Accordionwise Explanations video examples
There are of course six other video pages here on this website.
They are divided up in order not to overload your web browser too badly
Video Examples Page One - Video Examples Page Two - Video Examples Page Three
Video Examples Page Four - Video Examples Page Five -
Video Examples Page Six - Video Examples Page Seven
This is Video Examples Page One
These videos are mostly done by the author of this website. They are musical examples will hopefully help you with some of the more difficult to explain and yet not necessarily difficult to do principles on this website.
REMEMBER TO UNMUTE THE SOUND FROM THE BOTTOM RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THE VIDEO FRAMES
ON PLAYING FREELY, PHRASING TO SET THE MELODY FREE NOT MATCH UP EVERY BEAT BETWEEN TREBLE AND BASS/strong>
Here I have tried (only partially successfully) to show the difference between a literal reading of music and setting the melody line free to phrase in the best way for musical expression
The most effective part is probably showing you how to sound awful by precisely following the music part.
NOT AS DIFFICULT AS YOU THINK - A BOOGIE STYLE BASS WHICH IS A PERECT MATCH FOR CHATANOOGA CHOOCHOO
Basically a demo of how to do the Chattanooga Choochoo bass riff in two different ways. The literal one with all notes is easy except possibly for changing positions. Once you have heard it you will more easily identify the one where a chord is substituted for the 2nd note or the 2nd and 4th notes if you use the substituted one afterwards.
Here is a diagram which may help.
As usual for me of course please note this shows THE ORDER PLAYED and not fingering to use! The diagram also omits another version of the easier to move notes part where you can substitute the chord on the 4th beat as well as on the 2nd beat.
EXTRA HINT If you are not totally convinced by the second version, playing the first version first will get the listeners ears accustomed to it.
REMEMBER TO UNMUTE THE SOUND FROM THE BOTTOM RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THE VIDEO FRAMES
CHARADE BY HENRY MANCINI
Illustrating Glissando chords joining up the melody
So this features mainly the concept of sliding glissando chords. These make practical legato widely spaced chords accompanying the melody in the right hand. They add smoothness and practicality and variation of the phrasing so are not used all the time.
Mainly these chords are done here well into the keyboard over the black notes. This may not be the easiest method but lets you use black and white notes equally, no stretching over towards the black notes.
It is also the "cleanest" method as you will miss some notes with odd fingers and open out the harmony with unesxpected chord transitions.
An additional technique here you may notice is the occasional flick of the wrist which is a diagonal wrist movement.
Of course the easier method you may want to start with is at the outside edge of the keyboard where the palm continuously rests on the outside of the white notes. Even with that you may experiment with flipping the hand over during the gliss.
All kinds of interesting variations are possible, including intentional overshoots and returns to the intended chord. This will still sound interesting even if unintentional!
BONUS ITEMS
- You may also notice the sliding chords technique is not used ALL the time! variety of approach stops it being annoying or taken for granted by the listener
- Some chromatic right hand runs to embellish or join up the melody
- At the top of the melody use of the little finger which allows an extra part to be played simulatneously by the other fingers down to the thumb
- On lowest note you are on thumb and have the other fingers to use at top
- If doing this you can retain the emphasis on the melody line by using less bellows after the initial impact of the long note in the tune
- One example of a last beat divided into two quavers (eight notes) to pull you towards the next bar
Underneath The Arches
Illustrating a lighter approach to the arrangement, for a tune often played without any special ideas.
The main principle here is leaving the right hand lead ins to different phrases of the song without bass accompaniment. This creates a lightness to the arrangement rather than the usual stomping approach!
It is much used for jazz playing as it allows for a more free interpretation of the tune, but this I feel is useful in ALL playing rather than shackling bass notes and chords with melody notes in a blocky formation.
You can even add extra notes to the lead in without having to decide which they are to be played with.
Think of all the slightly more modern favourites, Quando Quando, Shadow of Your Smile etc where I trust you would not dream of starting the accompaniment with the first few notes, but would wait until the first note of the next bar.
This extends that principle to make a point of not ramming the notes down your listener's ears!
BONUS DETAILS ILLUSTRATED
Also note
- Contrasting sliding chordal introduction
- Embellishments to the solo line, chromatic join ups, short trills etc
- Stopping playing bass sometimes later in the phrase avoiding heaviness
- Bass variations, not always note chord note chord, and sometimes axtra quick parts of the beat
- Chordal gliss for the ending between different melody notes and chords
REMEMBER TO UNMUTE THE SOUND FROM THE BOTTOM RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THE VIDEO FRAMES
HOW TO DO EXTENDED UP AND DOWN ARPEGGIO ACCOMPANIMENT SIMILAR TO A PIANO STYLE PART
2 mins 50 seconds - there is also a section in the bass playing page here with some diagrams
In addition to the explanation from the video copied in below I would also point out that just one of thes can be adapted to enliven a dead spot in a normal accompaniment section, and not necessarily in this time signature.
