Friday, September 15, 2017

Smooth Move


Smoothness in Performance


 A listener can judge smoothness in performance better than a performer, who is busy performing.

So, record your performance and become a listener, and judge your performance relative to a metronome.

You will undoubtably become uncomfortable with what you hear.

So now you have more things to work on.


What is Smoothness


 Searching the internet with the entry "thesaurus smooth" produces the following informative page with a lot of words of what smoothness is and what it is not.

https://www.bing.com/search?q=thesaurus+smooth&FORM=EDGNCT

We see that "smooth" means even, silky, velvety, and not uneven, rough, and irregular.


What is Smoothness in Performance


 A musical performance has many aspects that occur at the same time that each could be even or uneven.

What are some aspects of musical performance?
  • tempo
  • pitch
  • rhythm
  • tone
  • dynamics


Mechanical Challenges of the Instrument


 Each instrument presents its own challenges for smooth performance.

The chromatic button accordion (CBA) provides many advantages for smooth performance.

Compared with the piano accordion, the CBA has an even consistent keyboard versus the linear uneven keyboard of the piano keys.

When I play the following two selections, the mechanics of performance are a lot more consistent on the CBA versus on the linear piano keyboard.


Two Musical Selections for Working on Smooth Performance


 Romanian tunes are often played by soloists and ensembles to highlight their technical abilities.

The two selections below have links to sheet music and performances.

Playing these pieces well will certainly be a recommendation for your abilities.


Hora Martisorlui


This wave of fast notes is also known as "The Clock," or "Romanian Spring Dances" or "March Hora" by George Dinicu.

The sheet music zip file of four BMP files is posted at:

http://primanota.ru/arch/scores/01789071_R_Diniku_-_Ruminskiiy_vesenniiy_horovod.zip

A CBA performance is located on the following page, which includes the above sheet music link.

http://primanota.ru/r-diniku/rumynskii-vesennii-xorovod-sheets.htm

A rousing performance by a combined band of four musical groups is posted at the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeJyp123eYg


Sirba Atractiva


Peter Grigorov has posted an arrangement of the tune composed by Vlada Panovic at the link below.

 https://www.dropbox.com/s/uzyizet03bklo2i/Sirba%20atractiva.pdf?dl=0

His performance on piano accordion is posted at the link below.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceCsYW49ELg

His tutorial is posted at the link below.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFwM_V914wo

A Vlada Panovic orchestrated version is posted at the link below.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dkxt6zEMgJQ


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Sunday, May 28, 2017

Four is More


Four Fingers are Better than Three


Given the fingers (thumb as 1 and fingers 2, 3, 4, and 5), fingers 2, 3, and 4 are the primary fingers used.

Finger 5 becomes important for reaching down or across the keyboard.

For example:

  • Two-octave arpeggio – using finger 5 at the top
  • Tetrachord (half a scale, four notes) – using fingers 2, 3, 4, and 5
  • Ornaments (grace notes and turns) – adding notes below or above the main note

Eventually the use of the thumb (1) can be added to reach low notes.


Four Fingers Forward


Playing across the keyboard with fingers 2 through 5:

  • smooths out the fingering motions
  • takes advantage of the natural side-to-side roll of the hand
  • combines the 3 three-finger scale patterns (one based on finger 2, another based on finger 3, and a third based on finger 4) and adds in an alternate fingering using finger 5.


The Need for Speed


Adding finger 5 to the usual group of fingers 2, 3, and 4, increases the capability for speed and smoothness.



The Practice


In all keys:

Arpeggios

    Single octave (up and down) – fingers 2, 3, 4, and 5. 

    At first play octave notes in same button column.   

    Then later play the higher octave note three columns to the right (hand going across the keyboard).

  • Major   (C   E  G  C)
  • Minor   (C  Eb  G  C)
  • Dominant Seventh  (C   E   G  Bb)
  • Minor Seventh         (C  Eb  G  Bb)
  • Diminish Seventh    (C  Eb  F#  A)


   Double octave (up and down) – fingers 2, 3, 4, 2, 3, 4, and 5

   For Major and Minor chords, at first play the top octave note in same button column.   

