New player from the Netherlands

[Robin66]

Dear accordionists,

First I will introduce myself. My name is Robin, 54 years old, born in Rotterdam but now living in the countryside of the Netherlands, Elst.

When I was 10 years old I went to an open day at the music school in Rotterdam. An accordion was hung there around my shoulders and I fell in love instantly. But ... my parents didn't like it. It had to be a classical guitar .. also nice and I played that enthusiastically but over the years I kept thinking about that accordion.
Now there is a bit more peace in my life and a good time to learn more about that accordion. Bought a second hand Honer student 40, which sounds great and seems like a great instrument for me as a beginner.

Hopefully I will find a lot of info and nice contacts here on the forum. At the moment I am going to enjoy the new instrument first, but in the course of time I will look for a teacher who can help me further.
I wish everyone a lot of fun and hopefully meet others in some sort of "meeting" that will probably be organized somewhere again soon.

Sincerely,

Robin

 

[Glenn]

Welcome Robin.
I started on the same model accordion as you when as you say “there was more peace in my life”. Hope you have a good journey with the forum members here. Look forward to the news of your next instrument when you realise that the student model has its limits. ?

 

[Dingo40]

Robin,
Welcome!
I have several (very mature aged) Dutch friends ( who have migrated to Australia) and the accordion is their instrument of choice: most own several!?
We had a visit by a small flotilla of Dutch sailing vessels (see below). I told one of the captains they'd come some 250 years too late ( or we could all be speaking Dutch)! ?
Alas, he didn't seem to appreciate my little sally at humour ?.
Never mind!?

Dutch Tall Ships Arrive in Adelaide

Dutch Tall Ships will meet at Port Adelaide’s Inner Harbor from Wednesday 28 August to Sunday 1 September.

glamadelaide.com.au

 

[debra]

Welcome Robin. Good to see another player from the Netherlands on this forum.
I'm afraid the Hohner student 40 will not last you very long as you will soon start finding it too small and limited in registers and notes.
Something that's very important in buying an accordion besides things like how many voices, registers, notes, etc. it has is whether it "fits". For an adult human a "Student 40" will not fit properly. But when you are ready to "upgrade" as you progress in your accordion adventure, beware of the accordion sellers (stores) in the Netherlands that love money much more than they love accordions and desire to have happy customers!
But for now, enjoy what you have, and if you run out of music to play I can recommend Reba (called Music Unlimited before) in Zwolle, a publisher and book store, specialized in accordion. A very friendly older lady can find almost anything you may be looking for and get books to you quickly.
As for accordion teachers, it depends a bit on where you live. You say Elst, but there's more than one place in the Netherlands called Elst... There's Elst near Rhenen and there's Elst near Arnhem, and maybe there are more places with that name...

 

[Corinto]

Almost always with Paul who knows lots more than me and is a good and serious communicator.
But about the "Student 40" limitations I must disagree, at least partly ... just have a look and listen to Sandy Brechin on youtube and you will see all that can be done with a "Student 40" or similar accordion.

 

[debra]

Almost always with Paul who knows lots more than me and is a good and serious communicator.
But about the "Student 40" limitations I must disagree, at least partly ... just have a look and listen to Sandy Brechin on youtube and you will see all that can be done with a "Student 40" or similar accordion.

Sure there is good entertainment to be done with a Student 40... but when you get into more serious playing and want at least a 3 voice LMM accordion to have a dry LM and a tremolo MM and master LMM... and you also run out of notes rather quickly on a Student 40... So as a solo instrument and not something part of a popular song band the Student 40 is rather limited.

 

[Pipemajor]

Welcome to the forum Robin .
As you may have already noticed, there is an underlying perception among some members here that, you have to have the Rolls-Royce/Ferrari equivalent in accordions to be able to play properly.
This is simply not true as evidenced by the hundreds of accordionists on you tube demonstrating the most amazing skills with accordions some would think were only fit for the scrap heap.
As with all things, you must walk before you can run and the accordion is no different.
It is there to be enjoyed and please enjoy the journey. There will be some frustrations on the way but this forum will offer any help you may need.
When I first went to accordion classes, many years ago, the students were all loaned small 12 bass accordions which were sufficient to learn the rudiments.
If at some stage you think you may need a different accordion, then that is the time to think about such things.

 

[debra]

Welcome to the forum Robin .
As you may have already noticed, there is an underlying perception among some members here that, you have to have the Rolls-Royce/Ferrari equivalent in accordions to be able to play properly.
...

Well, that certainly does not apply to me
Not only did I never consider myself worthy of a Rolls-Royce/Ferrari equivalent in accordions... I could also never bring myself to spend the amount of money a top of the line accordion would cost, no matter whether I could afford it or not. Size matters more than ultimate features and quality. A beginner certainly does not need a 5 voice double cassotto convertor accordion... but having something like 3 voice (LMM), 80 (or 96) bass, and at least 34 but preferably 37 notes is what I would consider the minimum for a longer-time investment. And such an accordion can easily be had for around 500 euro, so it certainly doesn't have to be a Rolls-Royce.
For now what Robin66 probably needs most is a good teacher and to give meaningful advice about that some less ambiguous info about location is needed.

