VIDEO EXAMPLES PAGE 10 

More video examples of styles and techniques for accordion.

Using Beguine and Rhumba Bass Patterns

Some ideas for varying and using beguine or rhumba bass patterns and of course this includes times when you are NOT using them!

Am I playing in three or four time?

This is a very easy to do variation on a normally very hackneyed way of playing.

Listen to find out what I am talking about and note that I am not even venturing onto the counterbass row mostly to produce what seems like an advanced subtle effect.

Overcoming the piano and accordion differences

With the accordion you have many similarities of technique with the piano.

But it will never feel the same because on the accordion you do not have the advantage of gravity assisting you. The vertical position of the accordion keyboard prevents that.

So here I discuss and try to demonstrate the musical variation that can happen when you deliberately create your own artificial gravity while playing.

This affects your musical interpretation possibilities of phrasing, smoothness, clarity In several ways and possibly even enhancing vibrato whenever you want.

Integrate your left hand without shame

The importance of playing particularly your left hand without embarrassment.

Which in two tunes leads to me trying not to let either hand spoil the music of the other.

And to vary how to do that of course.

Avoiding regular bass Patterns

Sometimes parts of the music that are too obviously expected become annoying to listen to.

It is surprising how even varying the point at which you resume playing left hand buttons can make a tune more thoughtful and musical.

With this in mind Your regular bass patterns can be avoided or at least kept to a minimum.

Waltz examples and a four beats in the bar well known tune illustrate this here.

Very Easy Ways to Escape from one bar bass patterns

It does not have to be complicated to escape that relentless bass to chord to alternate bass to chord pattern.

When your left hand fingers are centred closely around a standard position it is easy.

It can be as simple as repeating standard note to chord for the first one and a half bars. Then you can finally use the alternate note on beat 7.

Reversing to chord to note on beats 7 and 8 after standard first 6 beats also works. Playing a chord instead of a bass note lightens the mood.

You also can go over to bass notes only (no chord buttons) for 2, 4 or more beats.

I have come to like the more subtle method of coming down from the alternate bass note for 3 beats as in C G E C rather than the more aggressive C to chord then E G.

But of course there are other easy notes you can go between such as C to D or to Bb. As it is only a momentary change it is unlikely to lead your music on the wrong direction.

Let's try it

A tune with a unique rhythm pattern

This is not the only way to play this particular song but it is a useful way to use some easy but non standard finger movements in the bass buttons.

Go back to the original song for your actual version but draw from the tips in the video to prove it is possible to interpret this effectively.

As always take what you can from this demonstration to help with your own solution

WELL I GUESS THAT'S HOW THEY INVENTED JAZZ

Let’s try dividing successive beats in different ways to create a swinging but free sounding sound

You can overlap into 2,3, or 4 beats of course but also divide individual beats by 2,3,4 or even 5 so start with simple 2 then 3 and we will go on from there.

THE POWER OF EASY BASS VARIATIONS

I start from the easiest possible bass button part and make it more effective or versatile with an easy rhythmic adjustment.

There are three main ways here.

1/ Not playing the third beat of four separately but staying over on the second beat held down.

2/ Not feeling that the beats of the bar are always attached to the note row or a chord row. So not just note-chord-note-chord but note-chord-chord-note for example

3/ the freedom to add dotted notes (half notes played late only just before the next beat as in One 2 And Three 4)

Share the Load Between the Hands

Conventionally on the accordion the right and left hand parts each go their own way.

My normal modification says that at least they check what each are doing and do not duplicate unless really useful.

But this time I suggest another attitude which is for each to help the other where a sound is impossible or unduly difficult on left or right alone

Demystifying Chromatic scale fingering 

Here I try to make basic sense of treble chromatic scale fingering. Simple in some ways since you play every close note in succession so notation or choosing which ones to play is not complicated.

The points where there are two white notes in succession stay the same B to C and E to F obviously. This is the only point where only the first of the notes you play is done by the thumb. Otherwise the thumb plays EVERY white note

These points lead you on the way up automatically 1,

If starting one note lower Bb B C C# for instance that will be 2-1-2-3

While 2 plays almost all the other black notes it is also possible from F to B to also do 2-3-1-2-3-4-1 etc if F is the lowest note.

