Very helpful video. Thank you Lucy! I'm a music teacher myself and I started teaching myself accordion, and watching your videos, during pandemic lockdown. Your explanation of accordion bass notation and how to interpret the left hand parts helped a ton. Good luck in your gigs and videos in the new year.
Hi Tim! Thanks so much for watching and for the feedback! Good luck on your accordion journey. I have lots more videos coming this year (currently bulk filming and editing so there’s a pause on uploads until I catch up).
Hi again Lucy, I'm re watching this video with a bit more understanding. My studying confirms the layout of my first book, that for Stradella notation, all below the center line of the staff indicate notes, all above it chords. Pausing the video at a point you made, I have a tinwhisle book that is a treasure trove of Irish tunes to learn. Chords are included. I don't know what to do with them yet. This shall pass. A few days ago my sister surprised me with book 1 of Hal Leonard's Accordion Method. Thus far I am making great headway with the text that assumes I can't read music. It assumes the F is just under my chin (37 keys here) so I have to jump around a bit on the exercise where you sound bass and treble notes simultaneously with your thumb on the tonic note and climb to the pinky, in one bellows movement. I'm getting the gist. I've identified the C scale on the bass, just haven't mastered execution yet. My bass clef reading is rusty. Must comb the librarys for electric bass methods to work out my left hand on the Yamaha a bit ☺️🎼🎶🎵
Hi Michael! Websites like musictheory.net are really good for practising reading bass clef. It's free and pretty easy to use! You will definitely get faster if you just practise some back to back note recognition. All the best!
Very helpful thanks Lucy. Never would have thought of the Excel spreadsheet for groupings, key, length etc. Something that I must try and put together. All my sheet music is in lever arch folders filed alphabetically but now I realise your method makes much more sense.
Thank you for this terrific video. It was very helpful information. Being able to have a peek inside your wide selection of books at the various ways the bass is or is not described . I also just read that for the accordion, on the bass clef, everything below the middle line is a bass note and everything above it is a chord. Meanwhile any underlined notes on the bass clef are to be played on the contra-bass row. I haven't found a single good video series on youtube that takes people thoroughly through the bass box, though, in a way that really demystifies it once and for all, so if you were to produce such a series I'll bet you'll get a lot of new subscribers. We all want to be able to play much more interesting accompaniment on the left hand but I think there are many like myself who find that the layout of the bass box makes it challenging to learn to play scales and interesting bass runs.
Hi Jeremy thanks for the comment! I think you’re on to something. That’s definitely a video series I would like to do in the future when I can find the time!
Hey Lucy! I have the Musette book as well and I finally wanted to give it a go. I was looking for the melodys on youtube and found your chanel that way, it's great that you performed all the pieces. They are very melodious and accuratly played that I wasn't looking any further, your videos are gonna be my guide if I don't know any further. What would be the three pieces you would start with (if you had to again ;)?
Hello Bene! Thanks for watching. I’m glad my videos are helpful! If I had to go through the book again as a beginner I would start with Sous Les Ponts de Paris, Pigalle & Sous les Toits de Paris. All the best!
Hi Lucy, I have become your biggest fan. I haven't even owned an accordion for a month and it's in the shop now. Thus far my only accordion book is Mel Bay's 'You Can Teach Yourself Accordion'. Having minimal keyboard experience, my Achilles heel is the bass side. Not much to choose from in NYC either. Thank heavens for Liberty Bellows ☺️
Another great video Lucy! I thought I was the only one that bought music books and didn't use them! I find now that some books I didn't like at first are more likeable as my ability progresses!!
I think I'm getting this book. I like how is telling you how to use alternating bass right away although is kind of expensive to get it here in the USA.
That was very useful Lucy... thanks. I just found a copy of the French Musette book on line and bought it for my wife as shes crazy for French Accordeon music too. I got it for £5... amazing. Do you ever play Mon Amant De Saint Jean? Not so well known but a lovely piece. Keep up the good work.... we love your videos.
Glad to have you back! I had subscribed, but nothing popped up. Thought I would check for anything new out of curiosity and BAM! Already a few new videos! Glad to see you well. =)
Thanks for your collection insight and the link to accordion sheet music. Its difficult to find good sheet music for accordion. I always enjoy your videos, Lucy. When I want to practice a piece of music, I think, 'How would Lucy play it' then I check to see if you have a video. :-)
Nice rundown of different types of sheets. I've been writing a hybrid sort of bass notation on my sheets (with no clef) but still outlining the bass patterns. Every chord change has 2 bars worth of bass patterns written down in letters, which includes alternate basses, underlines for counter basses, and chords in lower case (with a superscript "min", "7" or "dim" if it's not a major chord). Getting really positive feedback on that type of notation. Nice plug there for Don's sheets too (when I started writing my own, I was using his simple technique, but received a lot of feedback from beginners who wanted more detail on the bass patterns).