In other words, you can pop just one of these or part of one of these into the middle of a tune, and it is still musically useful.
This is a video explanation of the how to play a seemingly impossible triplet full octave arpeggio accompaniment on the bass notes section covered elsewhere here.
Most of the explanation in the actual video but I will add the actual notes played here. To help further I will put the notes from the counterbass in lower case letters. CeGCGe aCeaCa FaCFCa GbDGbG and repeat it. For the sake of musical completion I also added a C chord at the very end after the repeat.
Notice that the minor arpeggio of Am here (the second one) is not based around the Am chord position or the counterbass notes indicated by the small letters would be in different places, possible to do but much more awkward with the wide spaced left hand fingers.
The main basis of the system is of course the ear being guided to hear the key note in either the lower or higher octave by the direction of the notes pointing to it. Just as in continuous bass scales, but a little less expected.
The F and G chord arpeggios featured are also of course Major Arpeggios, so done the same way as the C arpeggio.
Once the key note is played a second time you retrace back one at a time to the previous button played. Also possible to think of each note by name as you play it to make sure it is in the right order, but I think this will slow you down considerably!
Fingering example for the useful accordion sound of playing in thirds on the treble keyboard
As thirds are basically just alternate notes played together (though normally both following the key signature) the basic fingering is obvious, use alternate fingers like 1 with 3, 2 and 4, 3 with 5.
However this would restrict you to playing only 3 successive notes (because the lower fingers are used for the third below) so this can be extended by starting out with separated 1 and 2 and dragging the thumb up with the 3 for the next instance of 1 and 3. Similarly you might extend similarly at the top of the keyboard. You can also use crossover points similarly to playing scales.
You may notice the example, though primarily in C also includes chromatic movements to D#F# and I think I may have used 2-4 to 3-2 to get there. If I had started the run with 1-2 this would not have been needed at that point. Both are useful techniques however.
More extended use of parallel thirds in LA PALOMA
This is an example with close up throughout of fingering of thirds throughout the tune LA PALOMA.
Due to the proximity of the camera to the treble section to show you detail the sound of the bass is a little faint. If it balanced at a higher level, you would better hear the useful effect of adding thirds to enhance the harmony without having to use exotic alternative chords.
Principles are pretty much the same as the previous example, so here is a bonus picture of some suggested fingering written examples.
Another Tune with parallel thirds in tune
O Sole Mio or It's Now or Never
Illustrating perhaps better the pleasing sound of thirds on the sound this time as although not quite so good for observing the fingering you should hear the build up of the sound between treble and bass.
Because the camera and microphone or not so close to the treble keyboard but more evenly distanced from both.
In combination you can now hear the thirds enriching the chords automatically even when the bass line is the most basic chords.
A demonstration of an unusual upward chromatic scale fingering
Demonstrated that the thumb is not being used by holding the thumb on the start natoe while the other fingers play the chromatic run
TURN ON THE SOUND BY THE WAY!
PLEASE NOTE ALSO BY THE WAY THAT I DO NOT HAVE LARGE HANDS!
YOU, YES YOU, CAN TRY THIS!
This video is by way of an explanation for how to play chromatic scales upwards without using the thumb. Sometimes it saves me strain on my thumb and it is a useful technique derived from stepping the fingers as in chromatic accordion playing.
I hope you can follow what I am doing in the close-up video which follows. I am holding the thumb with a note that you can still hear sounding while the chromatic scale is played over it.
This proves of course that I am not free to use the thumb in the demonstration and if you do the same trying it will ensure you are not accidentally cheating either!
It also points out at the end that it may be useful generally so that you can add extra comments musically over a melody note held by the thumb. You do not necessarily have to include the whole chromatic scale Or even a chromatic scale in this addition to the arrangement at all of course.
REMEMBER TO UNMUTE THE SOUND FROM THE BOTTOM RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THE VIDEO FRAMES
ARPEGGIOS ALTERNATIVE FINGERING AND THE LISZT FINGERING
A bit more explanation by way of demonstration of the arpeggio fingerings on the Right Hand Ideas page.
