This video is wonderfully understandable with your precise language and visual exemplification. I can clearly see the chromatic accordion's more efficient use of fingering and economy of movement. The notes are so close by to each other as opposed to running from one end of the piano keyboard to the other and the convoluted fingering needed to end up on the right note with the correct finger so the song can progress. I love the idea of changing key using the same pattern but just at a different location on the button board. My consideration to attempt to learn the chromatic accordion after many years of experience with piano accordion is what brought me here and now I'm inspired. Thank you Leon.
Thank you Leon for this wonderful presentation. I've been telling people for years that my chromatic is easier to play than a piano accordion, but no one believes me. Your example of playing the scale in C, and then in Eb makes it obvious.
I jumped to c sys about 7 years ago -- the best thing i ever did as far as accordion playing goes ( started at about 8 years old on piano key now 64 c is the way to go ) learn the pattern of c and a -- the rest are the same only need the starting note
Wow! I really want to learn the accordion and was leaning toward the chromatic. This really has solidified for me and educated me on the layout. You explained it so well! It's been 4 years since you made this video but it has been so wonderful for me today! Thank you!!! :D
The ability to play any instrument is to know the song in your head and then work the song out through practice until you have the song memorized of the notes. That is how I play without sight reading. Keep playing and before long you can play by ear.
Incredible explanation and great examples! I just started learning the piano accordion because I've been playing piano for decades and can transfer over my experience, but I can see how someone who hasn't yet been exposed to much piano would be able to build muscle-memory on a CBA with relative ease and be able to transpose to almost any key effortlessly. I might even be up to the challenge myself one day!
The traditional keyboard is perfect for an old concept of music (which really makes the most sense anyway), where the five additional semitones are for coloration, not for transposition. Also, the traditional keyboard offers the most amount of comfort and control when played in front of the performer, regardless of the key in which the music is written in. But the traditional keyboard is not perfect for transposing, because the human mind usually cannot master to change pitch on it without thinking about it (except for easy musical pieces). It would be good to have a "hardware transpose button/stop" on a fortepiano (as some old models have it and some church organs still have it today, and as digital instruments have it, of course). On a pedal harp playing different key signatures is most easy, since you simply set the pedals and then play just like you would be playing in a minor or c major, but it's getting problematic when there are modulations within the piece. In theory, the 6+6 two row symmetrical keyboard is the way to go, but it is much less ergonomic than the regular traditional keyboard. Whatever! I have to say that the best choice for the accordion is the three row system as shown here in this video (or, as I personally prefer, the b-griff system, but it doesn't really matter a lot if you use c-griff or b-griff). Why? Because unlike the instruments which are played in front of you, the accordion does not allow to play the same intervalls on the left side, so you cannot perform the melody lines of even simple classical music (with few exceptions) without altering it. On the chromatic button accordion you can reach two octaves and more with just one hand. This makes it possible, for example, to play most of classical guitar music (and there is a lot of it, beautiful pieces). So if you are into not too complex classical (/baroque/renaissance/...) music, you really should go with the chromatic buttons! If you want to go really deep into classical music, you have to switch to the melody bass or free bass system, but this is not really "accordion" playing anymore but rather a form of harmonium playing. And you should know that it is not always possible to perform complex classical music on the accordion as clean and fast as on the pianoforte or organ. To give you an example: Scarlatti, Sonata K. 141 on the freebass "accordion": ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bQoqj5p9W4k.html - and here on the pianoforte: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Gh9WX7TKfkI.html (or on the harpsichord: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1yyBP3t7g90.html). This is very typical, you will find it on other fast pieces such as Vivaldi, For Seasons/Winter. The Roland digital accordions allow you to set up the bass side as a melody bass!! Just as you can configer the discant/right side to b-griff or c-griff!
Perfect demonstration. Now I know how to choose. Also, I think it's more difficult to land on the flats on the piano accordion because the size difference and location.
We're glad you enjoyed it. It is interesting how many music hobbyists on the piano system say that they cannot play using sharps and flats. They say they can only play in the key of C because that's the only key signature where they know the location and fingering of notes. In contrast, music hobbyists on the chromatic button system can easily play in all key signatures without any special effort. I don't know about you, but because I want to play in all key signatures without any special complications for each particular one, I prefer to learn to play the chromatic button system. All key signatures can be played in exactly the same way. Pretty easy, don't you think?
@@RoxysMusicStore that's exactly the mind blowing part for me. For years I thought this system was more complicated than it really is (exactly how you described - depends what you're talking about, not the case if you're talking all 12 keys haha). Now that I'm considering giving accordion a go, this would absolutely be the system I would go for. I don't have time at this point to learn different signatures in the piano system! But this arrangement's brilliance is very inspiring! I'm surprised it's hasn't been adopted more widely to be honest. I also tried finding just a simple mini keyboard to start practicing on without committing to the box just yet, but can't find any.. Undervalued! Thanks for your great videos again though!
During the video you stated that you used the FR1X piano sound to play the accordion without the bellows. How do you do this? How do you get to the piano sound etc? Best videos on the internet for teaching!
The piano sound is one of the standard factory orchestral sounds. It's available on any new FR-1x in factory condition at orchestra sound location 4A. See page 27 of the owner's manual. To play all sounds without the bellows, turn the "Bellows Curve" parameter to "Fixed". See page 49 of the owner's manual. To play only certain orchestral sounds like piano without the bellows, while at the same time other orchestral sounds like clarinet and all accordion reed sounds with bellows, adjust the "Orchestra Touch" parameter to "Fixed". You can even adjust for a combination of "Fixed + Bellows". See page 48 of the owner's manual. What a great little instrument. Best of luck.