Thanks friend! It's kind of cool that accordion has so much freedom for how we notate! I can't think of other instruments that have so much flexibility. Yeah I use Don's music with my students because they're nice simple tunes to learn but some of my students can't figure out the bass without me spelling it out for them. It's something that comes with time! And also sort of a good exercise to learn the theory around bass and be creative.
Hi Lucy. very informative video keep it up for the good work you are doing for Accordion Players worldwide. I wish you a happy squeezing 2023, regards. 🪗😏🪗
Yep. Watched ALL of that. I do notation entirely differently from you. All of my stuff is written out in Musescore and then I can get at least 3 tunes to a page. With the Irish tunes, it is 100% 4 to a page coz they are just 32 bar jobs. Although writing it all out might seem like a lot of extra work - it really doesn't take that long - but it does enable me to keep MUCH smaller folders, and, really, I do enjoy notation writing work. Looking forward to more stuff. All the best for the new year. Pete.
Hi Lucy, The accordion is very popular here. Here is in my house. As I play for a shanty choir, sheet music must be on max 2 pages. The music that I got when started was not always clear. The best was to input it in MuseScore. Then the layout is fully made as needed. Learning to use the program takes some time, however is just fun once you master it, although I keep learning. There are quite a lot of lessons on youtube, look at what Mark Sabatella put there, very clear, quiet and he is totally familiar with all aspects. The sheets I made only have the trebble bar with the accords (C, Dm, E7 etc) above. Printed its razor sharp, can be exported as pdf for sharing by email and exported as mp3, so the recipient can listen to it. Transposing is done in seconds, including the accords. You can listen to the notes, note by note, correct where needed and play the song automatically. Enjoy the accordion! So do I !
Great tips! One thing I have noticed too is that there is no standard way that the left hand bass parts for accordion is written out in the notations between different books over the years, accordionists have to jump in the deep end and try to decipher so many various systems and combinations of piano style notation and the various ways chords are indicated. As there are typically only four types of chords on the accordion standard bass buttons, it is often possible to work out what is meant by a educated guess work and some process of elimination. I recently came across a book of Slovakian pieces that had no left hand bass clef part except a system of Roman numerals under the treble clef melody that indicated the chord in relation to the home key. It would say something like D: I IV I V II V I etc. I can see how it might be good for some accordionists, as the chords in every key are all laid out the same on the accordion, no matter which key a piece is in, but I have never seen that system anywhere else and I have been playing for years. Solfege is often used in French books. Do re mi instead of C D E, but this is the fixed Do rather than the moveable doh I learned to sing music in choirs. But it is possible to work it out if you know one or the other, or the words to ‘Doe a Deer’. Just about! It would be nice if accordion music could be standardised, perhaps to a combination of the commonly used chord symbols, C Dm G7 etc, and perhaps fully written out bass clef parts for those who play piano and to give the rhythmic information and basslines that are needed. I don’t mind playing from a ‘lead sheet’, chord symbols and treble melody only, but only if I already know what rhythmic left hand patterns are needed or am able to improvise the accompaniment according to taste, anything more complex should be fully notated. Happy squeezing all.
That's really interesting! I'm not very comfortable with the roman numeral style of bass notation. I also didn't know there was 2 versions of Solfege. Thank you for sharing!
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Thanks for a nice informative video. Very useful tips for me who also plays the accordion. Have a squeezy new year!
Nowadays, I am more fascinated by the masters' improvisational variations on popular melodies... accompanied by musical notation. (it’s nice when the bass chords are completely represented in notation and letters...) Russian
fantastic i find the base side very hard as most accordion music i see does not give enough strenth to the base only my humble opinion i am amazed at how much music you say you cannot play you always look very confident i started on the settimio soprani book which was very popular in the 1950s
Great video, Lucy! I also played piano for MANY years before I ever picked up an accordion, which was a tremendous benefit. I’ve only picked up one book for accordion, ‘Melodic Adventures in Bass Land’. It focuses solely on left hand accordion work. Highly recommend, and I will be picking up some of these for sure. A friend of mine is an expert in Slavic music, and he taught me a rhythm that uses a 25/8 time signature! So weird.
