Button-Accordion Project

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

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

UNIT TWO (of TEN)
​Accordion Melodic Rhythm and Rhythmic Notation

Return to BA1 - Unit 2
​                                                                                                     
                                                                      ZOOM SLIDES    &    COMMENTS
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Slides 1 - 3

Welcome back to BA1, a button-accordion mini-course for self-designated "beginners" with the three goals listed at left.
Aside #0: 
All learning involves (supported) self-teaching, whether  face-to-face or  by distance.  This mini-course is intended to provide some of that support.

Since this is not a professional music site, there will be 
NO charges, NO fees, NO examinations & NO guarantees.  Just playing for the fun of it.
​Slides 4 & 5

Ten units in total.

Five units in the fall of 2021, as listed at left.

and

Five more in the winter of 2022.
Slides 6 to 10
​
Slide 11 

Topic 1 sets the stage.
​
Topics 2 & 3 develop a simple notation for melodic rhythm.

Topics 4 covers three featured melodies, with practice.

Topics 5 accesses the web site and topic 6 adds five additional melodies for home practice.

Topics 7 & 8 - brief look ahead 
Slide 12

Although we going to develop a rhythmic notation for somewhat-familiar melodies,
I'm initially going to make the case using an unfamiliar melody.

This children's composition is one of the world's least familiar song melodies, because no more than about a dozen people have ever heard it.
Using only the lyrics (above), it is near impossible to guess what the composer intended as a suitable melody.  We need more info, some of which is given on the next slide.
Slide 13 & 14

The simple notation shown for the first line gives us three pieces of information

1. button numbers
2. when to push & when to pull.
3. the sequential match between the buttons and the lyrics.

But that is not enough!  What is missing is info about the song's rhythm.  
This rhythm is determined, in part, by how long, in musical time, each note is held.
​
ASIDE #1:   Of course, if it were a very-familiar song-melody, this simple notation might be
                    sufficient.  But this is not a very-familiar song, so it would require timing information.
Slide 15 - 17

a.  A melody is, in part, a series of physical tones, in time, one  after the other, forming a set.  For the accordion, the tones are emitted by vibrating metal reeds and transmitted as music sound waves.

The music sound waves that reach the ear are transmitted as electro-chemical signals to the brain, where, in part, they are perceived in terms of "pitch".  
​Slide 18

​The brain can then symbolically represent these various musical pitches as notes, such as A to G, repeated, or (for our button-accordions) by the button-number notes.

These letter-notes or button-notes can be printed on paper or displayed on a screen.

​The first line of "Happy Birthday" is shown at left as an example.
​Within melodies there are patterns in the lengths of notes, that is, in the amount of time that
     notes are held.

Although "melodic rhythm" is difficult to define or describe simply, we can begin by stating that it is related to the patterns of note-lengths in musical time.  ​
Slide 19 to 22
​
We first need a way of counting and indicating musical time.
​
The most common unit of musical time is the "beat interval", sometimes lazily referred to as the "beat".

b.  In music, the "beat" is a regular pulse in time. It could be a drum beat, a guitar strum, a foot tap, a metronome click, etc.
          (real or imagined)
c.  To be precise, the "beat interval" is the period of time from the beginning of one pulse to the beginning of the next, or from mid-point of one pulse to the mid-point of the next, or ... from some point on a pulse to the corresponding point of the next pulse.

d.  The beat interval can be related to clock time by giving the number of beats per minute, sometimes called the "tempo" of the melody.   Alternately it is sometimes referred to as the "pace" or the "speed" of the melody.

e.  So, to take our accordion notation to the next level, we will need a symbol for the beat interval, the simpler, the better.  
Slides 23 to 25

​For melodies that have a simple rhythm, I have found it convenient to indicate the simple beat interval using a period, or dot ( . ), and place it before the button number in our  simple accordion notation. 

Think of it as a "period of time" being represented by the actual "period" symbol ( . )

The colon's two dots ( : ) can represent two beat intervals, etc.
ASIDE #2:  When, in future mini-courses, we meet more complicated melodic rhythms, it should be easy to adapt or fit our simple "period" notation to those melodies as well.

ASIDE #3:   Beat intervals and notation will play a major role in helping us move from melodies (right hand only) to tunes (both hands), where we can play the left-hand bass and chord buttons to generate musical pulses and harmonic enhancement.

​ASIDE #4:   Q:  How long is a beat interval in seconds or fractions of a second?
A:  Beats don't have any absolute time in seconds or fractions of a second.

When first performed, it is often up to the composer, or the music director, or the band leader, or the first performer.

ASIDE #5:   The length in real time, in seconds or fraction of a second, of a beat interval can be quite different in different songs, even for different performances of the same song that follow the same rhythmic patterns.

It is really up to the individual performer, for solo playing, or up to the group (or group leader) or conductor, for band, choir or orchestral performances. 
Slide 26

​Our use of periods (or dots) makes it relatively easy to identify patterns in the lengths of time that notes are held for.

Identification of such rhythmic patterns may make it easier to learn less familiar melodies.

