Martin from Barton, I would really like to know who the teacher is and what the Video is called.

It is said "Those who can, do: those who can't, teach".

Some people can perform physical tasks well but lack the ability to put clearly into words what they do & why, so that others who cannot watch them will have difficulty trying to learn from them. Others can put into words, in varying degrees, useful descriptions of physical actions that can be followed on paper.

I have tried to assist - see Technique: Piano Accordion for The Recycled Muso
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The basic Accordion Stradella Bass Technique as usually taught goes something like this. More complex variations on these rhythms are used, but this is the beginning.

There are two basic rhythms, the 3/4 or 'Waltz', and the 4/4 or 'March'. Most other rhythms are a variation on these two basic types.

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First Part.

Positioning Fingers.

First find the "home button". This is the C Bass Button. It will be indented, or marked with a bump, or even an inset diamonte (a little sparkly thing!). Other buttons may be marked, but you want the one that is almost in the middle, and that sounds the same as a C on the keyboard.

The C Bass is in the nearby Diagonal row. The next diagonal row vertically is the G row. We will use only the C & G rows as a demonstration, but the technique applies all over the Stradella section.

This demonstrates one fairly common method of fingering.

Place your Ring finger (R) on the C Bass, and your Middle finger on the C chord buttons. Check by sound that you have the right ones, but apart from that, do not push them down as yet, but wait to push them down in the following sequence. You also place your Index finger over the G Bass button, in preparation.

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The 3/4 is a sequence of Bass, Chord, Chord: played in the following Manner.

R, M, M.

Some players use the M, I sequence on the Bass & Chord Buttons instead, but as you will see, that is very restrictive, and the next excercise will be almost impossible, or involve lots of shuttling fingers about - alright maybe for advanced players, but even more confusing for a beginner.

Once you are comfortable with that, try,

R, M, M. I, M, M. R, M, M. I, M, M.

This gives you an alternating I & V Bass with the Chord.

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The 4/4 is a similar sequence of either Bass, Chord, Chord, Chord: or Bass, Chord, Bass, Chord, and you can use the alternating Bass if you want. You should be able to work out those patterns for yourself.


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Second Part.

Now real music isn't always in the one key in every bar. It 'modulates' between related keys, and while many songs have the following simple structure, many songs have different patterns.

Some songs are in the '3 chord' mould. This structure uses the I, IV, V related chords system. Actually, it uses the V7, which is in another row, the other side of the minor chord, but you can usually get by on simple tunes (like many 'Folk Tunes'), especially while you are learning, with just the V chord. Also, on smaller instruments, the 'seventh chord' row may not be there at all. A more advanced development of this is the 'related minor' chord substitution for some of these chords, but leave that for the moment, you have to start with the basics.

To get used to this, firstly ignore the Bass buttons and just concentrate on the Chord Buttons.


Positioning Fingers.

Start with your Middle Finger on the 'Home Button' related Chord Button (C). Your Index finger now falls on the V (G) related chord button, and your Ring finger on the related IV (F) chord button. This is the secret behind the elegant design of the Stradella System, which was invented before 1920, which when the keyboard was attached by Petro Diero.

Now all you need to do is practice the various 'I, IV, V' patterns that are the heart of many simple songs. Forget about the basses for the moment, I play a lot of stuff that uses only this style. And you won't sound like an "Om Pah Pah" Polka player either!

The real heart of the instrument is the Bellows, and using just those three fingers, you can practice working on the bellows to get the right sort of rhythms, and play many songs. This technique works well for just the 'drone' of the chord, but if you add 'bellows shake' technique, many uneducated (i.e. non-Accordion-player) listeners will not realise that you are not actually using the Bass Buttons at all!

'Cotton Fields', 'Me & Bobby Magee', & 'Willy & The Poorboys (Down On The Corner)' are a few simple tunes I use this technique for. If you access the Paltalk Mudcat Acoustic Sessions, you may get the chance to hear me: I will demonstrate these techniques if asked. Look for the regular thread on that topic that Open Mike posts.

If you are from a Piano background, it will take some time to get used to this, as now instead of just progressing up the keyboard (I, IV, V), you are taking 'downsteps' as well as 'upsteps'. When you get comfortable with the feel of the 'I, IV, V' progression, you can start to add the Bass Buttons, using the basic techniques of finger placement mentioned in the first part above.

Related Techniques.

a) You can use the Bass Buttons instead of the Chord Buttons to do the same, but it will depend on your instrument and the Reed Banks and Register switches that you have, as to whether the sound is something you find acceptable - on some of my instruments I am not happy with the resultant sound, or it may only suit a very few tunes.

b) You can also use two fingers to press both the Bass and Chord Buttons for each chord, moving your fingers between the relevant buttons. (This sounds like what you mentioned, but I would really like to know who the teacher is and what the Video is called). It can be a clumsy heavy footed sound. I use it occassionally, but again, it depends on the instrument as to how useful it is. It is a useful training exercise, especially to graduate from the 'Chord Buttons Only' style.

c) If you press both the I & V Bass Buttons, you get what Rock Guitarists call a 'Power Chord'. This has no third, so fits both major & minor scales, but sounds empty, as the third (III) is missing. You can find the III for both major & minor chords on the Bass Buttons Sections, but some of them are a stretch, and it is definitely NOT something I would recommend for beginners. In C you get the C & G notes. If you press the I & IV Bass Buttons, you get an IV chord - F & C notes. Depending on the instrument, this may actually sound with the C lower than the F, giving an 'inverted' chord. If you press both the IV & V Bass buttons, you get G & F (natural), which is a V7 'Power Chord' - this may also be 'inverted'. Most Piano Accordions built after the very early days leave out the III of the V7 chord anyway (so it is usable for both major & minor), this was intended to allow useful combination of various chord butons to obtain more advanced chords - this is discussed elsewhere.

You can assemble chords in this fashion, but with a Stradella Bass, it can get very difficult. If that's really what you think you want to do, you should get a 'Free Bass' accordion, as it has a seperate Chromatic Bass section in which the notes are arranged seqentially from lowest to highest, and is designed for this style of playing.

Robin