Similarly C to E 1-2-3-4-1. Coming back down with that fingering is not so easy!

Several methods combined make a brand new one

Although I intended to just show two methods combined to make a “new” accordion sound here I think I ended up with four or five.

Watch all the way through to find all of them.

A good idea generally on my videos as I often add extra things at the end as they occur to me!

When the pedal hits the metal plus more bass button methods

SUPPORTIVE BASS STYLES AND VARYING RIGHT HAND TOUCH DISTANCING

Yes when the pedal hits the metal that is in fact when the magic happens. When the key hits the bottom point of its travel supported of course by the bellows you definitely get the sound However if you do not concentrate on that but play the notes from a tiny distance above the key surface you get those lighter faster more staccato notes and this actually also means you can play faster with less effort than slow!

By simply being aware of this you can add character to your music by altering microscopically how close your hand is to the keyboard even during a phrase.

The other part is devoted to easy suggestions for nicely supportive bass work including changes of order of bass note to chord, dotted notes every now and again and less obvious uses of your three easy buttons like C E G.

Note that while I suggest not duplicating the notes exactly between treble and bass when I do so playing carefully rather than agressively it does in fact sound rather nice!

This is because I have created a new note spacing (voicing in jazz piano terms) with a wide spaced chord with the same note at the top and bottom. This has in a way REPLACED THE BASS LINE FUNCTION however!

Right Hand Major Scales Playing One Flat to Five Sharps

THESE RIGHT HAND PIANO FINGERINGS WORK FOR ALL MAJOR KEYS FROM F (ONE FLAT)TO B (FIVE SHARPS) So for F C G D A E B the logic of how playing major scales works should help you to easily remember to use the right fingering to get the job done best

This is done on piano as it is done primarily for a piano pupil I have not been able to see for some time.

However it may be easier to work out what is going on at this angle if you are an accordion player also.

For left hand scales the logic is in reverse. So there going up rather than down you HAVE to cross over to either 3 or 4 and going DOWN you cross to thumb from 3 early on.

Accordionists are lucky people who do not need this different left hand fingering of course!

No Oom-pah-pah plus Right Hand Expression

NO OOM PAHPAH HERE
Here is a nice jazz waltz style variation with no conventional note chord chord playing.

LESS ATTACK=MORE EXPRESSIVE
And a reminder of how less attack can mean more effect for musical expression.

Making up a Quick Decorative Run

A decorative run can transform a dull ponderous section of tune which sticks only to the main beats of the rhythm.

The accordion is ideally suited to doing this but how do you choose what to put in your runs?

Let’s look at that!

Playing next semitone up chords on bass

With every other instrument sliding between chords just one semitone apart is very easy.

But on accordion stradella bass it is virtually impossible. But very easy if you approach it from a different angle. You can even do a trill between them!

Using the same principle you can do a quick close smooth change between such as C to E or E7

And I believe that doing this gets you a remarkably sophisticated elegant sound.

And a reminder of how to get minor 7th chords which are more convincing than starting from Am chord.

My modern methods on very old tunes

This starts with a medium bouncy swing rhythm and surprisingly turns back into very old country and western and the not that dissimilar old gospel chorus genre.

Listen all the way through to hear treatments of four different tunes. Including country and western and a couple of old time gospel choruses.

WHERE TO PUT THE THUMB IN FLAT KEY SCALES

Rather than giving you six different separate fingerings to learn for different flat scales we can easily analyse what the very basic rules are.

The rules for crossing alternately on third and fourth fingers are the same to cover more than one octave.

Simply use the thumb on F and C on all flat keys F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, and even Gb (alias F#). For Gb the C has become Cb or a white note B by the way!

The thumb will not be used on a black note on general principles but you have a choice of using 2, 3, or 4 on it.

Two is obviously easiest but may confuse you when the same does not happen further up the run and you find yourself using two different systems on the same scale.

Even using 3 to start on the scale of Ab is not enough as 4 will be needed if you go back down to thumb on F

Because in the upward scale of Ab the more awkward crossing using 4 comes first.

The rule of never using thumb on black notes should perhaps be modified to “if you want very soon to cross to lower notes”. Try going from Bb to Ab or even worse Bb to Ab or A using 1 then 3 and you will understand.

