< Lesson 3. || Lesson 5.>
Hi there! In today lesson we will do some basic bass exercises.
We will try to keep it simple and play only the most common patterns. Each note on the staff have a number that indicates what finger you should use. We will use the root notes and not the counter bass notes unless stated otherwise.
Take you time with each exercise, repeat it a couple o times until you can play it without mistake. Try to move bellows as continuous as you can. Add some speed after a couple of practices. You can follow the notations and the score in the same time for an easier understanding. If the pictures are too small you can click on them to enlarge.
If you find the exercises too demanding, split this lesson in two, so you can go at slower pas. Choose the learning speed that is most suited for you.
Bass exercise 1.
Bellows expand - Air out.
C - 4, CM - 3, CM - 3 | C - 4, CM - 3, CM - 3.
Bellows contract - Air in.
C - 4, CM - 3, CM - 3 | C - 4, CM - 3, CM - 3.
Bass exercise 2.
Bellows expand - Air out.
C - 4, CM - 3, G -2, CM - 3 | C - 4 CM - 3, G -2, CM - 3.
Bellows contract - Air in.
C - 4, CM - 3, G -2, CM - 3 | C - 4 CM - 3, G -2, CM - 3.
Bass exercise 3.
Bellows expand - Air out.
C - 4, CM - 3, CM - 3 | G - 4, GM - 3, GM - 3.
Bellows contract - Air in.
G - 4, GM - 3, GM - 3 | G - 4, GM - 3, GM - 3.
That was all for this lesson. In the next lesson we will encounter the difficult part: playing with both hands.
< Lesson 3. || ^ Top. ^ || Lesson 5.>
Accordion Lesson 4.
Accordion Lesson 5.
< Lesson 4. || Lesson 6.>
Hi again, and welcome to accordion lesson number 5. If you are reading this and you did not just skip the chapters until here, let me congratulate you for make it so far. Statistics show that on average, 80% of people never even reach the second chapter of a book. And you already read twice as much.
And now let's put the hands together! (For applauding yourself :)
Take your accordion and let's play the following song. We will call it "The C Song" because it will use only the C notes and chords.
Did you found it challenging? If you did, don't worry, it supposed to be harder. After all, when is the last time you used both your hands doing different complex stuff with each one? You brain needs time to adjust to the coordination. Have patience with your brain! He can handle it!
Now go back to the song and try to play it couple of more times until you get satisfied by your result. Remember, this is not a contest. You should not rush the learning process, the goal is to learn how to play as well as enjoying it and having fun. Because, if you get too serious, there is a high probability you'll no finish this course.
We will take it very slow in the same way we are building muscles, first with a small weight and we increase the difficulty little by little, until we achieve remarkable results. So let us put more "weight".
Play it couple of times until you get satisfied with your result.
That is all for this lesson.
Here are some resources:
-A pdf file with the complete C song :
-A midi file so you can hear it as well. I hope your accordion sounds much better :)
< Lesson 4. || ^ Top. ^ || Lesson 6.>
Accordion Lesson 3.
< Lesson 2. || Lesson 4.>
One of the most common bass layouts on accordions is Stradella Bass System or sometimes called Standard Bass System. Another popular bass layout is the Free Bass System. This does not have any chords and it's more difficult to play because you need to build your own chords. However building chords give your music much more flexibility.
In these accordian lessons we will use Standard Bass System.
In the previous session we mention shortly about the bass side of accordion. Today we will go in more detail about it.
We will learn on a 72 keys bass system, but it will be easy for you to understand all sizes of Stradella System.
What do we know so far?
We know that on the left side there are 12 to 140 small round button that are used for bass lines.
The 72 bass one, that make out topic, has 12 rows, each row with 6 buttons. We will say that we have 12 horizontal rows numbered 1 to 12 from top to bottom and 6 vertical rows numbered 1 to 6 from the bellows to the margin of accordion.
Each of the 12 rows correspond to a root note from F# to Db.
And now let's learn some new stuff!
You have seen the left picture before, it represents all the 72 bass keys. For future reference it will be helpful if you print it and have it with you all times while playing, until you know it by heart. The E, C and Eb buttons from the root notes, meaning from the second vertical row, have a distinct shape in order to be recognized by touch. The bass note from the chords and the root notes are not in the same octave, so sometime you will play the chord and the root note in the same time. You will use the same fingering numeration as in the previous lesson, only that you will not use the thumb, so no first finger.
