Button-Accordion Tutorial  Project

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

MINI-COURSE BA1
The Button Accordion, its Music & Notation

UNIT ONE (of SIX)
​Button-Accordion INs and OUTs

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

Welcome to this online Button-Accordion Tutorial Project, which is intended for beginners with dual row (G-C or A-D) accordions.  

This Project's songs, melodies, tunes & notation, along with accordion info, are taken from the tunes2play4fun.com web site, and the instruction and practice sessions will be facilitated by ZOOM.
​
This is a six-unit mini-course, labelled Button Accordion One, or BA1, for short, and titled "An introduction to the Button Accordion, its Music & Notation."

The Goals are 
1. to help beginners learn to play tunes for fun on their accordions, and
​2. to investigate Zoom as an instructional & practice medium for button-accordion tutorials.
If you find this mini-course beneficial, and if you wish to continue with this type of tutorial, then there can be more such mini-courses, BA2, etc.

In any event, there are
no charges
no fees
no examinations
no guarantees
Ve components:
1.  Zoom-based instruction, that includes Power-Point presentations, accordion demonstrations, and web and youTube screen sharing.

2.  Zoom-based practice, that includes the instructor playing, and you, with mike muted, plaing along.

3.   Web-based instruction & practice, that includes tunes2play4fun.com's accordion notation and embedded youTube videos (with identified keys)

​5.  Feedback & support, using both Zoom and email.
The melodies and tunes included in BA1 have been selected to keep the process as simple as possible.  For example:​

1.  Most (if not all) of the song-melodies & tunes in this BA1 minicourse  lie within an octave range, and thus once your fingers are in position, they do not have to shift.

2.  As well, there is a one-to-one match between song syllables and accordion button notes.  

3.  Most of BA1 features melodies (played by right fingers), and only the final Unit introduces tunes (played by both left & right fingers. 

4.  For the most part, each unit will introduce only one or two new features of accordion music and playing, and these are practiced before moving on.
SCHEDULES

1.  Zoom instruction sessions,   
     Tuesday mornings.
2.  Zoom practice sessions,
     Some Tuesday & some Friday
      morning, perhaps using break-out
      rooms to facilitate peer tutoring..

3.  Internet tunes2play4fun.com
     for  private non-Zoom learning 
     and practice.  The beginners' site- 
     password will be posted at the
     end of this session.
These are the themes for each of the 6 units, which will take somewhere between 7 & 12 weeks to cover.  All weekly "Zoom" slides will be placed on the Beginners' section of the web site. 

The mini-course starts today with The INs and OUTs of the button accordion, and next week will move on to playing familiar melodies, and so on.
So, what about the INs and OUTs?  Well, today you will
1. Look at button-accordions,
2. Listen to their sounds,
3. Look inside one of them.
4. learn extra accordion
    terminology
5. Consider how to look after your.
    accordion, and, finally, you will
6.  Look ahead to Friday's practice
​     and next week agenda.  
DEMONSTRATION:

​The outside is fairly simple.

Three main parts. 
A bass end, operated by left arm,  hand, thumb & fingers.

A treble end operated by right arm, hand, thumb & fingers.

The bellows that are pushed and pulled from the bass end.
DEMO:

Next, a more detailed look at the bass end, with six visible parts, as listed, and the bellows with two.

BELLOWS
​            - reinforced cardboard
            - bellows straps
            
DEMO:

Treble End - four visible parts, as listed
DEMO for G-C Group

MELODY:   Down in the valley
  
HARMONY (octave): Amazing Grace

TREBLE-END
CHORDS:        G            C            D
(Treble             o3           i3           i3*
 Buttons)          o4           i4          o3*
                         o5           i5          o6*
                       Push      Push     Pull

BASS-END                G        C        D
CHORDS: (Bass        o1       o3     o1*
               Buttons)     Push  Push  Pull
DEMO for A-D Group
​
MELODY:   Down in the valley
  
HARMONY (octave): Amazing Grace

TREBLE-END
CHORDS:        A            D            E
(Treble             o3           i3           i3*
 Buttons)          o4           i4          o3*
                        o5           i5          o6*
                      Push      Push      Pull

BASS-END                A        D       E
CHORDS: (Bass        o1       o3     o1*
               Buttons)     Push  Push  Pull
UNIT 1,  Topic 3 - Looking Inside 
DEMO:  A single-row key-of-D
button-accordion 60-70 years old.

So, what is going on inside the accordion that gives us the various sounds, the notes and chords?

