2 TEACH YOURSELF TO PLAY ACCORDION
CONTENTS About the Author ................................................4
Guide Button C..............................................34
Introduction ........................................................4
Bass Note C.....................................................34 Chords.............................................................36
PART 1—GETTING STARTED
C Major Chord Button...................................36
The “Squeezebox”: A Brief History.....................5
Types of Chords..............................................38
Parts of the Accordion .........................................6
Diatonic Harmony.........................................38
A Look Inside...................................................7
Combining Bass and Chord Buttons.............39
The Bellows ......................................................7
Combining Left and Right Hands.................41
Buying an Accordion ..........................................8
From Ode to Joy........................................41
Adjusting the Straps .............................................9
Alternating Bass..............................................42
Practicing Tips .................................................. 10
Ode to Joy..................................................44
Standard Music Notation ..................................11
Ode to Joy (Key of F)................................45
Musical Alphabet, Clef and Staff...............................................11
Before You Play..................................................46
Lines and Spaces .............................................11 Notes...............................................................12 Ledger Lines...................................................12 Beats, Note and Rest Values............................13
Stretching........................................................46 Right-Hand Warm-Ups..................................46
PART 3—STYLES FROM HOME AND AROUND THE WORLD
Bar Lines and Measures..................................13
Putting It All Together.......................................48
Time Signatures..............................................14
Children’s Folk Song .........................................49
Rhythms and Counting..................................15
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star....................49 The Waltz ...........................................................50
PART 2—PLAYING THE ACCORDION
Minuet in G..............................................50
The Right Hand ................................................16
Bluegrass or Old-Time......................................52
Notes in C Position ........................................16
Angeline the Baker....................................52
D Position.......................................................24
Musette ..............................................................54
E Position........................................................25
Playing Minor Chords....................................54
F Position........................................................26
Sad Café—1st Accordion..........................54
Some Basic Music Theory .................................28
Sad Café—2nd Accordion........................55
The Major Scale..............................................28
The Tango..........................................................56
Keys and Key Signatures................................29
Sophia’s Secret Tango................................56
Movable Hand Positions ...................................30
Conjunto............................................................58
Shifting the Right Hand.................................31
Tejas..........................................................58
The Left Hand ...................................................32
The Polka...........................................................60
Left-Hand Position.........................................32
Dennis Murphy’s Polka.............................60
Button Chart, Note and Row Identification ...............................33
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TEACH YOURSELF TO PLAY ACCORDION 3
Zydeco and Cajun..............................................62
Latin American ..................................................82
Zydeco Romp.............................................62
The Clave Rhythm ..........................................82
Cajun 2-Step.............................................64
The Montuno .................................................82
The Irish Tradition ............................................66 Air...................................................................66
PART 5—APPENDIX
Hornpipe........................................................66
Playing with the Band....................................84
Reel.................................................................66
Amplifying Your Instrument..........................85
The Counter Bass............................................66
MIDI Accordions............................................86
Embellishments..............................................67
Digital Accordions..........................................86
Air Alone...................................................68
Reed Settings—Accordion Voices and Registers................................................87
Air Alone (with ornaments)......................69 Maggie’s Hornpipe....................................70 Maggie’s Hornpipe (with ornaments).......71
PART 4—THE WELL-ROUNDED SIDE PERSON: PLAYING WITH A GROUP
Tunings...........................................................87 Types of Accordions........................................88 Sizing an Accordion........................................89 The Care and Feeding of Your Free-Reed Machine.........................90 Do It Yourself Repair......................................91
7th Chords .....................................................72
Self-Maintenance............................................91
The Blues ...........................................................73
Great Musicians, Bands and Recordings........92
The 12-Bar Blues Progression ........................73
Resources........................................................93
Improvising ....................................................74
A Note From the Author....................................94
Swing Eighths .................................................74
Bass and Chord Button Chart...........................96
Da Blues....................................................75 Rock ’n’ Roll ......................................................76 Squeezebox Rox.........................................76 Swing .................................................................77 The Swingbox Comps................................77 Jazz ....................................................................78 The Circle of 5ths ...........................................78 Tin Pan Squeezebox..................................79 Country and Western ........................................80 A Cry in Your Beer Country Tune............80
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TEACH YOURSELF TO PLAY ACCORDION 7
A LOOK INSIDE The mechanism inside the accordion through which air passes and creates sound is the reed block. It is very much like a harmonica, a block of wood with a series of holes. Along the tops of these holes are small slips of metal called reeds or reed plates. When air passes through, the reeds vibrate and produce sound.