The bass clef.
With the bass keys we play the bass line from the score. This starts with the sign from left. It is called bass clef or F clef named like this because it's starts from F. Note that the position of C D E F G A B are different from G clef. More about this you can find in music theory lessons from the left menu.
< Lesson 2. || ^ Top. ^ || Lesson 4.>
Accordion Lesson 2.
< Lesson 1. || Lesson 3.>
In this second accordion lesson, we will try to familiarize more with the right side piano keyboard. I hope that after the first lesson you are able to associate notes to keys. Let us try to play a well known song called "Twinkle, twinkle little star". We will use only the piano keys for that. The score for the song is below. 
Image source http://en.wikipedia.org
Click on the picture to see a larger version.
If you don't know how to read it, you might want to stop here for a while and learn some basic theory from the Music Theory course. Click Music Theory or check the menu from the left.
If you find it hard to find the corresponded keys, here is the picture below to help you out.
While playing try to use a constant and continuous movement of bellows. 7 notes air out, 7 notes air in. The movement of the bellow is very important on accordion, and bad habits like jerking bellows will be problematic while playing with both hands. So try to use this exercise, for coordinate your bellow movement with playing the keys.
Sharps and flattens.
OK, so every white key, as we learned before, correspond to a note. But, what about black keys?
Well, each black key is related to the white keys near it. It's sharpens the note before or flatten the note after. For example the back key between C and D it is either a C#(C sharped) or Db (D flattened or D bemol). So, the same black key can have 2 different names.
At this point you may notice that some white keys don't have a black key in between, so how can we sharpen or flatten the note. For example let's take E and F, they don't have a black key in between. Well it is actually like this: E# = F and Fb = E. Nice! So as a general rule we can say like this: to sharpen a note we play the next key, no matter if it is black or white. The same with flatten a note, we play the key before.
Fingering.
While playing on the right keyboard of accordion use all five fingers.
Always try to hold you fingers in positions that feel comfortable. So as far as it's possible don't put one finger over another while jumping one key to another. Instead change fingers according to arrangement of hand and keys; different keys should be pressed by different fingers.
The order of alternation fingers it is called fingering.
In the notes the fingers are designated by the numbers:
1 - thumb (first finger)
2 - pointing finger (second finger)
3 - middle finger (third finger)
4 - ring finger (fourth finger)
5 - little finger (fifth finger)
< Lesson 1. || ^ Top. ^ || Lesson 3.>
Why Accordion?
If you are reading this page, it means that you have decided to start playing the accordion. Or, the idea of playing it may have crossed your mind, but you haven’t made a final decision on acquiring an instrument yet.
The truth is that no instrument is better than another. Who plays the instrument, makes all the difference. Keeping this in mind, there are however some
factors that you might want to consider. This page describes the characteristics of the accordion and the unique values of learning music.
What makes the sound of an accordion so great?
1. The accordion is a compete instrument like the piano, this means you can play melodic lines with the left hand, while with the right you can play bass, rhythm. This makes it very powerful while playing solo.
2. Stradella bass system allows you to play chords by pressing only one button for each chord which makes life much easier for fresh starting musicians.
3. One great advantage over the piano is the portability. You can carry your accordion wherever you may go. It is not the most portable instrument, but let's say is the most portable and complete acoustic instrument.
4. You can control the exact duration of a note, which give him an tremendous power.
5. And last, but not least, the unique sound, the great poetry and expressiveness that this instrument is capable especially in the hands of a great master.
See Accordion Masters
Off course there are some disadvantages, but most of them can be compensated. Like playing the chords that are not included in the bass system, is done by pressing two or more keys.
References:
http://learnaccordion.googlepages.com/home2
Used vs New accordion
Now we have another big question on our hands? So, used vs new, let's see the advantages and disadvantages.
A. On used one:
If you consider buying an used accordion you have of course the lower price advantage, however the instrument is very delicate and it can have easily malfunctions. Also they are difficult to repair which it's translated expensive to repair. So spend some time and check that the accordion is working this means every key should work, if you don't press any key the bellows should not go down easily. Brig a person with you to cut your enthusiasm, preferable a person who own or who know about instruments. Try to find an European brand, most of them are well known for long lasting quality. And also a good idea is to chose an periodically used accordion over one which stayed locked up somewhere.