HEADS UP:  Unless you are an accordion repair expert, it is not a good idea to take your accordion apart.

​First, the treble (or dust) grill is removed.

​Each button is connected by a lever mechanism to an elongated cover.  When lifted, a pair of holes is exposed, corresponding to a "pair" of reeds that can give us the associated musical note.




Here because of the camera angle, only one of the two holes can be seen when button 5 is pressed, and its elongated cover is lifted.




​

So, what is on the other side of those covers & holes, as seen from inside the bellows?
The ten reed plates in each of the two rows are matched to the ten treble buttons.  

When a button is pressed, and the bellows pushed (for example), the air flows through two holes to activate two very similar metal reeds (one on each opposite reed plate).

Longer reeds give lower-pitched notes, and shorter reeds give higher-pitched notes.
Next, the bass end of the accordion:


The view inside the bass end after the bass strap and bass plate have been removed.​

Controlling the bellows and air-flow is an essential part of playing the accordion.  That is the function of the air-lever which, when pressed, lifts the cover from the large air hole.
​
You do not want to run out of air-flow while playing, either on the push or the pull.  

The air-lever can help you quietly gain or release air from the bellows.
This cover shows more of the bass-end lever and air-hole covers. 

For this single-row button-accordion, two of the bass buttons (1 & 3) connect by a lever mechanism to elongated hole covers and control the flow through three holes, corresponding to the three notes that make a chord.

The other two (2 & 4) connected to smaller hole covers and control the flow past two bass reeds that give us the bass-note sound.
This photo shows that three holes are uncovered when bass button 1 is pressed.  

Pressing button 1 can give two chords,
one sounds on the push and the other on the pull.  

So what is on the other side of these holes, covers and levers?
On the other side of each of these three holes are three reed plates, with three reeds sounding on the push and another three sounding on the pull.
Three notes played together give the chord sound.

Similarily for the other chord button #3 we have six reed plates for this single-row accordion.

What about the bass sounds?

​The bass-note  reeds are "hidden" in the block to the left of the reed plates in the photograph.  They are opposite the air holes that are opened by the bass-note buttons #2 and #4.

Your dual-row accordions will have just over twice as many buttons, levers, holes, and reed plates, making the inside a bit more crowded and complicated than is shown here.  

​Time to move on.

Topic 4:
​Screen-sharing the 
tunes2play4fun.com
​site
Topic 4 (continued)
A review of some of the musical terms in today's presentation, and then a couple of new terms.

It is not necessary to memorize these terms, or anything else in this mini-course.   Over the next 6 few weeks these terms will be used from time to time, and should effortlessly become familiar through context.   Familiarity breeds understanding.
Melody vs Tune

Melody = right hand,  etc.

​Tune = both hands, etc.

Both terms have additional meanings in the world of music, but that is enough for the time being.
Musical KEY - This determines which accordion (if you have more than one) and which row you may need to play.

DIATONIC sets of notes:  Those
found from buttons 2 to 10 (inside row), or buttons 2 to 11 outside row.  

ACCIDENTALS - notes found on button 1 for each row.  These notes do not fit the musical pattern of buttons 2 to 10 (or 11) in each row, but are occasionally included in the music we play.
Handling - keep bellows strap closed.  Do not lift by thumb straps.  Follow manufacturers instructions for cleaning.

Transport/Store - padded case.  Avoid extremes of temperature.  Avoid extremes of humidity.  Avoid dust.

Playing - avoid over-stretching or twisting.  Avoid using too much force on push or pull of bellows.  
Accordion is a dynamic instrument, but do not overdo it.

And, look after yourselves - avoid long practice sessions, especially during the "beginner" phase of learning



​The Friday Zoom "Practice & Feedback" sessions are 30 minutes in length.

​
Can you guess what is the most familiar song-melody in the English-speaking world?

Hint 1:  It is sung everyday by millions of people throughout the world.

Hint 2:  It is probably sung BY you several times each year.

Hint 3:  It is probably sung TO you at least once a year.
Given a choice, which of the song melodies listed are the most familiar to you, and which would you like to learn to play?

Each week there will be at least five for you to choose from.  Each week, the list will include one Gospel number, and one that you may want to play for your younger children, grand-children, or even great-grand-children, for their entertainment and (perhaps) amusement.
You will need to make a note of these instructions, particularly the password.

This portion of the site is limited to those in this Zoom-enabled tutorial project, so please keep the password confidential.

The Project's email address is: tunes2play4fun.2021@gmail.com