NorCal Eager Newbie

[meSSican80]

Hey all! Out here in Auburn, CA and very intrigued with the accordion. Really love the sound of Corrido style Mexican accordion but happy to start learning on a regular chromatic model. Have to say I am kinda frustrated finding something good for not a lot. Quickly learned that this is a very expensive insturment...that coming from a drummer where a full kit can cost a few thousand.

I have checked all the usual suspects of accordion shops but not sure I want to invest a large amount (not a knock on the retailers as I understand what goes into selling legitimate used accordions). Also, nothing too close aside from a quick 5hr round trip to the closest accordion shop....that I know of (Smyths & SJ Accordion Repair).

I have mainly been looking for piano style but wondering if a chromatic button accordion would be a good starter. Aside from drumming I have no other real music experience. I also found a Hohner Bravo III 120 for a good price but reading that these very expensive Chinese models aren't widely recommended, and also it seems to be a pretty big model.

Any feedback or encouragement would be appreciated. Planning on learning from books and online for now.

Thanks!!

 

[Tom]

Welcome Messican! Glad to see you’re excited about playing the accordion! It’s tough finding a decent accordion in good condition in your price range. But hang in there, because eventually it will show up when you don’t expect it. (Your sister in law’s dentist will have one in the attic her aunt’s grandmother used to play, for example.).

Deciding on the type is difficult. Common wisdom around here is to match the accordion to the type of music you want to play. (Not the type you listen to, ie, you like Corrido but want to play French Musette.)

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I get the hint you want to play traditional music rather than deep classical or heavy jazz. Your didn’t mention what kind of music you drum. A piano or CBA will probably cover all the music you want to play, and I would say it’s a horse apiece for which is easier to learn. Pianos are probably more prevalent in your area so may be easier to find, and to play your new accordion friends’ instruments. A smaller, say 37 treble keys, 72 bass will cover all but the most extreme music, you don’t need no 30 pound boat anchor.

If you get into playing, which I hope you do, you will eventually decide you also need a squeezebox to play a little Corirido with your new friends. Don’t fight it, no one has just one accordion any more.

Lastly, if you can buy from a shop that guarantees the playability of the machine and stands behind it, you have found gold. Don’t resist. Best of luck to you!!!!!!

 

[OuijaBoard]

You can learn and play corrido and tons of other fo!k tunes on a small, lightweight 2-voice 26-key piano accordion. Plenty of roots music pros gig on PAs this size. You can get a solid, capable one to learn on and keep it as a back-up or more portable 2nd instrument if you later decide to get a larger, heavier accordion with more treble, bass, and reed sets.

Trust me, if you're into folk tunes you'd never be sorry to have something in the arsenal in this size/weight even if you later add bigger examples.

For example, something like the 2-voice Delicia 26-keys often stocked at Smythes. A nice thing about them is they have 60 rather than 48 basses so you have a root and chords for every note in the scale. I see on their site a black one that's sold but a white in stock. There are also 3-voice 26-keys with more voices/switches and 72 basses, heavier and pricier. Weltmeisters there, too, though the Welt models on hand appear bigger at the moment, unless you take to the Juwel, a 30/72 3-voice which gives you 30 slimmed-down keys in a box the size of a 26.

NFI or connection to Smythes aside from liking them and regarding them as straight shooters.

 

[Dark Phoenix]

I originally got a small, chromatic piano keyboard accordion (I am a woman and have small hands), but two things frustrated me-- the lack of range (octaves) and while I'm very comfortable playing piano/keyboards, playing sideways just doesn't work well for me. So, I got a small, chromatic button accordion. I am much happier with it because it has a much better range (more room with buttons than keys), the orientation feels better, and I find that the way the buttons are laid just works well for me. Yes, it took me a week, at first, to master two scales (C and G!), but playing at least a bit one or several times a day, I find that I'm becoming more and more comfortable with the button accordion. I'm quickly progressing to intermediate pieces, and I do not have to resist the urge to look at the buttons/keys. One caveat: The helpful finger numberings in piano accordion music books are all wrong for a button accordion. The Complete Accordion Method by Lucien and Richard Galliano contains fingerings for both button and piano accordion, and that has been very helpful to me. So, that's my two cents on chromatic button accordions (CBA).

 

[OuijaBoard]

I play folk/roots/trad on small CBAs as well as PAs. But played piano, then PA, first, and taught myself on CBA as I already had the basses from PA and also play other instruments and have some theory background. As the OP indicates they have no music background, my first thought was there would be more assistance and resources for PA accessible in their region. But both instruments are great and would be a blast for Mexican roots music.

