12 bass accordion pros and cons

Should a kid start whit is a 12 bass accordion?
Well to be honest there is no correct answer to this questions. There will always be pros and cons about it.

A 12 bass accordion is a great way to start because:

- It is easier to learn
Learning full stradella configuration can be frustrating and many quit because of this. Lacking patience is a normal thing for kids.
The kid will have instant gratification because he will learn quickly small songs.
Most learner books will contain songs that use only those notes. So you will have tunes to play for a year or so.

- You are starting cheap
It is the cheapest way to decide if you are really going to learn it. You really don't want to pay around 1500$ (1000 euro) to have an accordion as furniture.

- It is lighter
Initial position of playing is very important for the beginner. Being light, the accordion will allow correct posture for much longer time.
Hopefully the kid will have less back pain.

It is a bad idea because:

- Of limited grow
After a year or so, the kid will outgrow the accordion. More complex pieces will not be in available.

- It gets more expensive on long run
When your kid will outgrow the accordion, you need to buy another one.

- Of the accommodation
Having a new instrument means more time spent to accommodate with it. The keys will not be in the same place. More buttons will feel different.

Bottom line

If want to spend a relative small amount of money, never ever sacrifice the quality of accordion over the number of bass buttons.
The worse idea is to buy an accordion of bad quality that will always be out of tune. The bass play accuracy is 80 to 90% dependent on the kid's music ear development.
The editor choice is based on the age of the kid:
12 bass for 10 year or less.
24 - 48 bass for 10 + years.
72,120 not for beginners

6 Reasons To Play Accordion

Have you ever wonder why should you start playing an instrument?
Well, here are top 6 best reasons to start playing accordion. Why are these best? Because they will not just help you starting but also keep you going when the things get rough.
In fact these reasons are so important that if you meet the majority of them you will succeed acquiring accordion skill and if you don't, most likely you will fail.

1. Fun

The first and most important reason is FUN. This is why you should start very slow with simple stuff and work your way up to more advanced stuff with patience. Make your learning process easy and fun, and there will be nothing to stop you. Spending hours and hours in the beginning doing only exercises might get you frustrated and even to quit.

2. Challenge

Life without challenge is boring. If everything is predictable and easy, you would get bored out of your mind. While playing accordion you can be sure you will encounter challenges. However, challenges need to be balanced with fun. Too much challenge and the fun is gone.

3. Distinction

Everybody needs to feel somehow different, or special, if you may. And this is a great way to do so. I mean, face it; how many persons you know are playing accordion? My guess is: very few. (Especially if you do not study music in school)

4. Connectivity

Although practicing in your room alone it will not gave you any connection, singing at special events like birthdays or just to show your friend and family some tunes, will connect you with people around you in a special way. Not to mention if you gather some people to sing along.

5. Growth

In the process of learning accordion you have plenty of space to grow. No matter how good you became there will always be something for you to improve. This means the challenges will be there, always looking after you not to get bored.

6. Contribution

You may not feel like contributing too much in the beginning, but we need music in our life. And if you can make one person smile in your entire accordion carrier, then you can be sure your contribution is big.
Because without feelings there would be no music.

That’s it, those are the 6 reasons to start playing accordion and after that to keep you going.
Cheers.

Piano Accordion In Rock Music

Aaa..., rock music! From the old school hard rock until the most complex symphonic rock it has enchanted or horrible zed hour ears.
Although everybody has his own different taste in music, I guess it is hard (or impossible) to find someone who doesn’t have at least one rock song in his heart.
And that's because Rock includes a big variety of genre and because it is old and also new and it had time to evolve.

In the evolution process some bands did not make it far, for example T-Ride one great band that was described by Joe Satriani as "The future of metal" made only one album. Others like Queen and Pink Floyd had time to experiment and become legends. Although T-Ride and other bands prematurely broke up, they teach us one lessons: Always experiment.

You’ll probably say at this point: But those are just other words for "Be original", smart pants! And you are right, but in a world where everything needs to be original, the music it got pretty standard, isn't it?
The image is always the same: rappers need to be gangsters, the ladies singers need to be good lucking and kinda sexy and the list goes on. The instruments also got pretty standard too: only guitars, drums and, at some extent, keyboards are allowed in a metal band. Accordion should be used only for polka or tango.

Okay..., what about accordion in rock music, that’s right and without a making a stretch. Is it out of line? Well, let us see a top 5 published by WashingtonTimes after a contest held in 2008 by The American Accordionists Association in Holiday Inn hotel, Rosslyn.

Here are the Top five accordion rock songs:
1. Squeeze Box — Played by Pete Townshend.
2. 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy).
3. Jenny's Got a Pony.
4. Back Street Girl.
5. If You Should Fall From the Grace of God.

Well, did it change your mind?

The old book.

Maybe useful some day...

Searching the net for some accordion books, I founded "Alain A. Abbott: 54 Exercices de Technique (Accordion solo)" on a not very well know website. Didn't had to much description on it, however because it's very hard to find a good book about accordion these days I order it. After 4 weeks the package reached my place. I couldn't wait to get my hands on that book, so I opened it right away and then surprise !!! There it was this very old book printed in 1969? Oauu! A museum piece. Reading through, I discovered that is full of scores for technique but no explanations what so ever, so not very helpful I guess. Some dull exercises without any explanation. Hmm, maybe some day when I will really want to improve more than to have fun, but for know this will stay nicely in a shelf.

Accordion Blues

Some sad thoughts. Or maybe just melancholics ..

Here you are sir/maim, some topics cooked fresh in my head:

The old book
Piano Accordion in Rock Music.
Best 6 reasons to play accordion.
12 bass accordion suitable for kids