Brand spankin' newbee

[JKJ]

Hello all! An introductory post...

I have been fascinated by these instruments ,for a long time, from Lawrence Welk as a kid to listening to street musicians in Paris, Austria, and Italy. I LOVE the sound and the idea of such a versatile portable instrument. I'm a long-time piano player (60+ years, classical and improv), play guitar and french horn/brass (50+ years), and have a a smattering of playing with others such as violin, cello, harmonica, ukulele etc.

I found this forum just a few days ago, right after I got my first accordion. Actually, it was the first time I've touched one! It came from the estate of a late relative (bought it sight unseen), who brought from Germany some years ago. It appears to have never been played. Oh no! I've read about the dangers of this! It's a Hohner Verdi III 41/120 and to my inexperienced touch and ear seemed to play OK. I could handle the keyboard but was intimidated by the bass buttons...



The first thing I did was take it to a respected local accordion technician who after looking inside professed much pleasure at it's pristine condition - reeds, leathers, etc. While he is making a few minor adjustments and ordering some new Italian-made straps I've been reading this forum, some books, and cruising the internet. I've located and made arrangements with a recommended instructor. I realize I could probably learn much on my own with books and such but as a woodturning instructor I'm also intimately aware of the value of expert feedback!

I am so excited and can't wait to get the instrument back in my hands. I hope to contribute as I am able. Thanks for being here!

JKJ

BTW, just for fun: I'm 73, live on a 27 acre farm with llamas, alpacas, horses, and more, and hatch and raise peacocks, guineas, and turkeys. A few years ago I built a shop (24x62) primarily for woodturning but with facilities for flat wood, welding shop, electronics repair, small machine shop, 3d printing, library, and, of course incubating eggs. One hobby is playing in the dirt with tractor, excavator, and tracked loader. Good clean fun!

 

[TomBR]

Hi JKJ and welcome to the forum. Sounds like you have a really good find with your Verdi.
Thanks for the background info, sounds like a good place to be in. And you're going to find time to play the accordion!

As a pianist you'll hve a great start on the right hand, though you may find turning the keyboard to vertical is more odd, and makes more difference than you might expect.
The bass end will be partly new territory but Stradella bass is so logical, built around the circle of fifths, that you'll be comfortable there in no time.
Have a great time!
Tom

 

[JKJ]

Thanks. For now, until I get the instrument back in hand I’ve been practicing fingering with a vertical “paper” piano. I drew a few keyboard octaves, with keys slightly narrower than my Baldwin keys, and position it on a clipboard vertically. It surprised me how little time it took to mentally rotate things - I’m practicing scales, chords, etc, sometimes looking and sometime looking away and back to check how far I’m off. Now that I think of it, I may make another with some little blocks to represent the black keys to see how much feel might help.

The circle of fifths is an old neglected friend - time to get reacquainted!

JKJ

 

[Pipemajor]

Thanks. For now, until I get the instrument back in hand I’ve been practicing fingering with a vertical “paper” piano. I drew a few keyboard octaves, with keys slightly narrower than my Baldwin keys, and position it on a clipboard vertically. It surprised me how little time it took to mentally rotate things - I’m practicing scales, chords, etc, sometimes looking and sometime looking away and back to check how far I’m off. Now that I think of it, I may make another with some little blocks to represent the black keys to see how much feel might help.

The circle of fifths is an old neglected friend - time to get reacquainted!

JKJ

If you have an ipad, you can download an app for the piano accordion then play if for "real"

 

[JeffJetton]

From a fellow Tennessean, welcome to the forum and to accordion life in general, JKJ!

Not that you asked for advice, but I'll give some anyway... I also came at accordion from piano and other instruments, and there are a few things to note:

• You may have to train yourself out of the pianistic instinct of hitting a key harder to make the note louder (and softer to make it quieter). Dynamics are fundamentally controlled by the bellows, of course. It actually only takes a slight bit of pressing on a right-hand key to get that note to "open" and sound. Really more like guitar in the sense that pressing a key, as with fretting a note (hammer-ons aside), selects the note to be played, but doesn't play it. Pushing/pulling the bellows is like striking a guitar string with a finger or pick: It's what actually makes the selected note sound and determines its volume. Hitting a key harder does the same thing pressing down on a fret harder does--nothing.
• There are two common fingering styles for the left hand. The so-called "3-2" method uses your third finger on the fundamental bass button and your second finger on the major chord button. "4-3" uses the fourth finger for the bass and third for the chord. This "starting point" generally determines the fingering approach to other bass patterns and scales. Your instructor's advice and perspective should be taken into account here, but as someone who no doubt has good finger strength/dexterity across all the fingers in your left hand, you might want to consider going with "4-3". (Finger numbers on accordion are the same as piano. The left hand thumb still counts as 1 even though it's not typically used.)

There's a "Nashville Accordion Society" meet-up here the first Thursday of each month, which you are more than welcome to join if you don't mind the long drive. I've only been a few times, but in my experience a good time is had by all and it is suitable for all levels of experience.

Good luck!