Just for fun I downloaded this Mel Bay book of a dozen or so conjunto classics arranged or transcribed playable for PA or diato, also would be completely workable on CBA. Corridas included.

On the high end, no selection reached higher than the highest note on a 26-key PA. On the low end, a couple of selections had a few measures using the "A" or "G" below the lowest note on a 26-key, but they were filler or ornamental, not principal melody notes, and were easily dropped if lower harmony notes in a third, or played an octave up, or otherwise arranged around.

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www.amazon.com

 

[meSSican80]

Wow, first thank you for all the very helpful encouraging replies! I research everything to a point of stress and this is no exception lol.

I have to say the Mexican/Corrido style music is my favorite, but as a worship drummer I would love to play some of our songs if not only just for fun. My wife is pushing me to get a Diatonic style as that is what I am most interested in, but I am thinking I would miss out on learning other songs. My budget is very constraining but I don't want to jump in full steam with a $3000 unit if I am not going to play, that and I don't think I can afford that right now.

Correct me if I am wrong, but a Diatonic would limit quite a bit on what I can play and they don't translate to Piano accordion and vice versa (basically they don't translate to each other).

Thank you again for all the help!!

 

[Dingo40]

Correct me if I am wrong, but a Diatonic would limit quite a bit on what I can play and they don't translate to Piano accordion and vice versa (basically they don't translate to each other).

Our member Waldo has posted regarding his experiences in transitioning (in his case) from chromatic button accordion to diatonic button accordion.*
(We have other members who can play two types )
You are right: playing the one kind is of little help in playing another. They are very different, including the notation (for DBA). And none is exactly "easy" to master thoroughly!
It usually takes years to make up lost ground.
However, there are diatonic types which seemingly appear to permit one to play almost anything: Jimmy Shannon played one such diatonic instrument.
Decisions, decisions!
* Here's one of Waldo's posts:

W

Thread 'CBA to DBA; A Journey (#1)'

Dec 31, 2022

As noted in the heading, this experience has been a journey, to say the least.
Hopefully, My experience will help others considering the addition of a DBA to their stable.
The differences between the two instruments are legion. To name just a few: different pitches in and out, different scale patterns for every Key, different hand forms for the chords Key to Key, different bass side patterns application and layout, different treble hand "form", button spacing (both sides), bellow volume and bellow vent use.

I must say here that my CBA experience was very useful when making the switch. I...

• Waldo
• Replies: 19
• Forum: All Things Diatonic

• 
• 

 

[OuijaBoard]

Wow, first thank you for all the very helpful encouraging replies! I research everything to a point of stress and this is no exception lol.

I have to say the Mexican/Corrido style music is my favorite, but as a worship drummer I would love to play some of our songs if not only just for fun. My wife is pushing me to get a Diatonic style as that is what I am most interested in, but I am thinking I would miss out on learning other songs. My budget is very constraining but I don't want to jump in full steam with a $3000 unit if I am not going to play, that and I don't think I can afford that right now.

Correct me if I am wrong, but a Diatonic would limit quite a bit on what I can play and they don't translate to Piano accordion and vice versa (basically they don't translate to each other).

Thank you again for all the help!!

Sure, diato is the most common accordion for conjunto/tejano/tex-mex/norteno, but PA is hardly un-common. That is why the (grossly overpriced) Gabbanelli and Hohner Anacleto lines much favored by pros in that genre feature PA models with all the rhinestones and decorations you could wish for!





Here is a corrida from the charming Los Canelos de Durango, who featured the late Pepe Ontiveros, an amazing PA player and song composer who passed away at a sadly young age in 2011:




Here is Pavel Moreno, a wonderful conjunto PA player:




Pavel y Paveitol Jr:

 

[Dingo40]

Pavel y Paveitol Jr:

They start them young!

 

[meSSican80]

Well low and behold a friend from church texted me and said his friend had an accordion he wasn't using and gifted it to me. Super excited. I played around with it after service and ready to learn. Seems to work ok.

 

[Tom]

Well lo and behold a friend from church texted me and said his friend had an accordion he wasn't using and gifted it to me. Super excited. I played around with it after service and ready to learn. Seems to work ok.

That’s how it works, awesome!!!!

 

[cat]

One really needs a chromatic instrument; by now the world has no dearth of excellent music to play, and modern ears have acclimated to extended harmony.

Diatonic instruments however are quite interesting and loads of fun. Their idiomatic deployment is often a prominent feature in many traditional forms worldwide. Particularly, bisonoric boxes provide opportunity for rhythmic complexity, ornament, etc. This (rhythmic) capacity of the box is what i love.

So, one needs both.