at left.
Zoom Slide 30          Featured melody
                
(i)  Happy Birthday To You is a classic, with a simple rhythm and a melody that is universally familiar.

Play on outside row.  Place your first finger at button 5 and your little finger at button 8, covering all the needed buttons with your four right fingers.

Start with bellows at mid-point (half-way between closed and a safe-max-open),
​using air-lever only if needed.
Zoom Slide 31           Featured melody

(ii)  On Top Of Old Smokey may be quite familiar to those of us of a certain age, again with a simple rhythm and melody.

Play on inside row.  Place your first finger at button 3 and your little finger at button 6, covering all the needed buttons with your four right fingers.

Start with bellows at mid-point (half-way between closed and a safe-max-open).
​using air-lever only if needed.
Zoom Slide 32          Featured melody

(iii)  Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee is a classic in "church" circles, and the melody is really a classic (Beethoven).

Play on inside row.  Place your first finger at button 2 and your little finger at button 5, covering all the needed buttons with your four right fingers. (You will need button 2 for the Web 2nd half.)

Start with bellows at mid-point (half-way between closed and a safe-max-open), using air-lever only if needed.
Zoom Slides 33-34

Someone once claimed that mastering most skills is 10% knowledge and 90% practice.  While the actual percentages may be different, the mastery of the button accordion certainly depends on some knowledge combined with lots of practice, preferably in small non-tiring periods that are fun.

Pick one (or more) of these for practice,
perhaps the one that is most familiar.
Zoom Slide 35      
​
(iv) Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star is also a classic, with a simple rhythm and a melody that is universally familiar.

If you have young children (or grand-children), they may be amused to hear you playing it on your accordion.

We'll come back to it in future BA Units.
Zoom Slide 36    

(v)  Down In The Valley may be quite familiar to those of a certain age, again with a simple rhythm and melody.

Play on outside row.  Place your first finger at button 5 and your little finger at button 8, covering all the needed buttons with your four right fingers.

Start with bellows at mid-point (half-way between closed and a safe-max-open).
​using air-lever only if needed.
Zoom Slide 37 
​
(vi)  My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean may be quite familiar to some of us, with a simple rhythm and melody.

Play on either row.  Place your first finger at button 4 and your little finger at button 7, covering all the needed buttons with your four right fingers.

Start with bellows at mid-point (half-way between closed and a safe-max-open).
​using air-lever only if needed.
Zoom Slide 38 
   
​(vii)  I'se The B'y is quite familiar in Newfoundland & Labrador.  If played slowly or moderately, as a folk tune, it can have a "waltz" feel.  However, in NL it is often played quickly as a jig (not at all simple).  

Play slowly or moderately (either row).  Place first finger at button 5 and your little finger at button 8

Start with bellows at mid-point (half-way between closed and a safe-max-open).
​using air-lever only if needed.
Zoom Slide 39     
​
(viii)  Worried-Man Blues may be quite familiar to some of us, again with a mostly simple rhythm and melody.

Play on either row.  Place your first finger at button 5 and your little finger at button 8, covering all the needed buttons with your four right fingers.

Start with bellows at mid-point (half-way between closed and a safe-max-open).
​using air-lever only if needed.
Zoom Slide 40     

Just a reminder of the 30-Minute individualized session, which you are slotted for on either October 6th or October 7th.
Zoom Slide 41     

Given your day and slot number, try to sign in to Zoom as close to the starting time as possible.  You will be admitted to the Zoom session at the starting time. 

There will be time for listening, but mainly for playing.  Have your accordion ready.  It should be a "fun" half-hour, once you get use to it. 
Zoom Slide  42           Looking ahead
​                                     to Unit 2

Here is a quick outline for Unit 2.

We'll also start Unit 2 with the Birthday Song, but this time with a focus on rhythm and rhythmic notation.
Zoom Slide 43

Here again is the series of steps to access the support materials on the tunes2play4fun.com site.

The BA1 email address is:
      www.tunes2p4f.2021@gmail.com