Chord Req: How to play two-note chords on accordio

Subject: Chord Req: How to play odd chords on accordion
From: GUEST,Cece
Date: 14 Feb 22 - 10:39 PM

I’m trying to transcript a piece from piano to accordion. However, I’m not very skilled in either, and I’m struggling a bit with the bass notation.
There’s a chord in the piano bass composed of the notes D, A and C. Is this possible to play with accordion bass buttons? How would I do that? Is there a name for the chord?
I can think of chord combinations that would get something similar, but they all include an F. Is it possible to make a two-note chord on accordion and add in a bass root?

Subject: RE: Chord Req: How to play two-note chords on accordio
From: Piers Plowman
Date: 14 Feb 22 - 11:30 PM

This is probably not the answer you want to hear but from my experience, I would say "don't bother". I truly wish this would work well, for my own sake, but it never does.

> Is this possible to play with accordion bass buttons?

Theoretically, yes. Practically, I don't think so. I'm assuming you have the normal Stradella bass system. You could play the A with your index finger, the D with your middle finger and the C with your little finger. However, on my accordeon, I always have at least two octaves in the bass so I think it would sound muddy. I also have small hands and playing with my little finger is iffy anyway.

There are two names for this chord that make sense: Am with an added 4th and no 5th or D with no 3rd and an added 2nd (or 9th, depending on where you put it). You could also call it an F6 without the 1st (prime). You could call it a G11 without the 1st and the 7th but that would be silly, _unless_ it happened to be performing the function of the dominant in the key of C or Cm. This list may not be exhaustive, but we're on pretty thin ice already.

The main problems I find with trying to play piano music on the accordeon is the limited range on both sides of the accordeon and the difficulty of switching registers on the discant side quickly enough. Mostly, it just doesn't work. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I hope this helps anyway.

Subject: RE: Chord Req: How to play two-note chords on accordio
From: Piers Plowman
Date: 14 Feb 22 - 11:43 PM

On the other hand, one thing that does work well is to work out the chords to the music and play the melody in the discant and a normal accompaniment with chords and single notes in the bass.

Here are a couple of lead sheets I've made for songs in the public domain which may be in a similar vein to what you have in mind (I don't know because you didn't say):

https://github.com/lfinston/Songlist/blob/main/lead_sheets/barkrole.pdf
https://github.com/lfinston/Songlist/blob/main/lead_sheets/lacidarm.pdf
https://github.com/lfinston/Songlist/blob/main/lead_sheets/polowtnz.pdf

There are more in the same place.

Subject: RE: Chord Req: How to play two-note chords on accordio
From: Piers Plowman
Date: 14 Feb 22 - 11:47 PM

Here's a list of the lead sheets: https://github.com/lfinston/Songlist/blob/main/lead_sheets/README

Subject: RE: Chord Req: How to play two-note chords on accordio
From: Piers Plowman
Date: 14 Feb 22 - 11:54 PM

> There’s a chord in the piano bass composed of the notes D, A and C.

What's in the melody? That will probably give you a clue to what the harmony is meant to be.

I just reread your posting and I think you were asking about the chord buttons and not just the single note ones. There is no combination of chord buttons you can use to get this combination of notes. They all have 3 notes unless you have buttons for the diminished 7ths which have 4 (I believe --- my accordeon doesn't have them). The triads have what you would expect, except not in root position, and the dom. sevenths are missing the 5th, which makes it possible to play 7ths with flat or augmented fifths (with the latter in the discant).

Subject: RE: Chord Req: How to play two-note chords on accordio
From: Piers Plowman
Date: 15 Feb 22 - 12:06 AM

Actually, calling it an F6 without the root (1st or prime) could make sense, or a Dm7 without the minor third. In either case, if you're in the key of C, or have modulated to the key of C temporarily, it is performing the function of the subdominant. F6 and Dm7 are different names for the same combination of notes. F is the subdominant of C and Dm is it's parallel minor.