   Then later play the top octave note three columns to the right (hand going across the keyboard).


  • Same series of chord types


Tetrachords (up and down) – fingers 2, 3, 4, and 5 (hand going across the keyboard).

  • Major (C D E F)
  • Minor (C D Eb F)
  • Harmonic Minor (raised 4th) (C D Eb F#)


Scales (two tetrachords – C tetrachord then G tetrachord) (up and down) – fingers 2, 3, 4, and 5 (going across the keyboard).


  • C Major tetrachord then G Major tetrachord
  • C Major tetrachord then G Minor tetrachord
  • C Minor tetrachord then G Major tetrachord
  • C Minor tetrachord then G Minor tetrachord
  • C Minor tetrachord then G Harmonic Minor tetrachord
  • C Harmonic Minor tetrachord then G Harmonic Minor tetrachord


Ornaments
         Scales (up and down) – scale note, then turn, then next scale note, then turn on that note.

         Use fingers 2, 3, 4, and 5 (going across the keyboard).

         For example:

          Note   (Turn)         Note   (Turn)

            C      (D  C  B  C)      D     (E  D  C  D)



The Music

Peter Grigorov (Grigpit on YouTube) has posted a performance video, a tutorial video, and sheet music of Stisko Kolo.  Note that his fingerings on the sheet music are for piano accordion.

Stisko Kolo performance video:
Stisko Kolo tutorial video:
Stisko Kolo sheet music:


The Result

Playing across the keyboard with fingers 2 through 5 smooths out the fingering motions and takes advantage of the natural side-to-side roll of the hand.
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Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Classical Style

What is Classical Style


Classical style involves the breadth and depth of:

  • an instrument
  • technique
  • expression
  • touch
  • sound quality
  • nuance
  • mastery

 Musician Lowell Hohstadt explores a definition of classical style in his article "What is Classical Music" at the link below.

       http://lowellhohstadt.com/what-is-classical-music/


An Example of Classical Style


 Classical guitarist Tatyana Ryzhkova performs Capricho Arabe by Tarrega at the link below.



The music is available for download at the Classical Guitar School at the link below.



Additional music is also available from them at:



The Practice


 Classical guitar music offers the accordionist an extensive resource for the right hand and a bass line for the left hand.

Work with each note to develop your musicality.

Musical-U provides an extensive article about essential skills of musicality at the link below.



Ultimately, musicality comes from listening, practicing, and performing.

Master your instrument, technique, and expression to perform with sensitivity and nuance as demonstrated by Tatyana in her performance of Capricho Arabe.

Explore and enjoy the musical resources provided by Sveinn Eythorsson at his site classical-guitar-school.

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Sunday, December 4, 2016

When 7/8 is More Than Enough

Four plus Three


 When common time, 4/4, becomes just too common

     and

waltz time, 3/4, is just boom-chuck-chuck, 

     then put them together into a lively, exotic 7/8 (4+3).

Sometimes music in odd or mixed rhythm also has odd or mixed notes, such as chromatically altered notes (accidentals).

This could become interesting practice when playing the chromatic button accordion, where
    
     -- half-steps go one way,     
     -- whole-steps another, and     
     -- minor-thirds a third way.

The Music

Playing the music for the Moldavian dance “Ostropat” offers the challenges of playing     
     -- steady eighth notes,     
     -- steady 7/8 rhythm,     
     -- steady tempo, and     
     -- correct notes.
The music is available at
The dance video is available at
The dance instructions are available at

By The Way

To get the feel of odd rhythms, listen to John Eidsvoog of California play his piano arrangement of “Sleigh Ride” in 7/8.








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Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Playing Across the Keyboard

The Approach


 As discussed in the previous post, playing across the keyboard encourages thinking about

  • Intervals  -- half step, whole step, minor third, and also major third, fourth and fifth
  • Chords -- anchor notes, chord positions, and arpeggios

The Music


 I found this song to draw you across the rows as you use alternative buttons. Then about half way through the song, using convenient buttons you are drawn back toward the starting rows.