The thumb is of course also shorter and further back than other fingers but if you use the recommended strength of the grip shape (like holding a tennis ball) rather than the beginners splay or flop out hand shape they will reach the key about the same distance in

A mix of styles in One song

This is not intended to be instructions for how to play this song. More like a menu of ideas to choose from hidden in a tune for you to try out on your own tunes.

And probably because I was trying to do that, not as many methods as I might have used otherwise !

I’ve Got You Under My Skin is a great standard which deserves respectful thoughtful treatment and maybe this was not it! I cut to different parts of the song when I got distracted at times!

Hand Shapes and Fingerings for Right Hand Chords 

This is something for the beginner player who mainly sees playing as being a melody in the right hand and any chords being only in the right hand.

Or maybe has graduated to playing in thirds (with an extra alternate note under following the tune around) but feels uncomfortable with handling three note basic chords.

So here are the basic shapes and fingerings for Major and minor chords in all three inversions. Notice that while the root position, made by building up thirds on the note the chord is named after, is evenly spaced thirds, this changes with the inversions.

Playing in 3rds above and 6ths below the tune

We have dealt before with playing in 3rds under the tune and that creates a nice new texture to our playing of course.

What if we played the 3rd over the tune instead of below? In that case you have to listen harder to hear the tune but it is still there!

And the note you have used is also usable as a 6th if played below - a lighter more open combination for the ear. Read the notes EG for example in one direction with G the higher note and it is a 3rd. With it as the lower note it is a 6th note wide spacing.

There are accessible ways of fingering both 3rds and 6ths regardless of whether playing in keys with those raised up black notes to manoeuvre around.

Adding harmony either above or below the melody is an easy way to add something to the music, beyond playing notes that you already hear from the singer or the lead instrument.

The extra note will normally follow the key signature just as the tune does or sometimes follow a unexpected chromatic move in the tune (dropping or raising by a semitone

Playing smooth impossible chord changes by choosing when to use the chord row

I have already suggested that for maximum musical effect your right and left hands will not always be playing together. Though of course for a large part of the time they will be.

Similarly you do not have to use both bass notes and chords in your left hand. A running bass can be achieved but if you wander around chromatically there will definitely be times when the chords are nowhere near.

That is ok. You can use that. Either by not using chords but staying with notes only for that while phrase or reverting to using chords too at the point where it becomes possible (easy!)

In the chromatic run I show here the chords are only outlined with the fifth (no third of the chord) alternately on bass and counterbass dropping a semitone each time. This means 3 notes on bass then counterbass alternately. If you wish on the first and third parts you can substitute a chord for the fifth but do not have to.

So we have
CGC notes standard bass or with chords C chord C
BF#B notes counterbass no chord (largest jump coming up to Bb!)
BbFBb standard bass only or with chord instead of the F
AEA counterbass notes only

At the end you can of course continue playing in single notes or jump to a nice comfortable chord centre matching where you want to go.

Although you have hopefully been playing legato a slight break to reach another area of the bass keyboard is now I think musicallly fine.

Useful Stradella Bass Orientation Exercises

These will I think help to orientate you as to your Stradella bass layout if you try something like this at the beginning of your practice session. So the rest of the time will be easier.

First a very basic riff for And then she kissed me ( insert your preference here!) even when you can do this it is very important to be able to bring it in and out of the arrangement instantly when needed so you need to be able to do it effortlessly.

Also notice how I cut back to a minimum bass in between.

Then a reminder of playing minor 7ths applied to playing Blue Moon one particular way.

First you use the chord of F conventionally after an F note - then you use counterbass D (which belongs to chord Bb) and stay with chord F after so that the chord just completes the Dm7 as in D - F A C.

You can move down a key to play Bb with G to give you the same button spacing Gm7 or G with Bb D F. Sometimes I go back to ordinary Gm other side of C but the extra texture of the minor 7th is nice

Then the middle 8 broadened put with solid but more spread out bass notes for contrast

For further bass practice a few short bass note runs some starting on the counterbass runs which seems more difficult.

This is partly because it is less obvious where your starting note is in relation to your chords, the otherwise very obvious note C is the counterbass of Ab for example!

Play the run G A Bb C starting on counterbass and you have to wrap your mind around it a little. Play it backwards C Bb A G and it is suddenly very easy!