B. On new one:
Well with a new accordion you can be shore that you instrument is working properly, plus you have the warranty. Another big advantage is that you can choose exactly what you want type, size, color, etc., rather then looking for what is available on the news paper. Only problem here is the price which can go very high mainly because many pieces are hand made. Anyways I would recommend a smaller European made accordion rather then a full size Chinese one which has a very bad sound quality.
In conclusion whatever you decide, used or new, I hope you will be satisfied with you decision.
Accordion sizes.
After deciding the type, you will need to decide the size of the instrument. Many keys means harder will be to play, so if you are a beginner you might consider a smaller instrument.For example if you choose an accordion with Stradella bass system (see the picture on the left showing a 72 Stradella bass system ) like a piano accordion or a chromatic one, for beginners a 24 or 48 bass keys are recommended. Also more keys means more reeds, more reeds means more heavy, more heavy means less portable.
Many players have to compromise between portability and range of notes. 48 and 72 bass are the best options for most folk musicians, but you only get the full range of notes, and variety of sound from the registers on a full size 120 bass.
The piano accordion with 120 bass and 41 treble keys is the full size model, the bass side offers a chromatic scale and all the chords, arranged in 6 columns of 20 buttons. The six columns are: counter bass notes, root notes, major chords, minor chords, 7th chords, diminished chords. An 80 bass has 5 columns of 16 (omitting the diminished row), and a 37 treble note keyboard. A 72 bass has a 34 treble note keyboard, but retains the 6 columns bass. You can click on the left picture to see a close up for better understanding.
So as you can see there are many accordion sizes that you can choose from. The best learning path is to start with a small one and learn your way through till the full size one although it might not be the cheapest solution.
Accordion types.
There are several accordion types and sizes. Most accordions have two parts connected by the bellows : the right side (the melody side) and the left side (the bass side). On the right they have the treble keys used to play the melody lines. On the left accordions have the bass key and bass chord keys. Let's have a look on different accordion types:
A. Piano Accordion
B. Diatonic Accordion
C. Chromatic Accordion
D. Concertina
A. Piano Accordion
The most popular accordion is the piano accordion. On the right side it has piano keys usualy 25 to 41 keys and on the left side has the bass keyboard which is usually the Stradella system(12 to 120 keys), or one of the various free bass systems.
Sizes are marked with the number of bass the accordion has got. From the smallest with 12 bass with 6 Root Notes and 6 Major chords to a little bigger ones with 24, 32, 40, 48, 60, 72, 80 and 96 bass systems, up to 120, 140 and even 160 bass accordion. There are also some hybrids with 111 bass systems and other combinations.
B. Diatonic Accordion
A very simple type of accordion that have a melody side keyboard which is limited to the notes of diatonic scales (1 row or two max). The bass side usually contains the principal chords of the instrument's key and the root notes of those chords.
Almost all diatonic button accordions are bisonoric, meaning each button produces two notes: one when the bellows is compressed, another while it is expanded.
C. Chromatic Accordion 
On the right hand you have buttons which are arranged in the chromatic scale order on diagonals. There can be 3 to 5 rows of treble buttons. In a 5 row chromatic, two additional rows repeat the first 2 rows to facilitate options in fingering. There are different types of scales, most known are the B and C scale. The right keyboard is usually the Stradella system, one of the various free bass systems, or a converter system.
D. Concertina 
A concertina is another free-reed musical instrument. It has a bellows and buttons typically on both ends of it on the sides. It is usually much smaller the a regular piano accordion and each button produces one note, while accordions typically can produce chords with a single button.
Ok So many accordion types to choose from! So what type should you choose?
Now before you consider what is the suited type for you, ask yourself some more questions:
- What kind of music do you wanna mostly play? While piano accordions are more straight forward and more used in jazz and rock and roll, the chromatic ones are more used for classical pieces.
- How serious you want to get? Concertinas have less keys, so is somehow easer to learn but the music area is much more restricted than other accordion, like a piano accordion for example.
- Which accordion type is more available in your area? You might what to check that in order to make your life easer. And when I say "more available" I meant easer to buy, easer to find a repair shop, easer to find a teacher.
So, having in mind the above, you should decide the type of accordion you want to buy.
Accordion Lesson 1.
< Buyer Guide. || Lesson 2.>
Let's look at the instrument first. It has piano keys which are played with the right hand, and the bass buttons, small and round witch are played with the left hand. Let's take an quick look at the piano keyboard. It is looking like that:
Try to localize C, it is the white key located just at the begging of the 5 keys sequence. Can you find all C keys?
