Button-Accordion 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 SEVEN (of TEN)
​Drone & Tap Introductions to Accordion Tunes

Return to BA1 - Unit 7
                                                       
                                                                                   SLIDES   &   COMMENTS
​Slide 1 (Button Accordion One)

Welcome to Unit 7 of BA1, our mini-course introduction to the button accordion, its music, and notation.

​Slide 2  (List of units in the BA1 mini-course)
Picture
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Unit 7 adds bass-end drone, "drone-like" and tap beats to accordion melodies, to create tunes.  

It includes practice song-melodies for Units 8 to 10.

​Slide 3  (List of Topics for Unit 7)
Topics 1 to 5 at left include demonstrations & practice using the five familiar and four "some-what" familiar song-melodies that were included in the previous Unit.

Click ​HERE for the Unit 6 web link that leads to the pages for these nine song-melodies.  This link will open in a new window, to make it easier for you to return to Unit 7 and these slides.

​Slide 4 (Topic 0 - Background to drone (bass) accompaniment
This slide gives the idea behind the use of drones in music.

It applies to a wide range of musical experiences from listening to symphony orchestras in a vast concert hall to listening to a couple of friends, one on an accordion and the other strumming a guitar.

​Slide 5  (Topic 0 - Introduction to drone (bass) accompaniment)
Here is what we mean by a musical "drone" 

Our button accordions provide two low bass notes with one octave of separation between them on each of bass-end buttons 2, 2*, 4 & 4*.

​Slide 6   (Topic 0 - The Scottish bagpipe as a drone example)
Some bagpipes are constructed with three different lengths of drone pipes: longer, medium and shorter, with bass & low-tenor notes (possibly very low A, low A, and low E, for example), for better harmonization with the chanter.  
And here is a prime example of one type of musical drone: the Scottish bagpipe (also known as a Great Highland Bagpipe, or GHB)

The drone contains the same bass notes ("low A" and an "octave-lower A").  The pipes & chanter are often claimed to be in the key of A (but the key is actually just slightly higher than Bb).

While this drone note does not harmonize well with all the notes on the chanter, it works for the tunes that are frequently played on Scottish bagpipes.

​Slide 7 (Topic 0 - Accordion "drone" imitation)
On the dual-row button accordion, the same outside-row bass note is heard when button 2 is used on the push and button 4 on the pull, to create a drone.

On the push, this bass button note is highly consonant with buttons 2 to 11, but on the pull it is not very consonant with buttons 2*, 3*, 6*, 7*, 10* and 11*.
​Slide 8 (Accordion tune demo & practice with bass drone)
CAUTION:  Take care not to extend the bellows beyond a safe level.

For this tune there are far more push beat-intervals (42) than pull beat-intervals (22), so you will probably need to use the air lever extensively for this "drone" version.

​

​Slides 9  (Drone positives and negatives)
There are five problems, as listed at left, with this single note drone.

In the remainder of this unit we'll try to find ways of playing the bass-end notes & chords to solves, or at least reduce, these problems.

​Slide 10 (Bass-end accompaniment options for bass-chord pairs matched to treble rows)

​The five topics selected for Unit 7:

   1.  Drone bass notes

   2.  Drone chords

   3.  Tap bass-note button

   4.  Tap chord button
​
​   5.  Drone bass & tap chord
  
​Slide 11  (Single button bass "drone")
This "drone-like" exercise is easier in that it involves only one bass button, which is kept pressed for the push and the pull.
Slide 12   (Accordion tune (demo/practice) with push & pull bass-note "drone-like" sounds)

​Here we keep outside bass button 2 pressed, as we play the melody part on the outside treble row.

See web site for additional verses.

​Note that, except for one note (9* in line 3), your fingers only have to cover buttons 5 to 8.  You can either stretch your little finger down, or move your hand.

​Slide 13   (Positives & Negatives for this "drone-like" feature)
Observations:

This "drone-like" bass playing has two main advantages over the single-note drone:
1. A little more harmonious.
2. Can play on both treble
     rows.

However:
3. It still easily runs out of air. 4. The bass still too loud.
5. Some notes are still not
​ harmonious (on the pull).
​
​Slide 14   (Single button chord drone)
This lacks the low note sound that we usually associate with drones.

​Slide 15  (Accordion tune (demo/practice) with push & pull chord "drone-like" sounds)
Here we keep outside chord button 1 pressed, as we play the melody part on the outside treble row

​This melody is also used as a doxology in many churches, sometimes titled "Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow".

​​See web site for remainder of the melody

​Slide 16   (Positives and negatives for this drone-like feature)
Observations:

This somewhat "drone-like" chord feature had two main advantages over the earlier single-note drone:
1. A little more harmonious.
2. Can play on both treble 
     rows.

However:
3. It still easily ran out of air 4. The drone was still some-
    what loud

Slide 17  (Introduction to bass-note taps, with expected benefits)

​Each tap is somewhat shorter than the beat interval, though how much shorter is up to the player and the type of tune being played.

Recall that:
One period (or dot) = 1 beat
One colon (2 dots) = 2 beats
​etc.

​​Slide 18  (Accordion tune (demo/practice) with push & pull bass-note tapping)

​Here we tap bass button 4, once for each beat, as we play the melody part on the inside treble row

A possible solution to the problem of running out of air, and bass overpowering of the melody.
​
​Slide 19  (Accordion tune (demo/practice) with push & pull bass-note tapping)
Again, we tap bass button 4, once for each beat, as we play the melody part on the inside treble row

Again, recall that
                   one dot= 1 beat
one colon = 2 dots = 2 beats

Tapping is a possible solution to the problems of running out of air, and the bass overpowering of the melody.

Slide 20  (Introduction to single-button chord taps, with expected benefits)
​Here we tap the appropriate chord button instead of the bass button.

​When playing the melody on the inside treble row with your right fingers, tap the outside chord button 3 with one of your left fingers.

​​Slide 21  (Accordion tune (demo/practice) with push & pull chord tapping)

This tune is an old standard for learning to play the bass-end along with the melody.

​​Slide 22  (Accordion tune (demo/practice) with push & pull bass-note tapping)


​The beat pattern for this tune has been slightly simplified.  See the tunes2play4fun.com web page for the original tune.

​​Slide 23  (Accordion tune (demo/practice) with push & pull bass-note tapping)
Picture
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My intention, in this BA1 mini-course for beginners, was to use melodies and tunes with one note per syllable.  

In this song there are three syllables where there are two notes each:
walk = wa_lk      (line 1)
dove = do_ve     (line 3)
balls = bal_ls      (line 5)
​The underscore _ is used to show that the syllable is being  stretched, turning it (in a way) into two syllables to match the two notes.   The underscore is also commonly used at the end of syllables (as at the end of each line above) to indicate that the sung syllable is to held longer.
​
Slide 24  (Introduction to "bass-note drone - chord tap" combination)
This is included here mainly a a finger exercise, in preparation for Unit 8.

For some people this type of bass-end playing can be difficult;  it depends on how fit your left hand and finger muscles are.

Exercise caution.

​​Slide 25  (Accordion tune (demo/practice) with bass drone & chord tapping)
Another classic children's melody.

Keep button 2 pressed with one finger, while the other finger taps button 1  (one tap for each beat).

Observe that the melody notes at the end of lines 1 & 2 are each held for two beats, while the note at the end of line 4 is held for four beats.

​Slide 26  (
Practice lists for Unit 8

​Slide 27  ( 
Web path to Unit 7 slides and tune web pages.