To clarify the arpeggio uses the 4th finger stretching out on the 4th which starts this arpeggio so that without any fuss you can get further than an octave on your way, in fact the distance of a tenth. It is then necessary to ensure you come back exactly the same way, the point of no return being to get the thumb crossed over early enough.
My justification is that you get a more solid start to your arpeggio, which is not automatically turned into triplets as with the conventional fingering.
Note that I have only averagely small hands and the accordion here is at least a 19" keyboard model
With regard to the Liszt fingering this means crossing over on the 5th finger, normally beyond the point of no return as far as extending the rqnge of the hand by crossing the thumb etc.
It is not difficult if you are crossing from a white note (set lower than the black) to a black note or to another white note. The other way round is very awkward and even from black to black is a little more hazardous with the dizzying drop between those notes!!
AN UPSIDE DOWN ARRANGEMENT TO DEMONSTRATE MULTI OCTAVE TUNES PLAYED ON BASS BUTTONS
I wonder what will come next, there are several fascinating accordion music subjects I have not felt adequate to cover yet!
WATCH CHROMATIC SCALES BEING PLAYED
I AM NOT SURE IF THIS ONE IS A VIDEO OR AN ANIMATED DIAGRAM
However in the future these may be substituted to illustrate concepts on other pages, but here is the first of these anyway
HOW TO PLAY A CHROMATIC RUN
Very simple as it repeats continuously with exactly the same alternate movements. Therefore it does not have to be put in a never ending diagram.
The disadvantage of course is that you end up a very long way from your key or chord centre. I have pointed out that this can be controlled at least short term by faking the run initially with the first two notes played a note apart. If it is an upward run you can go back down a tone to the counter bass row version, well better save all tht for later.
HOW TO MAKE RICHER HARMONIES ON ACCORDION
MAKING 9ths and 11ths
So first of all what we are doing here is adding a minor chord starting where a major chord finishes to build up a ninth chord.
So we take a C chord which is C E and G and from the G add a Gm chord G Bb D to make a C9. I explain the reason this is a B flat is that most of these normal richer chords belong to the key of the chord button below, in this case F, so they are pulled back to resolve onto the basic chord, in this case C of course.
By building up extra alternate notes on top of that we get to have C11 and even C13ths again adhering to taking the sharps or flats or naturals from the chord below of F.
The exception to this is when we make major 7ths or sharpened 7ths as they are sometimes called, and then when we make that very interesting but different chord we do not alter it, in this case it still belongs to the key of that chord and has a B natural in it for the key of C.
I also demonstrate how to do the impossible augmented chord very easily by playing it in the right hand over a 7th chord and point out that this avoids clashes because conventionally a stradella accordion 7th does not have the 5th which would otherwise sound very nasty alongside it.
Finally a short play around some relevant and irrelevant chords based on what I was talking about!
More about extra chords including Suspended Chords and where to use them
Suspended 4ths, 2nds, and chords with no 5th.
Quite a long video this morning 10 minutes but stick with it as I think it covers a lot of interesting stuff. And I would think that wouldn’t I.
Some clarifications.
Pointing out the use of discord resolving into very smooth chords makes life interesting and without this music is virtually pointless.
Then some suspended 4th chords which of course do not have a third until the tension is dissipated by the 4th sinking down into the expected 3rd and therefore becoming a normal major chord.
One thing I might have pointed out more clearly is that we do not know if a suspended chord is major or minor until the following chord puts the 3rd in.
The same applies to suspended 2nds (dealt with next).
To be clear the third of the chord is the middle note of the root alternate note up from the note which gives its name to the chord. When we speak of a 2nd this is a next door note to the root and when we speak of a 4th this is just below the top note of the chord.
Examples
| Name of Chord | Root Position Is | The 3rd is | 2nd or 4th |
| C Major or minor | C E G or C Eb G | E or Eb | D or F |
| G Major or Minor | G B D or G Bb D | B or Bb | A or C |
| F Major or Minor | F A C or F Ab C | A or Ab | G or Bb |
| Bb Major or minor | Bb D F or Bb Db F | D or Db | C or F |
| A Major or Minor | A C# E or A C E | C# or C | B or E |
I also pointed out that after learning the basic root positions, even the suspended chords can be used in inversions, with especially interesting results
Chuntering on I showed the tune Maria as one that uses suspended 4ths that exist alongside the root and 3rd and then go upwards to give way to the 5th!
MAKING BEAUTIFUL SOUNDS ON YOUR ACCORDION
I believe the object should be to make beautiful music that speaks to your audience, and the accordion carefully treated is well equipped to play with tremendous expression.
