This book is packed full of piano accordion tuition and tunes that are ideal for adult learners starting out on traditional music on an accordion. All 58 tunes featured here have been chosen due to their left-hand simplicity.
Accordions come in all shapes and sizes, from single row diatonic models that play only one key to larger 72 bass models used for Irish, Celtic and Tex-Mex music styles. There can also be variations between accordions in terms of button number as well as how their reed banks are organized into registers with distinct sound timbres.
Keyboard
People often associate accordions with street performers in Paris or rural Germany, yet this versatile instrument is found across music styles from rock to folk to light classical pieces.
The piano accordion is one of the most sought-after types of accordions, featuring a piano-style keyboard for right hand use and bass notes on left – some models also include major, minor and dominant seventh chord buttons for added functionality.
Piano accordions feature multiple keys with holes leading directly to the reeds, which when pressed open up to create different sounds by changing how much air passes through bellows and create different tones and sounds. Furthermore, accordion players can alter tonality further by selecting different reed types or keyboard buttons.
Bass
The bass side of an accordion contains rows (up to six in some models) of buttons that produce single notes across a wide range of octaves, organized diagonally chromatically to produce fixed chords of major, minor, seventh and diminished scales. This layout allows melodies to be played at true pitch while providing more space between buttons for fingering chords with fingers one and five more easily.
Pressing a button on an accordion’s treble side causes valves covering reeds to open, opening up their meshes so air from its bellows can pass freely between them and producing sound. Some types, particularly those used in folk music, feature numerous switches on their reed blocks that can be clicked to adjust its tone, while other models only contain few tuned to specific octaves.
Bellows
A piano accordion utilizes large bellows to power its system of reeds that produce chords and melodies, typically held by a strap around its right shoulder of its player. Pulling and pushing bellows are integral parts of its sound; their action provides dynamic expression unique to this instrument.
Punch the bellows rhythmically with your hand for an audible pulsing sound while playing drone bass notes; this helps maintain air pressure on reeds and maintain proper air pressure levels in them.
Diatonic button accordion features buttons arranged around the keys of a diatonic scale (for instance, pressing one button on the right-hand manual produces both major triad and dominant seventh notes when closed and opened respectively). Some instruments also incorporate couplers which activate extra sets of reeds: one pitched an octave lower for producing tremulant notes and another that are off-tuned from main set in order to add bass notes.
Case
A piano accordion is a free-reed musical instrument with two free-reed sections connected by free reeds. Its right hand has a piano-style keyboard while the left features buttons to be played as needed by either hand, often used for folk or ethnic music, popular music performances and operatic and light classical repertoire transcriptions.
Accordions come in all sizes from small concertinas to massive 120 bass accordions and are easily distinguished by the number of treble keys or bass buttons per side. Furthermore, their chord repertoire ranges from major and minor chords only up to dominant seventh diminished and counter bass chords; so no two accordions play identical music!
An accordion case should provide ample protection for its keyboard, bellows and treble and bass reeds, including soft padding on its inside surface and hard shell construction with foam inserts to cushion your instrument. Furthermore, waterproof materials prevent your accordion from becoming damaged from moisture seepage; and provide convenient portability via shoulder strap or wheeled chassis.