New Here

[Alan Sharkis]

Hello All,

I'm Alan Sharkis, another guy from the US. I live on Long Island, take accordion lessons from a guy who's an hour's drive away. He's fantastic in many ways. He plays professionally, is a trained arranger with several compositions under his belt, is a music copyist, and did all of that privately. But what's even more special is that without any college credit, he's also a fantastic teacher. I should know -- I taught (not accordion, not even music) for more than thirty-three years.

But I'm a returnee to the accordion (PA in my case) and I love every minute I can grab with the instrument. I've played in a small combo as well as by myself, nothing professional, but a lot of hard work resulting in a lot of fun. I'm going to post in the midi board because I have a question that some of you might be able to answer.

I hope to hear from some of you on the board.

Alan

 

[TomBR]

Hi Alan, welcome to the forum. Sounds like you struck lucky with finding a good teacher.
It's a great thing about accordions, they're just so much fun, and some fine music may be produced along the way as well!
Tom

 

[Soulsaver]

Hi Alan - welcome to the forum; congrats on the finding a great teacher. He's a bit far for me...

 

[Zevy]

<FONT font=Garamond><SIZE size=125>Hello Alan and welcome aboard.

I was playing in 5 Towns this past Sunday. Who is your teacher?

Good luck,

 

[Alan Sharkis]

Hello Alan and welcome aboard.

I was playing in 5 Towns this past Sunday. Who is your teacher?

Good luck,[/size][/font][/quote]

John Custie.

 

[Alan Sharkis]

Hello Alan and welcome aboard.

I was playing in 5 Towns this past Sunday. Who is your teacher?

Good luck,[/size][/font][/quote]

John Custie.[/quote]

Zevy, Im sorry that I cut that message short. My wife was calling me for dinner.

Yes, John Custie is my teacher. I had tried a few others, but many of turned out to be keyboard players who thought they could teach accordion because, its just another keyboard. I anticipated that that was the case, so I asked each one of them if they performed on accordion and each one answered, no, or evaded the question. I also tried taking lessons from a guy who did play accordion, but had no respect for proper fingering or any other aspect of technique.

One day I discovered Johns website and decided to give him a try. I was impressed both with what he knew and how he learned it, and with his ability to convey it in a way that worked beautifully.

As an aside, I noticed that some of your CDs were favorably reviewed by Angelo DiPippo. It turns out that John did his finishing studies with Angelo.

Take care.

Alan

 

[JerryPH]

I was impressed both with what he knew and how he learned it, and with his ability to convey it in a way that worked beautifully.

That I would have to say is the #1 greatest challenge. There are many people that can teach but dont know the accordion. There are many great accordionists that cannot teach to save their lives, however there are VERY few that have both the knowledge/ability and know how to relay that knowledge in an effective manner.

If you are fortunate enough to find someone like that, hold on tight and suck every bit of knowledge you can out of that relationship and dont forget to treat them right in return.

 

[Alan Sharkis]

I was impressed both with what he knew and how he learned it, and with his ability to convey it in a way that worked beautifully.

That I would have to say is the #1 greatest challenge. There are many people that can teach but dont know the accordion. There are many great accordionists that cannot teach to save their lives, however there are VERY few that have both the knowledge/ability and know how to relay that knowledge in an effective manner.

If you are fortunate enough to find someone like that, hold on tight and suck every bit of knowledge you can out of that relationship and dont forget to treat them right in return. [/quote]

Yes, Jerry. Looking back to my childhood lessons, when the accordion was very popular, there were many more accordion teachers. So, the probability of getting a good one was greater. Today, theyre few and far between. Some teachers, and I have no way to judge how well this works, have made themselves available by exchanging MP3s with students who are a long distance away, or giving lessons via Skype. Can this substitute for a teacher being right there with you? I wonder ...

 

[JerryPH]

Well, in my opinion, Skype lessons with a good teacher are better than face to face lessons with a bad teacher or perhaps no teacher at all, though Skype is far from optimal as a medium.

Having the right person there in the same room at the same time is the best possible scenario. It all depends on what is available in your area, I suppose.

 

[keithclarke]

I'll put in my two-pennyworth here, because I've been having Skype lessons for some months, through Your Space Music Lessons. I took that route because I really wanted to learn properly after quite a while teaching myself from books and at the time there were no teachers in my part of Wales. In fact there is one now, but having got established with my Skype teacher I want to follow it through for a while. Yes, there are disadvantages to not being in the same room, and it takes a bit of getting used to. I plug the laptop into a large-screen tv so that I can see what's going on more easily. You also have to get used to wearing headphones - one can on, one off, so that you can still hear to play.

To anyone who hasn't tried it, it probably sounds awful, but I have found it surprisingly helpful, and the regular session gives me the incentive to struggle on. As Jerry says, having a good teacher is the bottom line, and I think I struck lucky. I have been introduced to a far wider range of music than I would have found by my own devices and enjoy the various challenges thrown my way. And not least is the blissful fact fact I do not have to carry my backbreaking instrument around with me to go to lessons.

