Accordion thread

ask an accordionist anything

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do you play the accordeon?

Thoughts on Weird Al?
Do you think he has done harm to the reputation of the accordion as an instrument or is it all good fun?

yes I do
I don't care that much about Weird Al, it's mostly an american thing; the most harm to the reputation of the accordion it's produced by accordionist themselves

can you sight read?

Yes I can. I'm also a conservatory student, non amateur player

Is this you?

youtube.com/watch?v=y6eM5chjWuE

um...

do you have any hints for reading music in different keys? please

I can sight read notes, but... say it's f minor , or whatever, I keep having to check every flat or every sharp for each note, I can't remember the key signature in my head

non-amateur, wow you get paid, that's amazing

Lol i' m not. I also play a free bass instrument

I would recommend learning every scale by heart

I haven't come across a way to memorise these things,

playing music helps stop my schizophrenic voices, but writing or other forms of concentration aren't easy

hmmm, I'll have to have a think

you get paid then?

Why are we even alive if life is nothing but our slow walk toward death and nothingness?

Yes I do. However I' m still a student, not a full time professional.
I was a pessimist myself but then I realized being one doesn't make you live better. You also know yourself life is not only about death

>Yes I do.
but not by busking, right?

lol nope
I play in a pop-folk band and in an accordion quartet; I play baroque by myself and I'm trying to get into the jazz language

accordion jazz sounds subversive

check out for yourself how it sounds

youtube.com/watch?v=Q8VCcsJTBd4

youtube.com/watch?v=MNCM_dBeWQk

youtube.com/watch?v=vnSdOEzAdXU

youtube.com/watch?v=mSlG6y5-xGk

Any recommendations on a basic accordion for a beginner?

Something not expensive but can be good to learn on.

are you my next door neighbour trolling me?

I don't think so. where do you live?
If you don't want to suck first look for a teacher and then get your accordion based on which kind of accordion he teaches.
An used free bass (=can play classical) accordion shouldn't cost more than 3K; obviously if you want just the basic "folk" accordion the price is gets lower

Are you a gypsy?

what do all the little buttons on your left hand do?

It looks like the player has to press them in sync with the right hand keyboard

I am just looking for something to fuck around with to be honest. I am kinda a jack of all trades multi weird instrument guy.

Don't want to spend over $100. I know that sounds retarded but yea.

>but yea.
Hi! :O()

nope
some of the buttons of the left hand are "single notes" and the others are chords (meaning one button= one chord)
accordion is an expensive instrument. I've seen accordion rented for 20-40$ per month though

How does accordian work? If i can play piano can i play accordian?

Fav accordion song? Mines the solo from Reise, reise (Ramstein)

>some of the buttons of the left hand are "single notes" and the others are chords (meaning one button= one chord)
oh wow

so you can play a chord with one button and notes with the same hand (I assume chord extensions) and solo with the right hand

what chords do the buttons cover?

No but it's easier if you already know piano I guess; you still have to learn how to use the bellows and the left hand
I don't have a favorite accordion song if you meant folk song.
Right now I'm intrigued by Nordheim's Flashing though
youtube.com/watch?v=ND-52UWSfLU

wow that's awesome

>what chords do the buttons cover?
all chords are three notes chords

you have major chord, minor chord, major dominant seventh chord and diminished chord

nordheim is truly a genius

bump

I play some cajun and creole music on a diatonic accordion. Kind of a whole different ballgame than the piano accordion.

I suppose you've got a real niche worked out for yourself, but do you regret not investing all that time into a more commonly used instrument?

The thing is accordion is not so commonly used only because most people still think it's only a folk instrument and they look after you only because they want that folk feeling.

Apart from that, piano accordion is full of possibilities: it's a wind instrument that use the simple layout of the piano and the fifth cirle for the basses.

Overall I think I wouldn't reconsider my choice but I wished there weren't so many prejudices.
And come on, do we need so many guitar players?

last bump

From the way you're describing it, it sounds like it's more flexible than I thought but there isn't really a huge precedent for it being used in non-folk settings. No matter what you do, unless you run it through a bunch of effects, people are gonna hear that timbre and immediately label you as folk which is probably pretty frustrating. You can play just about any genre with a piano/keyboard but you'd need to work pretty hard at your playing to be able to play something like jazz and be respected as more than a novelty act.

> you'd need to work pretty hard at your playing to be able to play something like jazz and be respected as more than a novelty act
that's exactly how accordion entered the jazz world. Richard Galliano does this but compared to the younger generations it's so overrated. Nonetheless it is known as how jazz accordion sounds like

There are good artists out there though
youtube.com/watch?v=edfBz7bO7T0

imagine the derek bailey of accordion

Have you heard of Vincent Peirani?

Yes. Very good player, but to much galliano-like when it comes to jazz honestly. He's still young I guess - and very good technic

I mostly listen to jazz and this is more just impressive considering it's on the accordion. They're good players but just based on listening to this, not outstanding compared to the rest of jazz.

never said it jazz on accordion is better than every other instrument - I'm saying it can be good as piano or guitar

>never said it jazz on accordion is better than every other instrument
I wasn't saying you did. I was saying this is mediocre compared to the likes of Charlie Parker and the best pianists and guitarists are probably better than the best accordion players. I've only heard a handful of artists who make proper use of accordion but it never stood out to me as being out of this world exceptional.
It's not outside of the realms of possibility that someone could play accordion in a way that would place them in the pantheon of great jazz soloists but I figure if it had been done, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

I get your point.

I honestly think though that my instrument is more difficult to handle than any other instrument for reasons I won't say here because i'm lazy (basically the bellows and the way sound is formed) and,

most important, a bad attitude with studying music. Accordion players are too often not much dedicated and over time that creates mediocre professional and bad teachers.

I just hope renewing the image of accordion and promoting good artists will change something, maybe

Well I hope you end up being a great jazz player and changing that perception. The world could always do with more great music.