Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Absolute Notes

Benefits


Playing "absolute notes" is to use only the outside three rows for the right hand and to play only one button for a specific note. Generally use three fingers, one for each row of buttons.

In other words, play the chromatic button accordion as you do the piano accordion, that is, each note is a specific key.

The advantage is to associate a specific button with a specific note. This patterns the muscles and the brain to one position per note. 
 

The Practice


The first note to memorize is middle C. Get where you can automatically put your finger on the "C" button.

Now play all of your music exclusively using this approach until you mentally and physically know the position of every note and note pattern.

When you fumble for a note, stop and play that note correctly several times.

Continue to do this for every note you miss.

Continue to do this until you no longer miss notes. This may take several weeks depending on how much you practice.

The goal is to eliminate the tendency to finger an incorrect button.
 

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Music Book Resources

Benefits

These  two music books for accordion provide a wide range of styles and also a means to progress from simple to complex tunes.

Eastern European Folk Tunes for Accordion

The accordionist Merima Kljuco has arranged and sequenced 33 to introduce you to the characteristic scales, rhythms, and music styles of southeastern Europe.

The book includes a CD of her playing all of the tunes with characteristic ornamentation added.

Amazon sells the book.

http://www.amazon.com/Eastern-European-Folk-Tunes-Accordion/dp/1847611397

The book contains an introduction to the music styles as well as comments about each tune.

The text is in English, French, and German.



Pinewoods International Collection

The accordionist Tom Pixton has collected and arranged over 400 dance tunes and songs complete with lyrics and English translations from southeastern Europe and areas nearby and afar.

The 354-page wire-bound 8-1/2 by 11 inch volume is available from the following web page.

http://pinewoodscollection.pixton.org/
The web page also provides videos, audio, tune index, and scanned pages.

This book would be a welcome addition to any music collection.


To further your learning, performances of many of the songs and dances are available online.



Gerard Gerritsen of The Netherlands

The accordionist G. Gerritsen has a web site for the beginning player of the B-grif chromatic accordion.

http://knopaccordeon.ggms.nl/indexe.html

The site includes videos, sheet music, audio files, links, and directions for ordering print materials.


Gerard Gerritsen is a piano accordion player who learned to play the chromatic accordion. He published his web site to help others beginning to play the B-grif chromatic accordion.