 The song is the slow Russian romance song "I Met You" or in Russian "Я ВСТРЕТИЛ ВАС" (Ja Vstretil Vas).

 The following link includes Russian words, a lead sheet, and a three-page piano score.
http://a-pesni.org/romans/javstretil.htm

The following video includes a transliteration of the Russian text on the screen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5SxLw2ea8A

The following video shows the song being played on a C-griff keyboard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXasED5Snxk

The following video shows chordal accompaniment and improvisation being played on a B-griff keyboard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxSAw9gRyZY

The Practice


 The song's resources provides you plenty to work on.
  1. Start with the lead sheet and play the melody.
  2. Then using the lead sheet, play the melody as chords.
  3. Then play the melody using arpeggiated chords.
  4. Then play the piano part using both hands.
  5. Finally, sing the Russian text with the aid of the video that displays the transliteration of the Russian text.

The Result


 Your playing capabilities will increase.

 You will have a nice song to perform.



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Sunday, July 3, 2016

The Five by Five Button Rectangle

An Approach to Practice


Five rows across, five buttons down for an octave, and five fingers.

As you progress from using three fingers on the outside three rows of button, you add the additional two fingers.  Then you begin using buttons to the left of the outside three rows. Eventually you get to play across all of the rows without an emphasis on the outside rows.

You achieve this by trying different fingering positions and discovering some combinations that make a section of music easier to play. The six-row CBA, dugmetara or Serbian accordion, duplicates the outside three rows as the inside three rows. So your practice can expand left from the outside rows as well as expand right from the inside rows.

The Music


The Folk Dance Musings is a wonderful and extensive collection of dance instruction that also include dance videos and often links to sheet music.

The following link is their page for the Moldavian dance Ostropat.
The music: Ostropat, a Moldavian folk dance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmxCui7lSOE
The sheet music: Ostropat, a Moldavian folk dance
http://ifdo.ca/~seymour/midipage/ostropat.pdf
The dance: Ostropat, a Moldavian folk dance by Dunav


The Practice

Within the first eight measures you come across accidentals on five of the seven notes in the scale: E, F, A, B, and C. The piece is in D-minor with four repeated sections, of which the second is in F-Major.
As you work through the piece, several keyboard rules come to mind as you try to stay on track with the notes.
  • Minor thirds are along a vertical row.
  • Half-steps are one button away to one side, but two buttons away on the other side.
  • Whole-steps are two buttons away on one side, but one button away on the other side.
  • Some notes serve as anchor notes as you play other notes around this anchor note. I found that the note "A" often served as a useful anchor button.
  • Often the notes of a chord shape serve as a collection of anchor buttons. Using the chord symbol to play the chord shape for each measure helps to settle the finger positions for a measure and set up the finger position for the next measure.

The Result

Gradually you become more confident playing across the rows as well as down the rows.

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Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Button Clumps and Button Sequences

An Approach to Practice


 Playing music is like a lot of other things, it is really important to be in the right place at the right time. For playing music that means pressing the right finger at the right time in the right place.

 So notes become either a clump of buttons (a handful of buttons) or a sequence of buttons (fingers walking and jumping). Sometimes a piece of music seems difficult at first, but after playing through it a few times, you discover that the notes fall into a series of hand positions and finger sequences.

 I found that "Horo Staccato" is such a piece.

The Music


 The music (it seems intimidating)

The Performance

(it seems even more intimidating)
On violin (Jascha Heifetz) – the gold standard
 On violin and B-griff CBA – fast
 On B-griff CBA
 On C-griff CBA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qocCd726WQc

 On piano accordion – relative hand torture compared to CBA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-fNSWV_wfw

The Practice

Another life lesson that applies to music performance is preparation is everything.
For music performance that means having the fingers in place just before they need to play the notes.
So performance is a continuous cycle of position fingers, play, transition to next finger placement, position fingers, and on and on. So playing is more than just playing, it is position and transition.
So to achieve accurate playing, perform accurate practice. Correct practice means correct performance. Preparation is everything. So let us break down Horo Staccato into finger clumps and finger sequences.

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