Hi Lucy, Loved this video so much! So much wonderful information and very useful! Thanks for showing your sheet music and explaining where to get your sheet music collection and how you get ready for a performance. Thanks as well for going over the different types of bass clef notation. I also don't like when there is no bass clef notation, just the treble clef. I find a lot of European accordion sheet music, doesn't have the bass clef notation written out. I find this complicated to understand how to play the bass notes, unless I understand the style of music, such as waltz, polka, etc and I know how to read the bass notes really well. I spend a lot of time working out the bass clef notes, one by one. Anyway, you explained this very clearly. Looking forward to see more of your videos this year. Always fun, informative and entertaining videos you produce! Thanks, Lucy.
Thank you so much for your comment :) I did read it at the time, but I’m very delayed replying! I’m trying to catch up on comments now as I am going to be posting a lot more videos this year and will be tied up with those comment sections most likely! I hope you enjoy the content that is coming. Thanks for watching.
Lucy Riddett A Trick is if you know how to read Piano Sheet Music (coming from Piano) you'll already know how to read Accordion Sheet Music in a Flash. Italian Favorites for Accordion would require a Page turner so as you play, the Page Turner can turn the pages.
Another great and informative video Lucy. I have followed your video's for some time now and find them very helpful. I thought that you made your living playing accordion in and around Melbourne. I am just starting on the palmer hughes book 3 so feel as though i can play a bit. I have recently bought the Palmer hughes polka book having watched you learn the cuckoo clock polka. Something you should have perhaps mentioned about accordion bass reading is that anything above the middle line is a chord and middle line or below is a bass note or at least in the top half of the world. I am struggling to play extended scales as i can't seem to be able to tuck my thumb under. When i get to my thumb i seem to jump my hand ( it's not pretty ) any advice would be helpful. please keep up the good work i find you inspirational.
Hello Paul, thanks so much for watching and for leaving this comment! I’m glad to know my videos are helpful for you. In regards to your problem with scales, make sure your shoulder and elbow are forward and not tucked behind the accordion. When the shoulder and elbow are too far back towards your body this leads to a claw-like hand position which is very difficult to tuck your thumb under. When your shoulder, elbow and wrist are forward then you have a straighter wrist rather than a 90 degree approach to the keyboard. Hope this helps.
I have been learning the Piano Accordion for 3-4 months and studying it for so many hours over the holidays and the comment @15:47 made me laugh because I was thinking the same thing! Haha. I am studying Balkan / Macedonian / Bulgarian music and plan to study it more in depth over there later this year. Thanks for the very helpful video to understand the different kinds of bass clef notation. Great to have more Piano Accordion sounds in Melbourne.
Lucy, so glad to discover your videos! I'm intermediate / advanced in my self-taught accordion journey. I can read and study and learn and memorize music, but I have never learned to identify and reproduce chords on demand. I'm sure this just a very long process of memorization, but do you have any suggestions about how to do this? I'm quite adept with the bass chords, but how can I best learn chords and their relationship to each other on the right hand? Are there exercises or books you'd recommend? How can I learn progressions? This seems so overwhelming! Thanks again for your videos. I am subscribed.😊
Thank you so much for subscribing! The right hand of the piano accordion is exactly the same as a piano so imagine whatever piano resources there are out there for chord progressions will be helpful :)
As a Keyboard player, I can read both staffs because the Accordion reads sheet music very akin to Piano Sheet music. You've got your High notes (Treble Clef) on the Right Hand & your Low notes (Bass Clef) on the Left Hand. I call it the Choir of Portable instruments because of how high & low it can play.
Awesome presentation. But please make a video about the mechanics of the piano accordion. For example if you play a C major chord, does it play C E G, or E G C, or G CE? Also, if you add the Bass note, is this note lower than the chord? Meaning, can you play a low C and then C E G using the C Major button? Can you show in comparison with the piano where all the buttons fit in? Thanks,
That's a very interesting point! Every accordion has a different set of bass switches, so they are have different layers of octaves. I'm not an expert on the mechanics of piano accordion, but if I have an opportunity to question my accordion repairer then perhaps we can make a video together. Thanks for the question!
great video Lucy!... I remember your first video, and how you said you didn't like to videotape yourself, you look so much more comfortable with this one! Its easy to see how much you love playing! I haven't had an opportunity to arrange my music books, and I have a few myself, ( mostly the palmer hughes books), but, like you, I"m loving the "mussette melodian" book. Just need more time to practice! Looking good behind the camera! thanks for the vid!