Not keeping too much together

I have already suggested that for maximum musical effect your right and left hands will not always be playing together. Though of course for a large part of the time they will be.

Similarly you do not have to use both bass notes and chords in your left hand. A running bass can be achieved but if you wander around chromatically there will definitely be times when the chords are nowhere near.

That is ok. You can use that. Either by not using chords but staying with notes only for that while phrase or reverting to using chords too at the point where it becomes possible (easy!)

In the chromatic run I show here the chords are only outlined with the fifth (no third of the chord) alternately on bass and counterbass dropping a semitone each time. This means 3 notes on bass then counterbass alternately. If you wish on the first and third parts you can substitute a chord for the fifth but do not have to.

So we have
CGC notes standard bass or with chords C chord C
BF#B notes counterbass no chord (largest jump coming up to Bb!)
BbFBb standard bass only or with chord instead of the F
AEA counterbass notes only

At the end you can of course continue playing in single notes or jump to a nice comfortable chord centre matching where you want to go.

Although you have hopefully been playing legato a slight break to reach another area of the bass keyboard is now I think musicallly fine.

You can also use this method generally to an awkward chord change like from C to E. as in pretending you have made it first just with that counterbass E

Try a Fast Chromatic Bass Run

I would like to help you try this fast chromatic bass run as I think it will be a further stage of freeing up your left hand.

Notice the alternate close and more widely spaced movements which both give you notes just a semitone apart

NOTICE PUTTING INTO RHYTHM TO MAKE IT MUSICALLY MEANINGFUL (INCLUDING IN TRIPLETS WHERE USEFUL)

An Old way of playing Modified a Little

Over time our playing methods change slightly. I recently, having ignored this excellent old tune for many years I had some fresh thoughts on playing it

Two Tunes in a Fast Dotted Beat

Two fast dotted beat tunes to try this rhythm

This tune illustrates a simple Bass Modification

It occurred to me this morning that this tune from the late 50s is ideal to mix two systems bass to chord (or even reversing to chord first on third and fourth beats of the bar) and playing links on the note buttons only.

This results in occasional bars of note chord note note particularly where the melody note is stationary.

It sounds smoother and more musically significant even though I am not veering from the most obvious notes to play eg C and G or F and C etc

A Calm Supportive Bass for Accordion

I try to show you a calm supportive bass derived from syncopation (playing less of!) a much reduced beguine pattern.

Although obviously suitable for Latin tempos notably rhumba and bossa nova you can put it inside lots of genres.

I am using my Piermaria accordion today because the strap finally gave way on my Victoria.

Using When the Sound Starts in your Music

Every accordion responds differently. If the note takes a while to build up or the keyboard has a lot of depth to travel before the sound is produced that is an opportunity to do something with it. With a fast shallow key movement it may be that the note is already sounding before you have a chance to make it sing by controlling it!

If you listen hard to your sound you can detect this and perhaps to produce a sparkling clarity start with your fingers slightly above the keys and not push all the way down to the key bed.

As to the bellows action it will help you get maximum musical effect if you use the minimum movement that works, unless accenting or playing a deliberately louder passage of course.

Modifying the Vibrato Sound of Your Accordion

Why are accordion sounds with a lot of detuning causing vibrato popular? After all they are deliberately out of tune!

It may be because they have a vibrancy caused by all those notes fiercely fighting each other and when you play closer tuned instruments you do not hear so much happening.

Even on a musette tuned instrument however you have a choice to use only the bassoon or clarinet tab to avoid all vibrato and when you do there is more chance to add musical expression I would say

Big Band Blues Idiom with Heavy Tremolo

Wonderful to get my Victoria accordion playing again in a different idiom, big band blues complete with those wrist shake tremolandos.

Quite easy to do on the Piermaria but even more effective and versatile on my Victoria

Extra Smiley Tunes Played Separately

Smile and When you’re smiling are two tunes that have never felt quite happy and bright enough to me.

It occurred to me this morning that maybe giving the right hand free rein independent of the left hand part is the answer.

See what you think and perhaps try out this approach yourself

Playing in Waltz Time with Alternate Note Chord

Another approach to not just freeing up your left hand but changing the sound of your accordion in 3/4 time.

Just playing on alternate notes and chords which I have played as simply as possible for you.

Even easier to get into perhaps if you start from chord first rather than note first.