Hello from the Basque Country. A YouTube channel with resources for learning the accordion

[Ricardo Llanos]

Hello:

My name is Ricardo Llanos. I have been in the forum for some months, but this is the first time I write. I teach accordion at a music school and acoustics at university, in Vitoria-Gasteiz, a city in the Basque Country (northern Spain).

In case I can contribute something, I leave here the address of my YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/@ricardollanos

I started it as a help to my own students during the pandemic.
The videos are arranged according to playlists dedicated to the various technical-musical aspects of playing on the accordion (generally buttons in the right manual -C griff- and both standard basses and free basses in the left manual): publications, geometry of the “buttonboards”, bellows, articulation, standard or Stradella bass, free bass, jazz chords on standard bass, scales, parallel technique, combination of the two hands, fingering, minitutorials… Only two of the playlists are dedicated to the songs of my own methods, but there is absolutely no need to get them: usually I show the score along the explanation, and in the videos about technique I put the scores on the video. Anyway, there are also some scores and arrangements to be downloaded.

Unfortunately, so far all the videos are recorded in Spanish. I don't know how well YouTube's automatic translation will work. Anyway, in the description of the videos I try to be very detailed and all the texts are in English too. It is my intention to start recording some of these videos in English, little by little. In fact, I have translated some audios, with the idea of recording them in English. And if I can explain some detail or doubt, I will try to do my best.

For the moment being, if wished, this little update of the booklet “Accordion for composers” can be freely downloaded from my personal website:
https://www.acordeondivertido.com/en/product/acordeon-para-compositores-gratis-ingles/

And the thesis entitled "Acústica del Acordeón” (Acoustics of the Accordion) can be freely downloaded from the website of the University of the Basque Country. It is written in Spanish (another task I have pending: translating it into English); but most of the articles on which it was based, and which appear in the bibliography, are written and published in English.
http://hdl.handle.net/10810/16562

I hope something of all of this can be helpful. If I can clarify anything, it would be my pleasure. Thank you all.

Greetings to everyone,

Ricardo Llanos

 

[petch]

Welcome Ricardo

I visited the Basque region last year (in search of an accordion as it happens!) - wonderful place

Looking forward to some English language videos, there really aren't enough on youtube for C system or free bass

 

[Tom]

Welcome Ricardo!

 

[Ffingers]

I live with a lady of Basque heritage who regales me with many tales of her Spanish upbringing, though she really does not consider the Basque country to be Spanish, any more than she likes the denegration of Cataluña by Spaniards who have never lived there.
I hope that you enjoy this forum - there are many very kind and helpful folk here, as I am finding out to my own great benefit.

 

[dunlustin]

From time to time, a post arrives that is just exciting.

 

[saundersbp]

t is my intention to start recording some of these videos in English, little by little. In fact, I have translated some audios, with the idea of recording them in English. And if I can explain some detail or doubt, I will try to do my best

A really interesting post!

I'd love to see some of your videos in English about C system and freebass. There is a real paucity of good materials in our language and what can be found in YouTube is often more in the misinformation category, despite being well intentioned of course!

 

[Ricardo Llanos]

Thank you all.

I will try to record some videos in English. As I said, it has been my intention for many months now, and I have even translated and corrected some audios, with the intention of learning my own text and recording it in English, but I have been putting it off. It is not my native language and I do not have the same command as in my mother tongue. Once the first ones are done, I hope it will be easier for me later, even though pronunciation will be pretty far from perfect.

I would like to start with the videos "Explaining the accordion" and "Position of the body and accordion". In the meantime, if anyone finds something interesting on the YouTube channel, great. I've been looking at how YouTube's automatic translation works and, unfortunately, it's not always the best, because, for example, it doesn't always perfectly understand what I say in Spanish. Even so, I think that certain videos on scales, parallel technique (button and free bass manuals), basic bellows technique... can be understood quite well. I am afraid that some others (subtleties about articulation by fingers and bellows, work on polyrhythms, detailed explanations or discussions on fingerings... to mention a few) are more difficult to follow if the audio is not directly in English or if I don't add the subtitles by hand.
In any case, I'll get to it little by little and do it my best. If I can contribute something, great. I myself am going to learn a lot.


Thank you very much again for the welcome.