M
maugein96
Guest
Here I go again!
Found this guy whilst browsing You Tube. This is the kind of stuff that I grew up listening to on my grandfathers old wireless set in the 50s.
OK, its old hat now, but there used to be hundreds of players who could play like that on accordions the size of a garden shed. Those were the days before midi, digi, reverb, and all the other boxes of tricks that now tempt us. These guys just had to get on with it regardless. Very few modern players will ever develop a technique like that, as they no longer have to.
Four fingers with the thumb riding passenger on the side of the keyboard, and he does all that! It must have taken extreme discipline to keep the thumb on the sidelines at all times (I think he used it once or twice on the outside row to get 5 note chords).
Modern chromatic methods tend to encourage use of the thumb from the outset, and I would have to agree that the thumb is now all but indispensable to be able to play the more modern compositions of whatever genre. In days of old most accordion compositions were probably less adventurous, and generally could be played on CBA with 3 or 4 fingers, as aptly demonstrated by our Portuguese friend on his Dial? make accordion. Although I have recently begun to use my thumb more of late, I still find myself with it on the side to play old fashioned polkas etc, as it gets in the way and is surplus to requirements.
As far as French musette goes, the conclusion to be drawn here is that in the old days you could get by without the thumb, as the entire accordion repertoire consisted of little runs, triplets, and other tricks that most competent players could manage with 4 fingers only. However, if you want to play in a modern style, then a lot of the compositions are written by players who use all 5 fingers, and youd be at a disadvantage. Jo Privat, perhaps the greatest French musette style accordionist of all time, made frequent use of his thumb to get more fluency in his playing, which was influenced by French gypsy and jazz music.
Richard Galliano and others have developed a new French musette style using an Italian fingering method that gives a more legato sound, and often an Italian accordion, and its taken me a long time to warm to this different style, as its all rather complicated compared to the old style. That said, Ive just sent away for a copy of his method to see if it will make any difference to my understanding of how to make better use of my thumb
Enjoy Daniel Rato as an example of what some of us oldies remember the accordion in its heyday.
Found this guy whilst browsing You Tube. This is the kind of stuff that I grew up listening to on my grandfathers old wireless set in the 50s.
OK, its old hat now, but there used to be hundreds of players who could play like that on accordions the size of a garden shed. Those were the days before midi, digi, reverb, and all the other boxes of tricks that now tempt us. These guys just had to get on with it regardless. Very few modern players will ever develop a technique like that, as they no longer have to.
Four fingers with the thumb riding passenger on the side of the keyboard, and he does all that! It must have taken extreme discipline to keep the thumb on the sidelines at all times (I think he used it once or twice on the outside row to get 5 note chords).
Modern chromatic methods tend to encourage use of the thumb from the outset, and I would have to agree that the thumb is now all but indispensable to be able to play the more modern compositions of whatever genre. In days of old most accordion compositions were probably less adventurous, and generally could be played on CBA with 3 or 4 fingers, as aptly demonstrated by our Portuguese friend on his Dial? make accordion. Although I have recently begun to use my thumb more of late, I still find myself with it on the side to play old fashioned polkas etc, as it gets in the way and is surplus to requirements.
As far as French musette goes, the conclusion to be drawn here is that in the old days you could get by without the thumb, as the entire accordion repertoire consisted of little runs, triplets, and other tricks that most competent players could manage with 4 fingers only. However, if you want to play in a modern style, then a lot of the compositions are written by players who use all 5 fingers, and youd be at a disadvantage. Jo Privat, perhaps the greatest French musette style accordionist of all time, made frequent use of his thumb to get more fluency in his playing, which was influenced by French gypsy and jazz music.
Richard Galliano and others have developed a new French musette style using an Italian fingering method that gives a more legato sound, and often an Italian accordion, and its taken me a long time to warm to this different style, as its all rather complicated compared to the old style. That said, Ive just sent away for a copy of his method to see if it will make any difference to my understanding of how to make better use of my thumb
Enjoy Daniel Rato as an example of what some of us oldies remember the accordion in its heyday.