If you read the song lyrics as you would read a poem, you will probably notice a lyrical rhythm in your voice. This often matches the melodic rhythm described above.
ASIDE #6:   I should stress that rhythmic patterns are an important part of music.  The creative combination of both pattern variety and repetition makes for interesting and enjoyable music.

Here, however, our initial interest is in using these rhythmic patterns as a learning aid, helping us to break verses and lines of music into smaller units or chunks, each of which can be practiced separately, and then combined.
Slides 27 & 28

You may wonder why the slides contain certain song-melodies, but not others.

It is because these melodies meet the criteria (at left) for an introductory mini-course.  ​The next mini-course (BA2) is less restrictive in this way.

Beginners should select & focus on the one or two of each Unit's melodies they are most familiar with.
Slides 29

Three featured song-melodies

For each, with your microphone muted, play & practice, as we go through these three selections.
Slide 30

​All learning (self-teaching) starts with the familiar, and no song-melody is more familiar than the Birthday Song.  And so it is that we begin with it.

There is no fixed key (which, for us, means accordion row type (G/C or A/D, etc. & row) and no fixed tempo or pace for playing this melody, or for singing it.  Also there is no fixed amount for the length of time you hold the final note in line 3.  Much is up to you.
Slide 31

​At this stage, identify the patterns that are most useful to you.

For the novice, perhaps the 1st two notes (.5 .5) could be considered a basic pattern.

For a more experienced player, perhaps the whole first line could be considered as a single pattern, with repeats on lines 2 & 4
The break-down at left lies between the two pattern choices given above.   

For the beginner:  Practice one pattern at a time or one line at a time - your choice.​

​Heads Up:  The tilde symbol at end of 3rd line, indicates that you can hold that note longer than the two beat intervals shown.
Slide 32

​This is an old English tune, from 1833.  It can be played either high or low on either the inside or the outside rows.  The button notes given here are for playing it using the lower octave.  The web site gives the button notes for both the lower and higher octaves.

​Verses 2, 4  & 6 (given on the web site) use a different melody for their first two lines, and are not formally part of this BA1 section.
Slide 33 to 35

The white rhythmic pattern is the same as the yellow colored one.

The red pattern is the same as the salmon one.

For initial practice, use the smaller rhythmic segments as needed.
Aside #7:  For the beginner, perhaps the 1st three notes (:3 .3 .3) could be considered a basic pattern, as shown at left.

For a more experienced player, perhaps the whole first line could be considered as a single pattern, with a repeat on 3rd line.

Similarly for lines 2 & 4.
​Slide 36

Most units include a children's song for those of you who may have young children or grandchildren, and who may be amused to hear you playing one of their melodies.

"Mary had a little lamb" is a very popular song for young children, and a melody that's quite well known to anyone who has young ones.
Slide 37
​
Again, practice one line at a time.
Slide 38

​This slide is included here merely as a reminder.
​
Slide 39

Topic 6 contains four more home-practice melodies, bringing our Unit 2 total to seven.  If you are a complete novice you may find that learning to play one is an achievement.  More experienced "beginners" may find that two or more are possible.
​​Slide 40

This is an American and a Canadian song, as both have a number of "red" rivers, one of the largest of which originates in the United States, and flows through Manitoba, emptying into Lake Winnipeg (which empties into Hudson Bay via the Nelson River).

It is also a popular song world-wide, as many countries have "red" rivers.
Slide 41

​Practice one line at a time.

​There are different ways of dividing the verse into rhythmic units and patterns.

The (.5 .6 :7) at the start of the first line appears twice on each of the four lines.  

Another pattern (.7* .7 .7* .::6) is found on the 1st & 3rd lines.

A third pattern (.8* .7 :::7*) is found on the 2nd & 4th lines.
​​Slide 42

According to the Guinness world records, this is the 2nd most popular song in the English-speaking world.  

The melody is of French origin, with English & American lyrics dating from the 1800s.

Note the tilde (~) symbol at the end of line 3.  This indicates that this note may be held for longer than the two beat intervals shown.
Slide 43

​Although this song-melody is most often played as a bluegrass number (principally with acoustic stringed instruments, with or without vocals), it does lend itself to the inclusion of the button accordion (or in the case of at least one youTube video, the harmonica).

Most often played "lively"!
Slide 44

​Each Unit of our mini-course will contain a popular gospel song or hymn.  This is the first verse of "When the saints go marching in", popular with New Orleans "jazz" bands.

Played lively!
Slide 45 & 46

Your next individualized half-hour session is on either Wednesday, Oct 20 or on Thursday, Oct 21, at the time selected from the list on the next slide.
Aside #8

Wednesday & Thursday Individualized time slots for October 20th & 21st.

If you've forgotten which one is your slot, email me at 
             tunes2p4f.2021@gmail.com
​
Slide 47 to 49

The next unit (on Oct 28th) takes accordion playing to the next level, introducing pairs of "half beat-interval" notes.

There will be three featured melodies and five "home-practice" melodies, as listed at left.
Slide 50

Between Zoom sessions we can use the "BA-Tut" option on the top line of web site.

This site contains
- slide set for Unit 2
- three tutorial notes
- featured melody web pages
- extra practice web pages

The song-melody web pages include accordion notation and embedded youTube videos in identified keys.