Hmmm... playing inside a bin liner--- some would just call that
a step towards efficiency.

I've given up on the naming as well, and just call it 'the box.'

My Indian friends call that little portable reed-organ thing
'a melodeon' and it's come to be an integral part of certain
(Asian) Indian folk genres.

Martin, note that the German Hohner catalogs give the instrument
we call 'The Pokerwork' it's proper trade-name, which is 'The Weiner.'
Here in the USofA, accordionists developed sufficient stigma during
the latter 1960's that I imagine nobody really wanted to be known
as an 'accordion weenie,' at least when making the purchase. Then
again, go to any gathering of squeezers and let's face it, the shoe
fits rather well, now doesn't it?

Barry, I think the box will suit your voice rather well. It will
also deflect all of the bodhran jokes. I switched from banjo to
button box specifically for that reason. Too bad we won't be at
Mystic this year, either of us; we could have a tutorial session
or two.

For absolute beginners, I suggest sticking to the inside row
on the treble and the bottom set of buttons on the left. Only
there is there a straightforward treble scale accompanied by
1 4 and 5 chords which fall 'readily to hand.' On your ADG
this will be the 'G' row. Learn something familiar, such as
perhaps 'Jolly Roving Tar' if you can sing that in G. You'll
find that even a 'wrong note' usually plays a suitable
accompaniment so long as you have the bellows moving in
the right direction.

Then carry on with something more challenging as soon as
possible.

If you want to play in the key of 'D,' you'll find that
when playing the portion of a 3-chord song which makes use
of the '4' or 'G' chord, you won't have the right accompaniment
chord available on the 'draw' where all the right notes are.
No worries, just move 'in' to the 'G' row on the 'press'. All
the right notes are there, and there's a G-chord on the left!

Now, this isn't really 'row' crossing, it's just getting around
the trade-off which they used to make room for the minor chords
and contra-bass chords on the left.

This 'row crossing' that everyone is bandying about is when you
'borrow' notes from a row other than the one you're currently
playing on as your primary in order to avoid bellows reversals
at an impossible rate, usually to knit the melody together with
the 'passing' tones.

The best example I can give here is the well-known Irish and
American tune 'The Harvest Home.' In the A part of the tune
there is that descending run of 'turns' where you'll rip your
shoulder out of joint trying to get all the notes. But---
say you're playing it in its proper key of D on the D row of
a D/G or A/D/G box. You can execute that run note-for-note with
only a couple of easy bellows reversals if you just catch
some of the passing notes on the adjacent G-row. This is a
particularly easy case, because the notes you need are in
very close proximity. That's the 'chune' I started row-crossing
on--- in fact, having no teacher, I 'discovered' it on my own
and never looked back, only because I couldn't play the tune
hardly at all without doing it.

Another example where you need a smooth run, and it's hard to
get it without crossing, is on the song 'Strike the Bell' (or
'Click go the Shears,' which is what Roger Watson uses in his
book, mentioned above.

Another case where row-crossing is indispensable is when playing
in the 'natural' minor keys of the instrument. For example, E-minor
music is played with the D row as its 'home' in spite of the fact
that the accidentals (sharps and flats) for the key of Em are the
same as for the key of G-major. The Em chord, however, sounds on
the draw, and the corresponding notes are available on the 'draw'
on the D-row. Usually an E-minor tune uses D as its 'other'
chord, and that too, is (of course) on the D row. Only, it's
the same notes as a 'G' scale, so you'll find that the 'right note'
is frequently on the 'G' row when in E-minor; frequently, but not
most of the time.

In your quest to find the 'right notes' and 'chords' don't forget
bellows control. Most newer players use a lot more air than need
be, and not just because they're playing slow. Even with a relatively
inexpensive instrument like yours, you'll still exceed the required
air--- ever notice how a really good player can get a lot of music
out of those little 10-dollar Chinese 'toys?' Bellows control.
It takes a little planning. If on the last phrase you nearly closed
the bellows, and on this phrase, you know you don't have a lot of
time to get them well-opened again (or vice-versa), there is a
real art to, rather than over-pressuring, use the air button to
create a little 'leak' which allows you to reposition for your
next direction...that's something piano-accordion players don't
fret about. If you get this wrong, you find out well after it's
too late to do anything about it. If you want a bellows-control
challenge, try 'South Australia' on the 'D' row. It has a lot
of 'D' and a lot of 'G' (on the press on the inner row) and
damned little 'A' in which you're on the draw on the 'D' row,
so when you are there, you'll find yourself full down on the
air button. The rest of the time, you'll be conserving air on
the press, and praying.

So, now, go out to the wood-shed and play. It's a very
intuitive instrument, much more like the banjo than the guitar
in this respect.

It's also the most fun-to-play instrument that I've ever put my
hands on.