This chord may actually not be truncated, depending on what's in the melody, and it may just have been "broken", i.e., the root may have been played before or after this (partial) chord. In cases like this, one has to check the immediate area around the chord. It also helps to know what key one is in at a given moment, which is not necessarily what the key signature shows (i.e., you might have modulated).

Subject: RE: Chord Req: How to play two-note chords on accordio
From: Piers Plowman
Date: 15 Feb 22 - 12:07 AM

> [...] the root may have been played before or after this (partial) chord.

Or the third, or the fifth, or whatever, or several of them.

Subject: RE: Chord Req: How to play two-note chords
From: GUEST,Cece
Date: 15 Feb 22 - 10:03 AM

Thank you so much for the advice, that does clear things up. I might have to do some composing and find which chords sound most true to the original recording.
Here’s the sheet music in question: https://musescore.com/user/27904898/scores/4981095
I’m still in the middle of figuring out the bass but at least I’m learning new things through this project.

Subject: RE: Chord Req: How to play two-note chords on accordio
From: Piers Plowman
Date: 15 Feb 22 - 10:35 AM

You're very welcome. The piece is in Gm and in bar 10 the F# is a dead giveaway that the chord in question is a D7 (D dominant 7). In the intro, it's certainly a D 7th chord, but ambiguous, because there's no 3rd. One possibility would be to play the D - A - A (the bass notes, not the chords) on counts 1, 2 and 3 or D, A, and C or D, C and A. The intro alternates between Gm and this ambiguous D seventh chord, leaving it up in the air what key it's in.

The harmonies of this song are perfectly straightforward but of course if one hasn't something before, one has to find one's way. This arrangement is suitable for a typical oom-pah-pah waltz accompaniment for accordeon: that's basically what's written.

Starting at bar 101, it briefly looks like it wants to modulate to E-flat. The chord A-flat major is the subdominant of E-flat, followed by the B-flat dominant seventh chord in bar 102, so if the next chord was an E-flat major or minor, you would have a cadence. However, the song changes its mind at the last minute, plays an A-flat major seventh chord (which includes the E-flat as a sort of consolation prize) and then just goes back to Gm for the ending, which is a little unusual.

Subject: RE: Chord Req: How to play two-note chords on accordio
From: Piers Plowman
Date: 15 Feb 22 - 10:52 AM

Well, now I've listened to it and looked at the score while I was doing this and the F# only occurs in this one bar, I think. At any rate, most of the time the D chord is a minor (with F natural) or lacks the third. It contains a few other chords diatonic to Gm or B-flat major, which is the relative major of Gm, or put another way, has the same key signature. Sometimes it has more of a major feel but it keeps going back to Gm. This is typical; lots of songs do this. Most of the time, it alternates between two chords (Gm and D(m)7), giving it a kind of feeling of rocking back and forth rather than moving toward a goal and ends with a kind of an ambiguous sound: the fifth in the top voice (D) whereas a G would normally be expected for a decisive conclusion.

Subject: RE: Chord Req: How to play two-note chords on accordio
From: leeneia
Date: 15 Feb 22 - 11:49 AM

Cece, let's get back to basics.

When you say you are trying to transcribe from piano to accordion, do you mean you have the sheet music for piano? If so, what key is the piece in? Look at the beginning of it. How many sharps (tic-tac-toe grids) or flat sign (funny-looking b's) are there. If neither, the key is in the C family.

If you don't have the music and are sounding it out, how many black keys do you hit when playing most of it?

If F's are sharp, then D F# A C is the D7 chord, for which the accordion has a button.

IF F's are natural, then try a Dm button and let the C note which is almost certainly in the melody take care of the C.

If neither of those sounds good, simply hit an A note a couple times, because A goes with D,F,F#,A, and C. There is a button which will play just an A.

Most of the time when you have these funny chords, they only last a little while, and who's going to notice? However, if you feel this measure is key to the mood of the piece, find a friend who plays accordion to help you out.