D is the next white key. Search all D from the keyboard. Notice that the D is always in the middle of the first 2 keys from the 5 black key sequence, that we talk about. Now take each note and try to localize it on your accordion keyboard, meaning take all E,F etc. Try localize them backward, all C, all B etc., try random keys.
Take your time! No need to hurry. The more time you spend with localizing the notes, the more comfortable you'll be skipping from a note to another (actually playing :).
The distance between two notes, for example the distance between two C, is called octave from octo which means 8 in Italian, because there are 8 notes: C D E F G A B C.
Now try singing C,E,G in first octave, in second and in the third.
For now we don't need to worry about the black keys. We'll see their meaning in a latter chapter.
OK good, now let's continue the lesson by moving to the left side of accordion. There we have all this little round buttons. Yap I know, they are intimidating, they are to many and not that different. And like this is not enough, while playing you can not see them. Well don't despair, with enough patience you will feel very familiar with them. You can click on the left picture or better save it, to look at it while I'm explaining.
All the bass button are arranged like this: horizontal rows and vertical rows (columns). On the horizontal row we have 6 buttons. And starting from left to right we have the counter bass note, the root note for the chords buttons to come, the major 3rd chord button, the minor 3rd button, the diminished chord, and the 7th chord button.
So for every root note we have an entire horizontal row specially for it. For example let's take C. We have counter bass note which is the 3rd note in this case E(CD and E). Then we have the C bass note, then the CM (C major chord) which is compose from three notes CEG, so when we press CM button we actually play 3 notes. The same with Cm (C minor chord), Cd (C diminished chord), and C7 (C 7th chord).
The columns are arranged in the circle of fifth order. This means that every root note button is the fifth note distance from the root note button bellow. For example lets take the root note C. Just above the C is the fifth note which is G(CDEF and G), above G is D(GABC and D), and so on A, E, B, etc.
Now, for the end of this lesson let's try to put on the accordion. Piano keys in the right, bass in the left, the stripes one for each shoulder. Adjust the left hand stripe from the little wheel from the left top. That is it! And remember to keep you back always straight. You can seat on a chair an put the right part of accordion on your left leg to sustain the weight.
Now that we cover the instrument overview, we are ready for some playing!!! But that in the next lesson. :)
< Buyer Guide. || ^ Top. ^ || Lesson 2.>
Accordion Buyer's Guide
< Introduction. || Lesson 1.>
If you don't have an accordion yet, here are some tips on choosing one. This Accordion Buyer's Guide is not intended as a marketing strategy. I'm not selling accordions and I don't have any contract with such companies. Basically I'm not trying to sell you anything nor to make you buy the mot expensive accordion on the market. This being said and put apart, before even consider buying one you should know some things and some question you need to put yourself. In the articles bellow I didn't intentionally discuss brands or prices. Check the menu bellow :
1. What type of accordion do I want?
2. What size is suitable for me?
3. Used or New accordion?
After reading the articles above, I hope you will have an rough idea of what to buy. But not matter your decision on the instrument, I hope you will play it well and for many years to come. It is said that an instrument is really great in the hands of really great player. Also hope this accordion buyer guide to be useful for you. I'm looking forward for you comments.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.accordions.com/
http://www.pianoaccordion.info/
http://www.hobgoblin.com/info/faqaccordion.htm
< Introduction. || ^ Top. ^ || Lesson 1.>
Introduction
< Table of contents. || Buyer's Guide.>
Hi and welcome!
This is a course, teaching you how to playing accordion.
The ultimate goal is: To Provide the Best Free Learning Materials for Accordion. You will find here a fun and interesting way to learn the instrument.
If you are reading this article you probably know what an accordion is. But just to be clear from the start, let me write a short description of it.
A piano accordion is a portable wind instrument, having bellows forcing air through small metal reeds, a keyboard for playing with the right hand, and single bass notes buttons and chords buttons for the left hand. Uauu! that was a mouth full.
Next section will be a guide for buyers. If you already have one, then you can skip that part, otherwise I recommend that you read it before purchasing an instrument. It might save you some time and money.
Additional to the buyer's guide an article is available here: 12 bass accordion pros and cons
Without further ado, let us start the journey of music and fun.
< Table of contents. || Buyer's Guide.>
