On this website I am sharing stuff to Improve your technique Help you get to know your instrument better Play more easily and more confidently Try new accordion bass methods Integrate bass and treble sounds in different ways Learn how to make better music Gain popularity with general music listeners and not just fellow accordionists.
The Accordionwise Friends link You can find my personal playing sites on www. Thinking of Buying a new Accordion? What Your choices will give you There are both your musical requirements and the accordion you find physically comfortable to use. Some of the variations are How many bass notes are there? What types of musical results does that allow you? How big is it? How heavy is it? How many treble keys will you have to play your tunes on?
How many different keys can you play in? If there are three or more sets of reeds on the treble, is the tuning system what you want from close for Jazz to extremely detuned for Scottish or French? If a large expensive model does it have some sets of treble reeds in casotto for exceptional depth of tone and enhanced differences when combine with the other With each size of accordion listed I have included the keys you should be able to play in on your choice of accordion.
If playing very simple major key tunes e. If bottom bass note is F you can play in any key from C upwards but not further than D if the top note is A However even with the simplest tunes if you want to play in minor keys you will also need at least the major and minor key rows.
If you want to play a full range of chords associated with that key you need to use the four buttons higher than the key button, as well of course as the note below the key name button. Advantages of larger instruments With the larger instruments there is a possibility that they may include any of the following. Four sets of reeds give you a choice of configurations to include either an extra middle octave reed for enriched musette tones and different detuned tremolos OR an extra high octave reed for very bright tones and more tab possibilities.
With Four sets of reeds you should also be very aware of the type of tuning, between dry Virtually no detuning of the middle reed for jazz and classical to coarse such as Scottish or French. Listening to the exact sound is recommended. Not all accordions have piano size keys, some are slightly smaller described as compact size or previously as ladies size, still playable unless you have very thick fingers and very large hands. Then you have a lighter more compact instrument, although the bellows will also be smaller for a very slight effect on the number of notes you can play in each direction.
On bass instruments you can also buy models with 45 note treble keyboards for super serious professional use. Note that even on 96 and bass models there may be variations of actual notes you have. For 96 bass you can usually expect three octaves A to A or F to F and for bass mostly at three octaves plus or at least F to A On bass and occasionally 96 bass you may have the option of one or two sets of reeds in cassotto boxes giving richer deeper tones and enhanced differences as they are mixed in the tabs with the normal unenclosed reeds bass instruments are larger and heavier but if you mainly play sitting down it should not make too much difference once you are comfortably seated with the instrument.
The 12 bass accordion If you ever pick up a 12 bass instrument and have any knowledge of the piano keyboard it will instantly get you playing instantly, but is extremely musically limited, with only six different major chords you can play along with the bass note of the same name beside them.
It will also only give you only one sound, usually a very light one with no vibrato. SUMMARY: You will like the 12 bass for its instant playability but will very quickly realise its limitations and your need to go bigger and better, I would say to at least 48 bass, possibly 72, or for additional reasons to the rather substantial 96 or button accordions.
The 24 bass accordion Please note the number and placing of the bass notes and the number of treble keys is not standard on these very small instruments, so check in individual instruments you are looking at. The 32 bass accordion Please note the number and placing of the bass notes and the number of treble keys is not standard on these very small instruments, so check any individual instruments you are looking at.
However the number of keys you can play in is still severely limited, five keys if satisfied with the most basic chords, or three being able to cope with Note the advice on bellows being limited refers to only a small amount of air, probably only sufficient for a couple of notes at a time, or a very short fast phrase.
The 48 bass accordion 1 This is the older version of the 48 bass and you are more likely to find the other version following. The 48 bass accordion 2 This seems to be the more common form of modern 48 bass accordion and has the benefit of containing all types of chords and bass notes. Occasionally two bass registers.
The 60 bass accordion Until recently I ignorantly despised the 60 and 80 bass models but only recently discovered that their main limitations of not having a sixth row to give diminished chords are easily overcome. The 72 bass accordion This is a nice standard size acordion with two warnings to watch out for.
The 80 Bass Accordion This is an instrument size which is almost on a par with the bass accordion. The 84 bass Accordion This is an innovative solution of how to combine lightness and compactness, marketed by The Squeezebox Shop Yarrow, Hughton, By Beauly, Inverness IV4 7JN A full three octave treble keyboard and a bass range big enough to cover that awkward place where you run out of the main sharp keys at the top and have to go to the bottom of the bass buttons to the flat section to fill in!
The 96 bass accordion The 96 bass accordion is a slightly smaller version of the bass, having 16 different named chord keys instead of 20, so usually has a matching treble range of 37 keys F to F or A to A, though this can vary and by making the keys smaller it can match the 41 treble keys of its big brother.
The accordion reeds become your lead instrument. The true MIDI accordions have a specific wiring, specific voltages, and specific connectors with a uniform digital output that allows them to be tied into a wide variety of organs, keyboards, and computers from different companies.
MIDI instruments from any manufacturer can therefore be connected to work together. The MIDI signal is not the sound, but an interface. MIDI says nothing about the quality of the reeds, quality of sound, variety, or ease of use of the electronic sound source. Reedless accordions are an old story. The Hohner Electrovox and Farfisa Transicord were the original reedless accordions.