Here I suggest a method of adding expression and reducing harshness during your music. It includes an example of percussive bellows technique which produces the opposite effect you might imagine from the page.
There are several nice tunes illustrating this and other concepts, including the idea of varying the phrasing of otherwise similar note patterns to add meaning and even how to play with maximum efficiency by treating melodic runs as if they needed to be played as chords.
THE SIMPLEST ACCORDION PLAYING HACK YET
PLAYING YOUR BASS AS ONLY TWO BEATS INSTEAD OF FOUR MAKES A MORE MUSICAL FLOWING SOUND
Probably the easiest accordion playing hack yet!
Being seasonal was not the intention but this seemed the ideal tune to demonstrate this incredibly effective and simple playing idea.
Four beats in a bar will actually play smoother if you divide by two instead. You can still play the fourth beat sometimes as a a bass NOTE to pull towards the next bar, fill in the “missing” chords on the right hand, or even revert to bass four in a bar when you want.
A lot of this is obscured on the video because i filled in the extra beats with the right hand. Also you will detect reverting to four in a bar left hand and early 2nd beat bass chords played and held.
You can alternatively double up by playing eighth notes in the last beat or two which also helps to create a live responsive feel to your music.
EMPHASIS AND EXPRESSION TECHNIQUES AND HOW AND WHEN TO DECORATE YOUR MELODY
This is a long video of 10 minutes but covers a lot of things which are easier to see and hear than to write about or read.
Trying out a new camera angle also it shows both left and right hands although this is about right Hand techniques and styles.
It covers where the emphasis is in the bar to show with your bellows control. This is of course on Beats 1 in three time or beats one and three in four time.
Then there is the question of musical expression by variation in volume coming of course from your bellows but discreetly. And suggestions as to where it should occur.
Plain melodies can be embroidered with extra runs and notes and I have included examples which are very difficult for me to write out and difficult for you to read so I hope this works better.
Plus the question of where you might want to use them and basically how they are made up.
These are of course totally personal choices
And finally even a reminder of how useful it is to be able to play without your thumb Particularly in an additional part. That is a spin-off from the video about an unconventional almost thumb less fingering for chromatic r uns
HOW TO MAKE A NICER SMOOTHER RHYTHM ACCOMPANIMENT - VERY SIMPLE BUT REQUIRES THOUGHT!
A Nice short and easy one for you this time, but I think very effective if you really apply thought to your left arm and your bass part.
To produce a moother more acceptable accompaniment sound with a nice smooth bass line or smoother chords which are each shaped by the bellows to fade away rather than splutter and definitely not explode at the end!
Accordionists may sometimes find this acceptable, but it is a major offputting factor for general listeners.
Two pieces of good news before you watch
- If you get this right only on the first beat of the bar on a nice longish first bass note you will have achieved most of the effect
- Although you are aiming to improve the bass note you will probably be improving the melody note sound at that point also.
I don’t know if you knew what I mean here about the spluttering bass accordion sound which to me is a barrier between you and normal listeners used to a nice smooth rhythm accompaniment.
In the video I was trying to apply the more gentle bellows use to the left hand bass and the chords. It is only a matter of directing your attention to the bass as well as the treble even when playing as simple parts as this. And of course to Your left arm working the bellows! Just relax the bellows to produce less air immediately after the start of the note.
REHARMONISING TUNES
EASY CHORD MODIFICATIONS FOR A MORE INTERESTING SOUND
New Sounds for a New Year
Making interesting shifting harmonies between Chords
Produced on New Year's Day and hence the title!
This is a subject that has always interested me. It is like creating automatic 3 part harmony as you shift the chords, instead of just plonking chords down in isolation which interrupts the sound of the notes moving between them.
Carrying on from my video about changing the chords to enhance the music by re harmonising this is even easier. And I recommend you do your own experiments in this style. You will not get the same results in every key because the chords will ultimately be shaped by having to choose the notes from a limited 12 octave range.
Without getting too technical at all it shows going to the chord “below” instead of to a bass note or even moving between different forms of the chord from Major to diminished and possibly on to 7th as giving a nice delicate shifting harmony.
As I point out there going from just major to minor or to 7th may not have a big enough impact. Major to one chord up 7th is pretty good eg G to D7 and there are many possibilities within easy range of your starting chord.
USING AUGMENTED CHORD EXAMPLES - BRAZIL - IT'S A SIN TO TELL A LIE PLUS BONUS FANCY RUN YOU CAN DO AT THE END.