Another good one Leon. Although I learned to play the piano accordion I've always been intrigued by the button keyboard but I have never been able to find an explanation for the fact that the key version is more popular here than the button version, and that's probably the only reason I didn't start on the buttons. I'm still going to learn the button free bass option on the Roland so I'll be able to put some of your advice to good use.
+Neil T The whole subject of why the piano style accordion became more popular in some countries is very intriguing. I think originally it was because of a variety of real reasons. But once that popularity grew to exceed a certain critical level, those original reasons no longer mattered. We live in a time when most people follow convention in most aspects of their lives, including what musical instrument to buy. There is often a fear that by going against convention they are putting themselves at risk of something that they don't know about. And since so few people talk about the chromatic, I think that fear is justified. I think there is also an element of not wanting to feel socially outcast for having an instrument that looks so different from everyone else's. But in reality, both the chromatic and piano styles of accordion are good. Either one is better than none at all. For me, the main motivation is that at my playing level the isomorphic properties of the chromatic make the instrument significantly easier to play, and I don't mind having an instrument that most people view as unconventional. So for me it was the best choice and I have no regrets.
It's because the button accordion is the original, but when piano accordions came out, they were a new hip thing and audiences in the US preferred seeing music performed on the piano accordion. Some people put stickers trying to disguise their button accordions as piano accordions, and there were even accordions that were a mixture of the two, sometimes called finto cromo. It's basically a button accordion disguised to look like a piano accordion, although functioning exactly as a button accordion. Pretty silly, really. The button accordion never really had a chance to gain a foothold in the US, therefore it's not as popular there. Actually I think the US is the sole reason piano accordions weren't phased out as a gimmick, simply because it was the only one they got due to it being new at the time and immigrants from Italy brought them over.
I agree that it is interesting, as well as silly, how during a particular era, chromatic accordionists, in order to gain acceptance, felt compelled to disguise their instruments as piano accordions. I invite anyone to do a Google search on Pietro Frosini. The search result will show several photos of the master himself playing one of these disguised instruments. It shows how in music, public bias often affects progress. Still, I am thankful that the chromatic survived those troubled times and remains sufficiently accepted today in its own rite that it won't be falling into obscurity. As an amateur musician I remain passionately devoted to the chromatic. Leon.
man, i love your videos, I play the accordion and the although i love that mothe×%××@%@, it is so complex to me that it is -from time to time- overwelming, videos like this keep me going.
+Stanisław Lem Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad to help out. I agree that music can be challenging. But you don't want to lose what you have already achieved. Keep squeezing. Leon
Would it be accurate to also suggest that another big advantage over the keyboard is that you can get many more keys within the same physical space. So less distance for the fingers of your hand to stretch to plus a smaller instrument.
They are both chromatic though. Well the ones you are showing though. Because of course there are some diatonic accordions.thank you. It's nice to listen to you.I have both.
Yes. I do point out in my various videos that there exists some button accordions that are not chromatic. They are, as you correctly point out, diatonic. They also differ in the way the bellows work. However, I do not provide any instruction on them. I do not play diatonic accordions myself.
@@RoxysMusicStore hello Léon, sorry i didn't express myself correctly. What I was saying is the piano accordion you show us is probably a chromatic too. Thank you for your videos.
@@sylvieboisel Yes, you are correct. The conventional piano is actually a chromatic instrument. I try to make this point often in my videos.The real reason why an instrument is called chromatic is because it can play all natural notes, as well as all sharps and flats. That is, twelve notes per octave. However, many accordionists think that a chromatic accordion is called chromatic because it has buttons. But in reality, as you correctly point out, the C-Griff and B-Griff button accordions as well as the piano accordion are all chromatic instruments. In contrast, the diatonic button accordion is not chromatic. Each row of a diatonic accordion can play only seven notes per octave in a particular key.
Hello! I have a FR-1xb and I would like to know things: 1- Is it possible to change the octave of the free bass on the left hand to an octave lower just like you can do with the right hand? 2- How can I put the spare buttons on the bass notes so I can have marks on the Cs? They do come off right? Thanks in advance!
These are good questions, however, I don't think I can help much. I do not know if the left hand free bass notes can be shifted up or down interactively one octave, as can be done on the right hand. I think not, but I really don't know. Sorry. I've never played free bass. Did you try it yourself and it did not work? Perhaps this is a question that you should direct to Roland's product support. Still, I believe that by using the Set Editor software you can create a user set and specify which octave you wish the left hand notes to play. To make the switch while playing you would have to create a User Program that changes User Sets. The changing of the bass note caps is described in the owner's manual. So I know it can be done. However, I admit that I never did it myself.
@@RoxysMusicStore Thank you! I think the user set option may be a good one, actually. Can it be done with just the instrument or do I need a computer software? As for the caps, I managed to change them reading the user manual, thank you very much!
@@victorcamelomusic On the FR-1x it requires the computer to create a User Set. The process is a bit tedious but it does work. User Serts can serve different purposes. Most people use them to obtain access to more treble voices that are hidden in the instrument, as well as to access voices in the sound expansion kits. We have published examples of that for free download in the following video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-k1bgUFR0Jhg.html In your case you would create user sets in which the bass sounds have been adjusted to play in different octaves. On the newer models FR-8x/FR-4x these things can be accomplished either using software or on the instrument itself. Best of luck with it.
Yes. Also Richard Galliano teaches use of the thumb. When you watch both Maugain an Galliano play, sometimes they use the thumb to press notes, at other times they keep it pressed against the frame of the instrument for stabilization. They use it for both purposes. Leon