These instruments had up to date electronics for their time. History has shown that because these accordions lacked a real accordion timeless they soon became dated. It is common knowledge that at first the Accorgan and then the Cordovox took over as the electronic model. Today, some reedless accordions are useful if they are significantly lighter than the corresponding real accordion. Of course, some full blown MIDI accordions are lighter than some reedless accordions.
Some players buy a MIDI accordion and remove some or all the reeds. This allows these players to return those reeds to the accordion for more of a "combo" effect when these players become bored with the elecronics alone.
NOTE : Use the back arrow button on your browser to return to the previous document or continue reading. NEW VS. At Accordion-O-Rama, you can get a very fine instrument whether it is new or rebuilt. New is nice, but the rebuilt models generally offer the best value. This is not the same as used ones. Our team of specialists really go over the instruments. If you discuss your purchase with the expert sales staff at Accordion-O-Rama, you can be sure to get an instrument that will suit your specifications and a realistic budget.
Accordion-O-Rama has a repair staff. Our mechanic, tuner, and electronic specialists really go over the accordions. Some fine instruments are completely dismantled and re-assembled to look, play, and sound like new. Most music stores are not set up to do this.
Thus, a rebuilt accordion from Accordion-O-Rama is usually a better price than a new accordion, but more expensive than some old thing that was lying around in a basement for many years and then dusted off. If you buy a rebuilt accordion from Accordion-O-Rama, you can be sure it will give you fine service because you do get a guarantee.
SIZE Bass or not. The stradella system in most piano accordions is what gives the accordion its power. The piano keys play the melody. The left hand plays two parts of the song: one section for bass and another for chords. This is like a rock group with a lead, rhythm, and bass guitar rolled into one instrument. The stradella system ranges from 8 or 12 bass up to or bass.
There are special systems that go even beyond this. The most typical complete system has bass and 41 treble keys. This is balanced left to right hand. The number of bass buttons and the number of treble keys allows you roughly equal range on both sides of the accordion. As you reduce the number of bass buttons in certain logical steps, the number of treble keys is also reduced. The lowest number of bass buttons commonly found is in the 12 bass accordion.
This usually has 25 treble keys. These instruments do not have enough bass buttons to play very much of anything. Accordion-O-Rama usually recommends adults or teens start with the 48 bass accordion. This amount of bass buttons is balanced with 26 treble keys.
You theoretically can find any possible bass note on the left hand, but it is really meant to play in the keys of C, G or F. These are extremely light in weight, easy to handle, and can play the bulk of accordion music. When you get to the point where you would want to trade-up, these are models you would want to keep. The attraction is the extreme light weight and portability. The two main categories are button and piano accordions. The button and piano accordions are already discussed previously — each having their own pros and cons.
You simply have to choose the one that is suitable for your goals. Chromatic button accordions are generally unisonoric accordions. All piano accordions are unisonoric and chromatic. What do you intend to play on your accordion? Do you plan to play a diverse melody or piano music?
With regards to the button accordion, it can play traditional music but you need additional musical instruments for keys that cannot be played by the accordion. However, there are now mini-piano accordions that are lighter and easier to carry and transport. Mini-piano accordions are very affordable and are great for learning the basics before upgrading to a more advanced accordion. They are also tons of fun as so small and lightweight, you can pick them up and play with ease.
The Wal Front key, 8 Bass Piano Accordion is one such fun and easy-to-play beginner mini-accordion. Click her e to see it on Amazon. This accordion has a well-built, durable, maple wood body, weighing only about 7. It is ergonomically designed for flexibility, and despite the affordable price, has a great sound.
Generally, accordions with more reeds are more expensive than those with fewer reeds. Button accordions generally cost less than the piano accordions. Take note that not all expensive accordions are the best accordions and not all cheap accordions are bad. Is the weight and size of the accordion proportional to your body built and size?
Is it portable enough? Would you be able to take it with you to your gigs? These are questions you have to ask yourself before selecting your accordion. Checking out the compression and reeds is crucial too. You can play the accordion by expanding or compressing the bellows. Are you able to expand and compress the bellows easily? How many reeds does your repertoire require?
Or there is a quite big difference between them? With 48 basses, you are confined to keys harmonically close to C major and playing with other people may cause you to run out of basses pretty fast, particular in minor modes which limits your starting positions, and once you start playing more than one note, a second voice will easily stray a sixth from the main melody, leaving a rather confined space to work with.
Regarding the workable range, chromatic button accordions tend to squeeze quite a bit more range into the same space particularly of small accordions but require more practice until you can play utilising simple scales the advantage being that there are just 3 scales with regard to fingering compared to the 12 scales on a piano accordion; but at least when you are playing alone, you can avoid most of those scales on the piano accordion or postpone learning them for later.
Accordion literature tends to be playable mostly on 37 keys typical for 96 basses but sometimes wanting Of course, that's not small instrument stuff. If you are playing simple melodies written for other instruments, one reference point may be the lowest note of a violin which is a standard folk instrument , G3.
You want to have that on your accordion keyboard. A key accordion has it typically starting at F3 , a key accordion hasn't typically starting at B3. Sign up to join this community.
The best answers are voted up and rise to the top.
0コメント