80 bass ( 5 row ) accordions with the doubling up of the 5th row

[wirralaccordion]

I started a thread in the Accordion Chat section and to my astonishment I found that there are 80 bass accordions in existence in which the 5th row of bass buttons doubles up as a dominat seventh chord and a diminished chord by omitting a single note from the four note chord and leaving only three notes to make a triad instead of the complete four note chord. ( A very clever idea which I assume is patented! )

Given that the resulting chords would otherwise be on adjacent columns, in practice, I would think that playing these chords within tunes on a 80 bass accordion becomes much more difficult. I have never seen any guidance on this in any of the instruction/tutor books such as Palmer-Hughes, etc.

Does anybody play one of these accordions and if so how did you find the transition to it from the standard 6 row accordion?

 

[godgi]

my understanding is that some french accordions probably the 6 row models make a change or leave out a note in the 7th position and then the row below in combination produces a dim chord. I have an 80 base but i am not sure if the 7th chord on mine has the above arrangement. If you look at a good base chord chart you should be able to figure it out but I think its only on the 120 base models where there are 3 single rows normally fundamental counter and minor third row on outside that this arrangement is standard.
Sorry cant be of more help.
Godgi

 

[losthobos]

I play only 3x3 french systems or an 80 bass with the 7th/dim option....
You'll find finding the dim easy once its in your system memory...and there's a sweet cheat available too....
So ideally you play C bass note with F7 Chord to make C dim... Easy once remembered but another even easier option is to play
C bass note and play the D7 chord with your thumb....
Sneaky but also works fine.... French player showed me with a whisper and smirk once.... Ok not as perfect as a stradella dim but works well enogh
Good luck

 

[donn]

My accordions are like that, albeit 120 bass and 3 bass rows. I play one tune in which I play a diminished chord a couple of times; that's the apparent extent of my need for diminished chords. So I'm not really the one to comment on how easy it is - I guess it's a little awkward just because I do it so rarely, but far from the hardest thing about playing.

Presumably a alternative 80 bass layout exists, where the 7 includes the root and thus won't serve as a diminished - though we've discussed it here at some length and I don't remember establishing that for a fact. Would such a design facilitate the playing of diminished chords? I'd say no.

The real question may be whether there's some exotic chord that relies on the traditional 1-3-7 seventh, in combination with other columns some distance away.

 

[Pipemajor]

My Paolo Soprani ( French bought) is 100 bass 5 row, giving the full range of a 120 bass without the diminished chords.
I have no trouble getting the diminished chords just by moving down one row from the 7th,
It come as second nature after a while.

 

[oldbayan]

I think you can do that on the Roland V-accordions, among many other things!