Button-Accordion Tutorial  Project

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

MINI-COURSE BA2
Intermediate Melodies & Tunes
​

UNIT TWO (of TEN)

​Accidentals for Melodies Played on Inside Treble-Row

Return to BA2- Unit 1
SLIDE SET & NOTES - INSTRUCTIONAL SESSION TWO

Zoom Slides 1 to 3

Welcome to Unit 2 of BA2, our intermediate-level dual-row button-accordion mini-course.

This mini-course, like BA1 before it, is based on the premise that all learning involves a lot of (supported) self-teaching.
Zoom Slides 4 - 5

My Apologetic Disclaimer:  Though I do have a background in science, teaching and instructional development, I am neither a professional  musician nor a professional music-teacher ... just a fellow student of the dual-row button-accordion.
 
Hence: No charges, no fees, no exams, no guarantees ... just playing for fun.
Zoom Slide 6       

Welcome to Unit 2 - Intro to accidentals.

​Note that Units 1-3 cover intermediate-level "melodies;" 

Unit 4 is on chordal "harmony;"

Unit 5 is on "tunes" & chordal harmony;

and Units 6 to 10 (winter, 2022) is on intermediate-level tunes.
Zoom Slide 7

This is our second of 5 instructional sessions.

Next week (Oct 12 or 13), we have our 2nd (of 5)  half-hour individualized sessions
​
Most important of all ... potentially, lots of home practice over the next two weeks.
Zoom Slide 8  =  Topics

Although "accidentals" are found in only about one-quarter of the melodies & tunes on tunes2play4fun.com, they include some of the most popular selections on this accordion web site.

This Unit covers accidentals in melodies that are played on the inside treble-row.

In two weeks, Unit 3 will focus on the outside treble-row.
ASIDE #0:  If you find the "ASIDES" confusing, just ignore them.  They are not "core", merely "asides".   You can always come back to them later, if you feel like it.
ASIDE #1:   You don't need to know much music theory to play the accordion (or most other instruments, for that matter), but it may help to know some.  Many of these ideas are easier to demonstrate visually on a piano keyboard.  Hence a brief diversion to the piano keyboard and a look at the full octave between middle-C (vibration of 261 Hertz) and the next higher-C (vibration of 522 Hertz) to its right.  They have the same letter C, because the second one sounds like a higher version of the first.  Oh yes, the term "Hertz" is short-hand for "vibration per second", or "waves per second", or "oscillations per second", etc.
​​
Zoom Slides 9 - 10

​In the music notation that originated in western Europe, each octave contains twelve unique and "equally"-spaced notes.  For the C-octave selected at left, these twelve notes are labelled:

C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A# & B

By "equally" spaced, I mean that each piano note has a fundamental frequency that is about 5.95% higher than the note to its left, which, accumulated over the full octave shown, leads to higher-C being 100% larger than middle-C.
ASIDE #2:   Buttons 2 to 10 of the inside row of a G/C accordion make up a C diatonic set. The inside buttons 2 to 10 of an A/D box make up a D diatonic set.  This is the case for all such 21-button dual-row accordions, with accidentals on buttons 1.  Thus, the conclusions we draw from the G/C accordion will be applicable to the others as well.   Finally, our accordion notation will be using button numbers (1-10 for the inside (i) row and 1-11 for the outside (o) row), and not letters, to represent the notes we are playing.

​ASIDE #3:   The term "tone" has multiple meaning in music, distinguished by the context in which the term is used.  For example, we can say that a vibrating physical source emits a "tone", which travels as a sound wave.  The term can also be used for something quite different, the musical separation of notes:

   A frequency increase of 12.25% between two notes (such as C & D) is referred to as a "tone"
   An increase of 5.95% between two notes (such as E & F) is referred to as a "semi-tone".

The math may not look like it at first glance, but 2 semi-tones = 1 tone

The math: 
Two successive (cumulative) increases of 5.95% are equivalent to a single increase of 12.25%.

If all of this is confusing ... don't lose any sleep over it ... it's not that important.

ASIDE #4:   A diatonic set, such as the C-set (C, D, E, F, G, A and B), may be defined by the following (major scale) separation-pattern of successive notes:
                                                                                   C to D = separation of one tone
                                                                                   D to E = tone
                                                                                   E to F =   semi-tone
                                                                                   F to G = tone
                                                                                   G to A = tone
                                                                                   A to B = tone
                                                                                   B to C =   semi-tone       then pattern repeats
                                                                                                                      for the next octave in C.

ASIDE # 5:  Personally, I wish they had not used the term "tone" for this separation.  In the tutorial pages under the "info" menu on our site, I sometimes use the term "step" instead of "tone", and the term "baby-step" instead of "semi-tone".  
Zoom Slide 11 

On a piano, each octave of the C diatonic set consists of the notes C, D, E, F, G, A and B (followed by higher C).
​These are the white keys.

The remaining five piano notes (C#, D#, F#, G# and A#) are accidentals.