 

[bobfou]

Hey Keith - Any chance of a link for your teacher please - The nearest teacher to me involves a 50 mile round trip with pretty dodgy parking at the other end and as you point out theyre heavy instruments to lug about!

cheers

Bob

 

[keithclarke]

Hi Bob. Go to myspacemusiclessons.com. I think they have two accordion teachers. Mine is Padruig Morrison, a brilliant player and thoroughly pleasant young man. They give the first lesson free as a try-out, I think.

 

[JerryPH]

Hey Keith - Any chance of a link for your teacher please - The nearest teacher to me involves a 50 mile round trip with pretty dodgy parking at the other end and as you point out theyre heavy instruments to lug about!

If you think that 50 miles was bad, back in the 70s, for several years every Saturday, my father and I travelled from Montreal to Toronto (375 miles each way) once a week to take courses from the only place available to me for accordion lessons (Free Bass)... Skype didnt exist then, neither did the internet, face to face was the only solution. The lessons were 2-4 hours (depending on subjects covered), then we sat back in the car and drove back to Montreal, usually after getting something to eat.

Thats something that I could not see myself doing nowadays, that takes incredible dedication and desire, and a level of seriousness that I no longer have. It certainly was a special time in my life, though!

 

[Alans]

Hello Alan from another Alan and obsessive pa lover!

 

[Zevy]

I noticed that some of your CDs were favorably reviewed by Angelo DiPippo. It turns out that John did his finishing studies with Angelo.

Take care.

Alan

<FONT font=Garamond><SIZE size=125><COLOR color=#0040FF>Alan - Angelo is a really great guy! I hope to get together with him in the near future.

 

[Bastien77]

Hello All,

Im Alan Sharkis, another guy from the US. I live on Long Island, take accordion lessons from a guy whos an hours drive away. Hes fantastic in many ways. He plays professionally, is a trained arranger with several compositions under his belt, shuttle Paris is a music copyist, and did all of that privately. But whats even more special is that without any college credit, hes also a fantastic teacher. I should know -- I taught (not accordion, not even music) for more than thirty-three years.

But Im a returnee to the accordion (PA in my case) and I love every minute I can grab with the instrument. Ive played in a small combo as well as by myself, nothing professional, but a lot of hard work resulting in a lot of fun. Im going to post in the midi board because I have a question that some of you might be able to answer.

I hope to hear from some of you on the board.

Alan

Hello Sharkis, glad to know you

 

[rada@accordiongirl]

hello, everyone, I am also new here. My name is Radmila, I am accordion teacher from Serbia. btw, we are considering accordion our national instrument, and I am really curious to know how is accordion music treating in other countries, especially in u.s.a.

 

[Geronimo]

hello, everyone, I am also new here. My name is Radmila, I am accordion teacher from Serbia. btw, we are considering accordion our national instrument, and I am really curious to know how is accordion music treating in other countries, especially in u.s.a.

I might be talking about things I dont know (and cannot really vouch for the U.S. anyway) but if I remember correctly, Serbia is one of the few countries with its own form of chromatic button accordion, in this case a 6-row B system typically with 3+4 bass system (140 basses). The only other countries I know with private systems are Belgium (with a bass system of its own often combined with a shifted B system variant) and Finland (with a shifted C system variant). Oh well, and France at least has a liking for 4-row C system with 3+3 basses, but its not as unique to France as the other systems.

When you say that the accordion is considered the national instrument, does this hold for any kind of system, or is it focused on the particular button system that does not really significantly exist elsewhere?

 

[lightninboy]

hello, everyone, I am also new here. My name is Radmila, I am accordion teacher from Serbia. btw, we are considering accordion our national instrument, and I am really curious to know how is accordion music treating in other countries, especially in u.s.a.

Accordion was kind of popular in the U.S.A. until electric guitars got popular in the 1950s and 1960s. Now accordions are mostly associated with ethnic groups music.

 

[rada@accordiongirl]

hello, everyone, I am also new here. My name is Radmila, I am accordion teacher from Serbia. btw, we are considering accordion our national instrument, and I am really curious to know how is accordion music treating in other countries, especially in u.s.a.

I might be talking about things I dont know (and cannot really vouch for the U.S. anyway) but if I remember correctly, Serbia is one of the few countries with its own form of chromatic button accordion, in this case a 6-row B system typically with 3+4 bass system (140 basses). The only other countries I know with private systems are Belgium (with a bass system of its own often combined with a shifted B system variant) and Finland (with a shifted C system variant). Oh well, and France at least has a liking for 4-row C system with 3+3 basses, but its not as unique to France as the other systems.

When you say that the accordion is considered the national instrument, does this hold for any kind of system, or is it focused on the particular button system that does not really significantly exist elsewhere?

yeah, you are right, there is a 6 - row button accordion, cpecially made for Serbian market, and all rows are flat (there is no step-lined buttons). it is used for folk music, and it is all flat, because there are a lot of mordents, which are easier to play on a flat type of buttons. i am impressed by your knowledge, to be honest.