Reed blocks.
Reed blocks up close.
Get the Feel for Your Bellows
Tip: You can use the air button to close the bellows when you need to start a new phrase.
THE BELLOWS The bellows is the heart and soul of the accordion. It lies in the center of the instrument and is basically a folded, sealed paper pump that pushes and pulls air through the reed blocks to create sound. It is the mastery of this “push and pull” that allows you to create dynamics (changes in the loudness or softness of sounds), alter your phrasing (the musicality with which you play a certain line) and basically create your own sound.
Closed position.
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It’s time for you to get a feel for how the bellows works. Unsnap the bass straps (see page 6), top and bottom, and open and close the bellows several times. Using the thumb of your left hand, press the air button (page 6) and open and close the bellows several more times. Remember to always pick up the accordion while closed and begin playing from this closed position (see photo below).
Opening the bellows.
Bellows extended.
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16 TEACH YOURSELF TO PLAY ACCORDION
PART 2—Playing the Accordion THE RIGHT HAND All notes in treble clef (see page 11) are played by your right hand on the keyboard. The fingers of the right hand are numbered 1–5, starting with the thumb (1) and ending with the pinky (5).
2
3
4
1
5
Right-hand finger numbers.
NOTES IN C POSITION
The C Note If you look at the keyboard, you will notice that the black keys occur in groups of twos and threes. The first note you will learn to play is a C. The note C is the first white key that appears before every group of two black keys.
In this book, we will refer to a position as the distance of five consecutive white keys. A finger is dedicated to each key, starting with the thumb and ending with the pinky. The C position starts with the C note played by the thumb. C on the Keyboard M i d d l e
C C on the Staff
& w The Repeat Sign
..
The repeat sign tells us to go back to the beginning and play the same thing again.
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C played on the accordion.
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24 TEACH YOURSELF TO PLAY ACCORDION
D POSITION When you place your thumb on the D and let all four fingers rest on the next four notes, you are in D position
(see photo to the right). There is a new note for the 5th finger, an A.
D Position on the Keyboard
D E F GA D Position on the Staff 1
&w D
2
w E
3
w F
4
w G
5
Right-hand finger numbers
A
New note
w
D position on the accordion.
Let’s play a few examples in D position. Use your own judgement about bellows direction and when to change it. It is a good idea to write these things into the music as you work them out. D POSITION EX. 1 Track 22
& 44 ˙
˙
˙
˙
˙
˙
..
w
D POSITION EX. 2 Track 23
& 44 œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
w
..
œ
..
D POSITION EX. 3 Track 24
& 44 œ
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œ
˙
œ
œ
˙
œ
œ
˙
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TEACH YOURSELF TO PLAY ACCORDION 45
Let’s see what happens when we transpose “Ode to Joy” to the key of F Major. In order to maintain the correct scale pattern we’ll have to lower the B to a B b. F MAJOR SCALE FTrack MAJOR SCALE 55 F
G
& w
W
1
A
w
B
w
W
2
C
bw
H
3
w
W
4
W
5
w D
w
6
w
H
E
W
F
7
8(1)
Track 56
& b 44 ˙
œ œ
3
Scale degree:
3
? b 44
˙
œ œ
œ.
œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ
œ
œ œ œ œ
œ œ
œ.
œ œ œ
œ
5
5
œ œ œ œ
&b ˙
5
?b
4
œ œ œ œ
3
œ
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œ œ 4
5
œ œ œ
5
œ
4
4
3
3
2
2
œ œ œ
1
h 1
œ
2
2
3
3
3
2
œ
œ
j œ ˙ 2
2
œ
œ
j œ ˙ 1
1
˙ ˙
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54 TEACH YOURSELF TO PLAY ACCORDION
MUSETTE The musette sound, characterized by a slight waver—an ever so slightly out-of-tune quality (see page 87, Tunings)—immediately transports
us to a small café in southern France. For our next example, you will need to learn how to play minor chords. Minor chords
PLAYING MINOR CHORDS We’ve already learned that minor chords can be made by lowering or flatting the 3rd of a major chord (page 38). Minor chords (designated with a lowercase “m”) are played the same way major chords are, they are just a row over. Use the same fingering, just reach a bit farther with your 3rd finger. Another option is to use your 4th finger on the bass and your 2nd finger on the minor chord.