In this "C" example, the accidentals are all on the black keys.  This is not the case for any other set, such as the G-diatonic set (as we'll see in Unit 3).
ASIDE #6:   Back to the button-accordion.  The set of buttons 2 to 10 on the inside treble-row is diatonic because the separation pattern of (major scale) notes in its lower octave is as follows:
​
                                                                          Buttons   3  to  3*  = musical separation of one tone
                                                                          Buttons   3* to  4   = tone
                                                                          Buttons   4  to  4*  = semi-tone
                                                                          Buttons   4* to  5   = tone 
                                                                          Buttons   5  to  5*  = tone
                                                                          Buttons   5* to  6*  = tone
                                                                          Buttons   6* to  6   = semi-tone,  etc. etc. 

This also applies to buttons 2 to 11 on the outside row.

Zoom Slides 12 - 13

This is a useful way of dividing up the notes on the inside-row of your accordion.  Two missing notes (lowest A and highest D) are borrowed from the outside row.

There are two complete diatonic octaves (referred to here as "Low" and "High"), and two partial octaves  (re- ferred to as "Lowest" and "Highest")
​
Zoom Slides 14 - 18

If we focus on the "Low" octave in C,
we can identify five accidentals (C#, D#, F#, G# and A#) and their button locations on the outside (o) and inside (i) rows.  
                  C#  on button o1
                  D#  on button o1*
                  F#  on button o6*
                  G#  on button i1*
                  A#  on button i1
Zoom Slide 19 

Approximately 3/4 of the melodies & tunes on the tunes2play4fun.com site are fully diatonic, without accidentals.

The others tend to use no more than one or two accidentals in a verse or chorus.

As we'll demonstrate later, it is some-times possible to substitute one of the diatonic notes for a "hard to quickly reach" accidental.
Zoom Slide 20

 These are some of the purposes of accidentals in a melody or tune. 

It comes down to "changing the mood" of the melody and "adding interest" to it. 

However, I'm often not sure what the purpose is.
Zoom Slides 21 - 23

This popular NL folk song uses a single accidental, possibly to draw attention to the key element in the first first verse, the storm.  Ominous!

The melody is played on the inside row, and the accidental is taken from the outside row, button o6*.
Zoom Slide 24    

In this familiar Irish song-melody, played on the inside row (low), the only accidental (for each verse) is the third note in the fourth line, button o1.
Zoom Slides 25 

When playing on the inside row, there are two other accidentals that can be borrowed from the outside row.  The lowest is found on outside buttons o2*, and the higher is on outside o10*.  

These two are octave variations of the F# accidental, if using a G/C accordion.(Also, recall the o6* note earlier),
Zoom Slide 26    

In this first verse of Adios Amigo, the only accidental is o10* near the end of the fourth line.
Zoom Slides 27

Here we have a complete mapping of the diatonic notes and seven of the accidentals. 

The empty grey blocks (eight of them) are spaces for accidentals that would be available on a piano or guitar, but are not available on our dual-row button accordion.

​This can limit our freedom in selecting melodies for our accordions.
Zoom Slide 28 

The chorus of Home On The Range has one accidental (o1*), found on the first line.  Since the fingers are playing just below it, this is not a difficult button to reach.

​However, I've included it here to illustrate the process of finding a substitution if you want one.
Zoom Slide 29

Continuing from Slide 28, the substitution for o1* can be the inside-row button 3*.
Zoom Slide 30

Here are three more melodies for your consideration as home-practice numbers.

There may, or may not, be time to demonstrate them in our Unit 2 Instruction period.  However, each is accompanied on site by a number of youTube videos.
Zoom Slide 31

The traditional English song-melody Scarborough Fair is a good practice number for many reasons.  If played on the inside C row, these include:

1.  It uses cross-playing from inside to outside rows for a couple of notes.
​
2.  It features the accidental o6* (=F#).
ASIDE #7:  The majority of song-melodies on the "tunes2play4fun.com" site are performed in a major key, and ends on the key note (which is C ... button i3, i6, or i9 ... for the inside row of a G/C box).

Note that Scarborough Fair begins and ends, not on C (say, button i3), but on the lowest A note (button o3*). This suggests that it is being played in the "A" natural minor key, which uses the same diatonic set of notes as C major.  It does have a somewhat sad or melancholic feel to it, as expected for melodies in a minor key.
Slides 32

The first verse of Waltz Across Texas includes only one accidental, i1, appearing in the first and third lines.
Zoom Slide 33  

The first verse of Standing in the Need of Prayer includes only one accidental, o1*, appearing three times in each of lines 1 and 3.
Slide 34

Just reminding everyone about the individualized slots next week.

​Checking to see if any slot swapping is needed.
Slides 35 - 36

Next week we look at accidentals for melodies played on the outside treble row.  It includes five featured melodies and four more for home-practice consideration.
Slide 37
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See you next week for the individualized Unit-2 sessions,
and in two weeks for Unit 3.