Thanks so much Pat! It’s taken time but I’m finally learning to relax in front of the camera and pretend I’m just talking to a friend! I hope to bring plenty more similar videos to you this year. Thanks for watching.
That’s a good question! I sort of do- it requires deep explanation so perhaps that is another video topic. Short answer is to have a methodical approach to learning the tune right from the beginning!
@@accordionlucy Thank you very much for your reply. A video explaining more detail would be great. This would not only help me with an area of music that I find difficult, but I’m sure others would appreciate the content too.
Thank you for a wonderful video Lucy, I haven't seen a video from you in a while and I have missed them. I remember your teaching videos from some songs from the movie Amelie, they were a huge inspiration for me to learning the accordion. Can I ask you for 1 or 2 musette-songs recommendations that are easy? Thanks 🙂
Thanks for watching! Yes I took an extended pause on making RU-vid videos but I am currently working on filming a whole bunch of new tutorials for release later this year so stay tuned! Don Quattrochi has some great easy arrangements for beginners. Here’s an easy arrangement for a popular Musette www.donquattrocchi.com/pdf/Reine%20De%20Musette.pdf
@@accordionlucy Thank you for taking the time to answer me and for the link ! Really looking forward to see the videos. If you had a website with some tutor material on accordion I would for sure pay for seeing and using it. Thank you again Lucy.
Hi Lucy i would also recomend dale mathis for his music links and lessons just make sure to choose a modern video as he has changed the website link let me know what you think
What a great video! I've been playing for a year and am bored with the two books I have. I'm ready for some new material and getting to see inside some of your books has taken away the hurdle that is How will the music be written in this book? And I wonder how good the material is? I'm also impressed with your gig binders! I like your method of organizing and arranging your performances. I have too many loose sheets! Count me as someone who would love even a quick video to how you memorize music. My background is being a guitar chord strummer and singer so the idea of memorizing accordion piece seems bigger than I know it is.
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed this video. I really didn’t think so many people would find this interesting. I was worried this would be boring haha. I will definitely do a video on memorisation this year. I’ve had so many requests!
This is GREAT information!!!!! Thank you for addressing the bass notation challenges. Your tips on which books to buy has been invaluable information for my personal learning and progression. BTW, where did you purchase those amazing notebooks?
Hi Lucy, I was wondering. Have you ever experienced pain in your back side of the left shoulder? I'm feeling something like that after playing my 10 kg accordion. I wonder if there are exercises to make the left shoulder and arm stronger for playing the accordion.
Hi Jamie, No I have not experienced that before. You should not be feeling pain when you play. Sometimes I feel tired as my muscles fatigue, but not pain. I’m not an expert on human anatomy but I believe it’s the trapezius muscle that you want to strengthen as that’s where the pulling and pushing should come from. All the best!
@@accordionlucy Thanks Lucy. I will follow your advice. I just checked my straps and I realize they were too thin for my shoulders so the weight of the accordion was not laying at all on my leg. I'll just buy new, larger straps. Regards, Jamie
As you mentioned, accordions aren't very popular in Australia so I've struggled to find any music stores that sell anything accordion related. Could you suggest any stores in Victoria that sell accordions or accordion music?
Hi Lucy, I have another question. When you have those sheets that have the treble(melody) written down but not the bass (the chords are at the top) how do you know which bass technique to use? I find this very confusing as it is not explicit enough as how I saw it on the Palmer-Hughes accordion course books, where the bass is clearly explicit.
HI Lucy, I have been playing piano by ear for a while now and have recently bought a accordion having a lot of trouble with the base a lot harder then piano. love listening to you playing very inspiring.
@@accordionlucy For example the Harp Part of Schindler's List arranged by Robert Longfield & Amy Barlowe, can also be played on Piano because of the Piano Pedal Markings.
It depends on the gig. I use my 72 bass accordion for smaller audiences where I need to be on my feet. I prefer the sound of the 96 bass so I will use that for seated gigs or whenever I want the best sound only.
@@accordionlucy Thanks Lucy. I thought my phone was playing tricks ! Apart from that I'd like to state in case it helps others .I find that being a beginner it's that most songs in starter books are pretty boring . I wasn't sure where to start and kept flitting from one book to another. But your Hava nagila is helping me a lot ! I also like the sound of the tango so I'm cracking on wirh La Cumparsita 😉👍
