How to play fill-ins on the accordion?
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Seems a little self-explanatory to me, but let me try. A fill-in is a piece of music that occupies the spare or empty moments before or in between where the melody lies and it's reason for existence is to somewhere enhance song dynamics.
A scale fill-in is when one inserts a part of a scale to fill-in as an intro, ending or middle of the song
The arpeggio fill in is where an arpeggio is used as a bridge to the melody. Can e used at the start or end or in the middle of a piece of music.
The chord fill-in is where chords are used to fill in moments of silence or lead-ins or bridges to music.
Unlike chords, rhythmic chords are chords played to a rhythm or tempo and are basically a extension of the chord fill-in.
Combination fill-in... likely the only one that really needs no explanation... it is a little bit of some or all of the above.
Would a short video be of some better assistance for you? Let me know and I will see what I can do. BTW, fill-ins are generally (but not always) a form of improvisation done by the musician.
A scale fill-in is when one inserts a part of a scale to fill-in as an intro, ending or middle of the song
The arpeggio fill in is where an arpeggio is used as a bridge to the melody. Can e used at the start or end or in the middle of a piece of music.
The chord fill-in is where chords are used to fill in moments of silence or lead-ins or bridges to music.
Unlike chords, rhythmic chords are chords played to a rhythm or tempo and are basically a extension of the chord fill-in.
Combination fill-in... likely the only one that really needs no explanation... it is a little bit of some or all of the above.
Would a short video be of some better assistance for you? Let me know and I will see what I can do. BTW, fill-ins are generally (but not always) a form of improvisation done by the musician.
Im working on this and will have something for you before the end of the day today. Just a note, dont expect anything big, I will just zip through this to give an idea... I have not played a lot thanks to the pain caused by the swollen joints of arthritis.Sarah post_id=60904 time=1530922854 user_id=137 said:Yes, real life examples would be great
Can fill-in be used instead of a long note?
Can it be used in place of a long note? Yes, I see no reason why not (other than you making the choice in which single or combination of fills or no fill at all, sounds best to your ear).
Photography is one of my passions, and I first learned how to take pictures. I then learned early on in life that there are some very specific rules and formulas in how to create a better picture in photography. Follow the rules and your photography improves... but once I have mastered these rules, perfected my game, I found that knowing when to bend or break these rules took my photography to even higher heights.
Music is a lovely thing. Once you master those rules that let you play music properly, you will see that if you bend or break these rules that you can take your music to a higher level of beauty. One way to do this (and there are limitless options here), is done by mastering those concepts like scales, chords and arpeggios and then just adding them to those areas where you, as the artist, can insert in to your playing to make your musical painting more vibrant.
However, like anything in life, too much of ANYTHING makes it worse.
For example, there is a fairly famous sax player in the Czech republic who adds accent notes. Of themselves, they add a nice touch, but this man adds them in the form of bending notes... to every second note he plays... and as good as this guy is... I cannot stand listening to him, it drives me crazy, to the point that if I ever saw him do this I real life, I would want to bitch-slap him... lol
Music can be complimented, but fills cannot take over the song, they cannot become the song, they ONLY add to the song, but used in excess, take away and introduce the concept of becoming monotonous and a distraction to the music.
Keymn
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Joey Miskula and Jimmy Capps are my favorites. Notice how suttle the accordion fill-ins are...
Keymn post_id=60920 time=1530979090 user_id=2502 said:
Excellent sample of a couple kinds of fill-ins. They can be just as well used when playing alone as well, and on top of that, neither of us even mentions the fact that as accordionists we play with TWO hands, so why not create fill-ins with the left hand as well?
Anyways, this is my weak sauce attempt at a fast explanation, just CLICK HERE.
Keymn
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Well done. Doing the fills without taking away from the melody of the song. Did you ever go into a restaurant and a piano player is playing? After a minute or two of the song, you finally figure out what they are playing? They overplay with fills. Joey Miskula and Jimmy Capps are award winning studio musicians. Joey Miskula was Franky Yankovich Accordion Player Since 1962. I have worked on a session with Jimmy Capps in 1972 which he backed me up. No complicated riffs, just some good fills. Check out this recording Jimmy Capps and a pedal steel played on one of my tracks. Notice how he filled in verse, then layed back for pedal steel fills...JerryPH post_id=60931 time=1531005752 user_id=1475 said:Keymn post_id=60920 time=1530979090 user_id=2502 said:
Excellent sample of a couple kinds of fill-ins. They can be just as well used when playing alone as well, and on top of that, neither of us even mentions the fact that as accordionists we play with TWO hands, so why not create fill-ins with the left hand as well?
