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
(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
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. |
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.
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. |
UNIT 1, Topic 3 - Looking Inside
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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. |
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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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. |
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. |
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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 |
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. |