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21 tunes in 21 weeks......Week #17(all contributors)

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Week 13 coming up and I looked at several different songs but ended up with a Happy, Classic Slovenian Yankovic Polka...Top of the Hill. I'm beginning to think I'll be the last man standing.
Very enjoyable George. You sure are a fan of Slovenian polkas! Your accordion has the perfect sound for them. Is there a book in existence containing the sheet music of Slovenian Polkas? If so, does it include the Good Times polka which you have played previously and which I particulary like? Thanks.
 
Nice work George.
I don’t have a new tune, but I did a video session with a guitarist and bassist with 4 tunes I already knew. I should have it to post next week. In the meantime, I’m looking at my PA rep and trying to relearn some on the CBA, so hopefully I can learn them quicker and get back in the 21 tune challenge.
 
From musette last week it is back to classical for week 12 with a waltz from Emile Waldteufel. A few inaccuracies in my playing but the 80/20 rule applies here, 80% towards perfection takes 20% of the time it takes for perfection ( 100% ).
 
Very enjoyable George. You sure are a fan of Slovenian polkas! Your accordion has the perfect sound for them. Is there a book in existence containing the sheet music of Slovenian Polkas? If so, does it include the Good Times polka which you have played previously and which I particulary like? Thanks.
Thanks. You can try ebay for slovenian sheet music. Here is a link for concertina music which can be used for PA. I could never find the sheet music for Good Time polka...had to listen to youtube recordings and figure it out.
Note: There is a also a Good Times Polka which is a different tune than Good Time Polka.
 
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Good tunes this week everyone, I enjoyed listening to them. I am a no show this time, I am trying to get to grips with alternating bass, it's coming but not very quickly, hopefully next week. I am also going to have to concentrate on memorising a few of the tunes as I am off to Halsway Manor for their folk week soon, and some of the folkies frown on sheet music.
 
I was going through my materials to see what I could come up with for Week 14. I came across a songbook entitled "Play Accordion like Art Van Damme" Well I've got news for them...there's only one person who can play accordion like Art Van Damme. Anyway, an interesting arrangement of "On Green Dolphin Street" was found. So I put it out there with a few minor gaffes.

 
Good going everyone!

Welcome to week 15. I've been off for a while but keeping up with adding a song a week, but not recording anything. It's been a good excercise so far, especially since I'm volunteering tomorrow, first time I'll play somewhere in over a year, also first time I'll play masked up as the delta variant is around so not sure how long I'll be able to play. Just when we thought it was safe to go out....
 
Made it to week 15. Will I be the last man standing? Tried an experiment for week 15. Yes, another Cleveland style Polka..."I Wanna Call You Sweetheart". I played along with a Karaoke CD put out by Fred Ziwich where you can play the complete mixes or fill in the lead accordion yourself which is what I did. By the way, I have listened/watched all the contributors so far give them all a (y)
 
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I’ve decide that I’m going to work on 3 tunes per month. 1 new tune, 1 tune that is in my rep already but could use some work and 1 tune that I played on PA that I want to relearn on CBA. I probably won’t post each one, but I’m working slowly.
 
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Great job, George. You sound great, and the backing tracks are really nice too.
 
Great as usual, George, and thanks! I'm still adding one tune a week, with Summertime for week 15, pretty much given up on recording, but may try again after summertime. I've been able to learn one a week, but am underwater with keeping them all fresh, probably catch up around week 30. Still happy about the exercise though.
 
Welcome to week 16, winding down. I'm adding La Vie en Rose this week.

So, we've suffered through this long enough for me to have learned a few things about my own adventure. Your results may vary. For me:

1. It's possible and instructive to build repertoire by adding one tune a week and concentrating my practicing and playing to these tunes.

2. It's not possible (for me) to keep all the songs fresh in my mind at the level of adding one a week.

3. It will be necessary after the 21 weeks to stop, reflect and "perfect" the repertoire for a while before adding new tunes.

4. It's not possible to learn a new tune each week and make a suitable (to me) recording. The acceptable recordings come from a tune baked into mind and muscle memory. The recordings that result from "50 takes to get one" just don't cut it.


Ah, but you say, there is a solution! Learn to sight read at playing speed. Or at least learn to sight read at speed songs you know or have played a few times. (Alternatively learn to play by ear those songs you know).

So, this offers the next challenge. 21 weeks of learning to sight read at speed. We'll see how that goes after these 21 weeks. Oh, and yeah, gotta play those Christmas songs soon. Could be a good venue for the sight reading.

Whadda ya think?
 
Just to prove I'm still going, Uncle Bernard's Polka, often paired with the Jenny Lind in this part of the world. This is my first attempt at alternating bass and it went pretty well, until the last 4 bars where I blew up.


This has been good for me, especially as I build up from being a beginner, although after this challenge is done I think I'll probably want to look at a tune a month.

Tom gets sent to the naughty step for mentioning the C word in August :p

I didn't answer Nick's boat question, I hit Post too soon. I have an old (almost as old as me) sailing boat, I am currently trying to get the mechanic to looks at the engine and see if it still works.
 
Good work Jeremy! Yeah, but you did very well with the basses right up until then. Congrats! Glad you like this challenge.
 
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