E A D
EM AM DM
This next song is a duet (a piece of music with two parts to be played simultaneously by two performers). Learn the 1st accordion part (below) and play it with the 2nd accordion part (page 55) on the recording; then switch parts. Try using a multiple reed setting on this.
Em Am Dm 4th row
Track 69
œ4 œ œ ˙ 4 &4 ? 44 5
& ?
œ
m
œ
Œ
œ4 œ œ ˙ œ
m
œ
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Œ œ
Œ œœœœœœ œ œœ˙ œ
œ
Chord quality
œ
Œ
œ
œ
M
œ
Œ œ
4 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ œ Œ
œ
œ
Œ
œ
œ
œ
Œ œ
Œ œœœ œ œ
œ
Œ œ
.. ..
Œ œœœ œœ œ œ
œ
Œ
œ
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82 TEACH YOURSELF TO PLAY ACCORDION
The range of Latin American music is vast and varied. There are many styles: salsa, calypso, samba, bossa nova, reggae, etc. Its percussive, rhythmic element came to Cuba from Africa, while its harmonic qualities came from Spain. Put them together and the result is what we now call Afro-Cuban music.
THE CLAVE RHYTHM An important part of Latin music is the clave (pronounced CLAH-vā) rhythm. It is a two-bar, repeating pattern that gives Latin music that “off-step” or syncopated feel. There are many kinds of clave rhythms;
below are two of the most common. Count and clap the rhythms aloud and you will instantly get that salsa feel. Notice that counting numbers below rests are written in parentheses.
FORWARD CLAVE Track 88
& 44 œ Count: 1
‰ œ & (2)
‰ œ
&
3 (&)
4
&
Œ
œ
(1
&) 2
&
œ
Œ
3
& (4
&)
..
This one just reverses the order of the two measures. REVERSE CLAVE Track 89
& 44 Œ
Q
Count: (1 &) 2
&
Q
Œ
3 &
(4
Q &)
THE MONTUNO Montunos are the next most recognizable pattern in Latin music. They are distinctive rhythmic patterns—played on the piano—that drive the band or orchestra.
‰ Q
1
& (2)
&
‰ Q 3 (&)
4
&
..
How can we approach this on the accordion, you may ask? Use the same approach we have been using so far: Find the instruments or parts to emulate; figure out what makes them tick; and then adapt it to your own style.
For example: MONTUNO EX. 1 Track 90
4 &4 œ Count: 1
&
œ J œ 2
&
3
œ
&
œ œ J
œ J
4
&
1
&
œ
2
&
3
œ .. J
œ
&
4 &
MONTUNO EX. 2 Track 91
& 44 œ 1
&
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j œ œ 2
&
3
œ b œJ & 4
&
œ œ J 1
& 2
œ
&
j œ b œ n œ ..
3 &
4
&
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96 TEACH YOURSELF TO PLAY ACCORDION
BASS AND CHORD BUTTON CHART
Cx Fx B# E# A#
D# G# C# F#
D#
B
G#
E
C#
A
F#
D
B E A D G C F Bb Eb Ab Db Rows: 1
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A#
G C F Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Cb Fb Bbb 2
A#m # AM
D #m # DM G #m # GM C#m # CM F#m # FM BM EM AM DM GM CM FM
Bm Em Am Dm Gm Cm Fm
Bbm b BM Ebm b EM
Abm b AM DbM GbM
Dbm Gbm
Cbm b CM Fbm b FM
Bbbm bb B M 3
4
A#d # A7
D#d # D7 G#d # G7 C#7 F#7 B7 E7 A7 D7 G7 C7 F7 Bb7 Eb7 Ab7 Db7
C#d F#d Bd Ed
1st Row—Counter Basses
Ad
2nd Row—Fundamental Basses
Dd
3rd Row—Major Chords (M)
Gd
4th Row—Minor Chords (m)
Cd
5th Row—Dominant 7th Chords (7) 6th Row—Diminished 7th Chords (d)
Fd Bbd Ebd Abd Dbd
Gbd b G7 Cb7 Fb7
Cbd Fbd
Bbbd bb B 7 5
6
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