Anyways, this is my weak sauce attempt at a fast explanation, just CLICK HERE.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yu9wp0oslax63eb/So Much in Love With You.mp3?dl=0
Sarah
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JerryPH, thank you very much for your video lesson. It was really helpful for me
I did some research on the Internet, and I found this article
https://evangelisticpiano.com/book/export/html/36
I did some research on the Internet, and I found this article
https://evangelisticpiano.com/book/export/html/36
Sarah, youre welcome, glad there was some small thing there for you.
When there are so many fills that you have difficulty knowing what the very popular song is... theyre overplaying.
I know of a button accordion group that plays on a Czech TV station. The music is good but the fills are IDENTICAL from song to song. They not only lose the ability to make a song sound good, they have that skill and make ALL songs they play sound the same, irrespective of what song they play because they boost the volume of the fills to just over the sound of the group. I have a feeling that it is the group leader doing the fills and that hes stroking his ego by raising his sound in post process... a fill is a fill, its not the main melody!
Yes, been there!Keymn post_id=60932 time=1531037582 user_id=2502 said:
When there are so many fills that you have difficulty knowing what the very popular song is... theyre overplaying. I know of a button accordion group that plays on a Czech TV station. The music is good but the fills are IDENTICAL from song to song. They not only lose the ability to make a song sound good, they have that skill and make ALL songs they play sound the same, irrespective of what song they play because they boost the volume of the fills to just over the sound of the group. I have a feeling that it is the group leader doing the fills and that hes stroking his ego by raising his sound in post process... a fill is a fill, its not the main melody!
JerryPH post_id=60936 time=1531052237 user_id=1475 said:Sarah, youre welcome, glad there was some small thing there for you.
Yes, been there!Keymn post_id=60932 time=1531037582 user_id=2502 said:
I know of a button accordion group that plays on a Czech TV station. The music is good but the fills are IDENTICAL from song to song (and there are only 2 fills used). They not only lose the ability to make a song sound good, they have that skill and make ALL songs they play sound the same, irrespective of what song they play because they boost the volume of the fills to just over the sound of the group. I have a feeling that it is the group leader doing the fills and that hes stroking his ego by raising his sound in post process... a fill is a fill, its not the main melody!
Keymn
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JerryPH post_id=60937 time=1531052296 user_id=1475 said:JerryPH post_id=60936 time=1531052237 user_id=1475 said:Sarah, youre welcome, glad there was some small thing there for you.
Yes, been there!Keymn post_id=60932 time=1531037582 user_id=2502 said:
I know of a button accordion group that plays on a Czech TV station. The music is good but the fills are IDENTICAL from song to song (and there are only 2 fills used). They not only lose the ability to make a song sound good, they have that skill and make ALL songs they play sound the same, irrespective of what song they play because they boost the volume of the fills to just over the sound of the group. I have a feeling that it is the group leader doing the fills and that hes stroking his ego by raising his sound in post process... a fill is a fill, its not the main melody!
Dick Cantino was a great example. He never overplayed a song. Maybe I am boasting, but I know my audience. They want to here the song melody, see a smile and little fill between the melody.
That's the whole trick... like any spice, a little goes a long way. :ch
:ch
JeffJetton
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I've always called them just "fills". Did people really used to call them "fill-ins" back in ye olde days?
Maybe they were inspired by that song: "Fill-ins... nothing more than fill-ins..."
Maybe they were inspired by that song: "Fill-ins... nothing more than fill-ins..."
Fills or fill-ins, doesn't really matter, but the author of that book seemed to want to use "fill-ins".
Thanks for that great demo Jerry!
I couldnt resist posting this example of Giorgio C. playing each of these fill types as his wife sings basically, you cant play around with this love. ☺ Its possible that you might think this is overkill on the fills, but you can get some good ideas of how each type fits.
I couldnt resist posting this example of Giorgio C. playing each of these fill types as his wife sings basically, you cant play around with this love. ☺ Its possible that you might think this is overkill on the fills, but you can get some good ideas of how each type fits.
JerryPH post_id=60931 time=1531005752 user_id=1475 said:Anyways, this is my weak sauce attempt at a fast explanation, just CLICK HERE.
nice should be stickied :tup:
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