Today I’m trying to show you a couple of interesting ways that you might use the facility to play augmented chords. And in quite normal circumstances. In case you have forgotten it is possible to play augmented chords in your base section despite that apparently
You simply play a seventh chord not a major chord. Obviously it does contain the seventh as well but it does not contain the fifth so you can play the missing fifth in the right hand or indeed a complete augmented chord in the right hand I also show you in this video at the end how to do a rather nifty combined chromatic and then major run to finish off in the bass
The run right at the end by the way, which starts on the corresponding counterbass of the final note and works here in triplets (three notes to a beat) starts with a chromatic run and finishes as a few notes of the major scale.
So it is E F F# - G A B - C or B C C# - D E F# - G or A Bb B - C D E F etc
Some Demonstrations of thirds fingering and chords fingerings
Where is the accordion? Well I thought it would be easier for me to show you this initially without it. I will use this in the next video coming along almost immediately.
Playing in thirds and in continuous chords is easy but your fingers may feel like they are getting knotted in the attempt. I hope this will help.
Basic Thirds fingerings in use on Accordion
Also allowing more chord changes in cpnjunction with the bass chords
This video uses the basic thirds fingering explained earlier (simply 2&4 to 3&5 and 1&3 to 1&3 to 2&4 in the main parts of the tune.
Also shows how going straight between adjoining major chord can be used and at the same time stops the monotony of the harmony staying the same for four bars at a time. Often changes every beat in fact
.
Contrasting styling for the middle 8 and be ready for an attention grabbing intro in full colour CinemaScope intro!
A FREE FORM MUSIC STORY
This shows how I might present a tune, as a story rather than as a set of continuous notes and chords. It is rather free form
Defiinitely not normal accordion music, but I think it may communicate better in some ways with a normal music audience. Almost jazz in fact but probably more digestible.
TRY THIS IMPOSSIBLE THING NOW
Full Arpeggio patterns on the stradella bass
Impossible to do because there is only one of each name note in the bass of your stradella bass system.
Here is how you can do piano style bass arpeggios on your accordion. Exact instructions easy step by step.
COMPOUND TIME SIGNATURES - WHAT THEY ARE AND HOW TO HANDLE THEM IN YOUR BASS ACCOMPANIMENT
Compound time signatures such as 12/8 are divided into triplets instead of the usual two note division. So on that time signature there are four beats divided by three.
This gives you two problems. How to avoid turning it into multiple impossibly fast waltzes. And how to define it as different from the norm.
Watch the bass carefully in this video to find some possible answers.
HOW TO FREE YOURSELF FROM THOSE BEGINNER BASS PATTERNS
How to practice WITHOUT the accordion!
If you recognised a lot of seemingly irregular bass button movements in the previous video on 12/8 playing this is how you can do them. You can even practice this independence of your left hand on the bus, or on your steering wheel in a traffic jam!
This is a very easy method to free yourself from automatic adherence to those patterns you learned in your first accordion books. This will give you access to new rhythms and make your playing more flexible, flowing rhythmic and enjoyable to listen to.
You may notice that sometimes by the time I reach for the accordion I have forgotten the pattern I tapped out. So use the main method and try your own thing, developing your own rhythm tappings.
Some different styles on lead-ins and a reminder about the uses of chromatic bass runs
Always using a simple tune everyone knows We discuss the different kinds of emphasis you can appy to a tune and particularly to the lead ins the parts of the melody.
They can be de-emphasised with no bass accompaniment, played with normal accompaniment or even with both hands together on each of the four beats.
A duet from me and my frog showing how even the most simple and obvious tune can be treated in a respectful manner rather than just trotted of with the most basic chords played in an automatic way. Not in "singalong" style.
My favourite here is probably the chord change C to A which occurs in this tune My blue Heaven which suggests the join up either in the bass or the treble (or in both) of the chromatic run C B Bb A. In this performance I did it first in one and then the other.
After an interestingly irrelevant intro the tune starts with a right hand only lead up to the first complete bar of the tune and at various points this may be played in different ways, even possibly accented instead of understated fo keep the arrangement interesting.
In the middle section I played fairly solidly, but mitigated by making sure there was some mild syncopation to lighten the effect. In this case the treble and bass were deliberately not dropped down simultaneously but the right hand led or lagged behind slightly to free the tune from being held down in chains by the left hand.
As usual this demonstration did not always demonstrate exactly what I set out to show. One of the things I set out to show was not repeating the same device too many times consecutively and never repeating a particularly clever bit of playing instantly so the audience saw how it was done instead of being amazed! A principle copied from the stage magician's manual!
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