 

[Dingo40]

Corinto,
Thanks for the tip about Sandy Brechin.?
I thought I'd link a clip or two of his here so members could judge for themselves.
It's proven somewhat tricky, as on many of his clips he spends more time talking than playing ?
Anyway, although these may not be the most representative, you can have some idea of his talents: he's pretty good imo!??
Another:
As usual: it's not the instrument that matters, it's what you can do with it!?

 

[dunlustin]

Welcome Robin,
It is always really enjoyable to read of someone's excitement and enthusiasm for a long-awaited experience.
At 54 you are probably classed as a 'spring chicken' compared to many of us so there is plenty of time to explore accordion addiction.
We sometimes define our 'boxes' by what they do not have. This is not usual for other instruments.
People speak of a 'full-size' accordion but nobody talks about a full-size trumpet.
As well as face-to-face tuition, there's lots of other learning materials out there - and you should find some useful info' here as well.
Enjoy your new instrument!

 

[Tom]

Welcome Robin!

 

[jozz]

goed bezig Robin

 

[Robin66]

What a nice and warm welcome! And good to see that this is such an active forum.

Of course the possibilities of this accordion are limited, but at the moment I am very happy with it.
I do notice that the length of the accordion and straps to support on my leg is a bit short. I am 1.87 meters, indeed that fit could be better. But I am very enthusiastic about the sound of the accordion and just simply that I can now enjoy playing this instrument.
I’m still a real beginner who needs to control the independent movement of the left hand. But that will certainly work out, I notice that every day it gets a little better. Besides Youtube for info, I ordered the book "Play Accordion 1" from Peter Michael Haas. Let's see if I can make a reasonable start with the accordion. Of course I want to take lessons, but I still have to find out what’s the best idea.
In the course of time you can think along what a good next accordion is for me.

The world is getting smaller, contacts over long distances can be easier and more common. For example this forum, unbelievable what a development in the world when you look at how we recently only had those old four-masters ships.

Good advice is always welcome, enjoy the music and again thanks for the warm welcome.

By the way, I live in Elst, Gelderland, between Arnhem and Nijmegen.

 

[debra]

...

By the way, I live in Elst, Gelderland, between Arnhem and Nijmegen.

On the site https://novam.net/educatie-en-nieuwe-muziek/docenten-en-orkestenoverzicht/ you can search for accordion teachers based on location. There are two or three (I don't know them personally) between Arnhem and Nijmegen.
There are also two accordion groups near Arnhem: one in Oosterbeek and one in Arnhem Zuid.

 

[Valski]

Welcome Robin, I am happy to hear about your enthusiasm for the accordion may this give you great pleasure for many years to come. Your Hohner sounds wonderful and I'm sure that you will enjoy it very much.
Mr. De Bra is of course is your local expert and I'm sure that he can direct you when you need assistance. If your Hohner suits you then by all means continue playing it but you might also want to consider a full size accordion as it will present you with more possibilities while at the same time being more comfortable because I suspect that you may be quite tall. As someone over 190 cm tall I also feel that a larger instrument suits me better.
The Netherlands is one of the few places in the world where I feel short. ?

 

[pentaprism]

Welcome, Robin.

>> I am 1.87 meters....

I have a few friends from the Netherlands. None of them is less than 1.8 meters. I, on the other hand, am from Asia, where 1.7 meters is considered tall. Once I asked a Dutch co-worker, "Are all Dutch people as tall as you are?" "Yes," he replied, "all the short ones drowned years ago."

Unfortunately - or fortunately, I haven't figured that out yet - none of my Dutch friends plays accordion.

>> there is a bit more peace in my life....

No peace here, my friend. You already see the battle between the Rolls-Royce/Ferrari owners and the Ford Pinto owners.

I'm a Toyota owner, but have to side with the Rolls-Royce/Ferrari owners on the issue of the Hohner Student 40. You will quickly outgrow its keyboard with only 2 octaves, besides other limitations.

Welcome again.

 

[Dingo40]

Pentaprism,
I would have characterised the dichotomy as being analogous to that existing between the violinists (even concert violinists) and the fiddlers.
Thankfully, both have their plaoe! ?
Not everyone needs a Stradivarius! ?

 

[losthobos]

Greetings Robin... It don't matter what you PLAY, it's only a game anyway... ?

 

[Glenn]

The Peter Haas book was one of the first I bought too. Great book with genuinely nice exercise and practice pieces. Only problem is it goes from easy to quite advanced at a very fast pace. A bit like that Tom & Jerry cartoon where Tom learns the piano, opens the exercise book, sees a single note on a stave and plays it, turns the page, sees two notes and plays them, ….., turns the page and cracks his knuckles before playing a piano concerto.

 

[Robin66]

The Peter Haas book was one of the first I bought too. Great book with genuinely nice exercise and practice pieces. Only problem is it goes from easy to quite advanced at a very fast pace. A bit like that Tom & Jerry cartoon where Tom learns the piano, opens the exercise book, sees a single note on a stave and plays it, turns the page, sees two notes and plays them, ….., turns the page and cracks his knuckles before playing a piano concerto.

Well that sounds like the book I need! Perfect, exactly how i want to do it. I'm already quite good at one note? so will be playing a concerto in no time.

Seriously, I'm not so musically gifted and a slow learner, but also with loads of persistence and I enjoy music a lot so maybe it will take a bit longer but I do not mind so much. At the moment my wife tells me I'm sticking out the tip of my tong while playing from concentration. But there is also a big smile on my face...

That being said: what book would you recommend to fill the gap??