Playing the Bass

[sophieanne]

hello! I am a relatively new accordion player. I've met a bit of confusion of how to play the bass, as this is my first instrument. Do I simply play the same chords on the bass buttons as I do on the keyboard to the right or is there a second set of chords just for the bass that can be found in actual sheet music (as I believe is how it may be on the piano)?
Thank you- hope I don't sound too dumb

 

[JerryPH]

First, welcome to the forum!

Second, there is no such thing as a dumb question... now the odd answer, no guarantees there... lol

The answer to your question basically depends on several factors. Assuming you are playing using sheet music made for accordion, sometimes there is only one line which is the melody or right hand. The chords are usually placed in the notation and written as Cm, C7th, etc... and other times there are lines dedicated for the right and left hand independently, and the majority of the time, this is how accordion music is written and is the suggested way to play the music.

Here is an example of a piece of sheet music for accordion that is only of the right hand, and to make this more interesting, doesnt even offer much assistance for the left hand (but with practice and experience, this becomes less of an issue, I promise).
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An example of accordion music with separate left and right hand staffs:
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When there is only one staff dedicated to the right hand, you play the bass/chords as suggested in the text. When there is a separate staff for each hand, one has a higher level of detail and information as to what and how to play on the left hand.

Thats basically the readers digest version and of course the third option is that later on, once you develop greater levels of skill, you can even add/remove or change whatever the music notation tells you to play on the left hand and do your own thing, should you wish.

I hope that kind of answers your question?

Here is a little extra YouTube help:







... and so on, there are many videos for you to check out.

 

[TomBR]

When accordion music is written with a bass staff, like piano music, it's often/usually the case that the notes in the octave from the C in the middle of the staff up to middle C indicate chords, and the notes in the octave from C on two ledger lines below the bass staff up to the B just below the middle of the staff indicate bass notes. There are sometimes symbols to indicate that a bass note is best taken from the counter bass row.

 

[JerryPH]

There are sometimes symbols to indicate that a bass note is best taken from the counter bass row.

Usually denoted by a line under the suggested fingering.

 

[Happy girl]

In no time at all ‘confusion’ will soon develop into ‘intriguing’.

Where are you situated Sophieanna? You could be lucky enough to live in the vicinity of an accordion club or near members who have registered an interest in meeting other accordionists.

You may find it useful to look up ‘find other members in my area’ on this site or investigate if there is a teacher near you.

I realise this answer doesn’t address your query directly, but ‘learning the language’ face to face will help your progress enormously

Good luck

 

[sophieanne]

Thanks all! And Happy girl, sadly I'm out a bit in the middle of nowhere. No one offers lessons out here.

 

[JeffJetton]

When accordion music is written with a bass staff, like piano music, its often/usually the case that the notes in the octave from the C in the middle of the staff up to middle C indicate chords, and the notes in the octave from C on two ledger lines below the bass staff up to the B just below the middle of the staff indicate bass notes.

FWIW, heres a PDF of an old handout describing that particular system of bass notation: http://www.zisman.ca/squeezebox/About Accordion Bass Notation.pdf

That said, just to confuse the OP more, youll sometimes see a different style used, where all of the notes of the chord are explicitly written out. Usually there will also be some sort of written indication (using letters) of what bass and chord to play, so you arent expected to flat-out recognize a chord by notes alone.

I see this a lot in French and German music books, and it has the nice advantage that you can also use it a piano score. Heres an example.

 

[colinm]

Thanks all! And Happy girl, sadly Im out a bit in the middle of nowhere. No one offers lessons out here.

Have you tried Skype for lessons


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Alans]

There is a useful book that is devoted to learning the left-hand of notes. It is readily available to purchase.

 

[Soulsaver]

There is a useful book that is devoted to learning the left-hand of notes. It is readily available to purchase.

And its called....?

 

[JerryPH]

There is a useful book that is devoted to learning the left-hand of notes. It is readily available to purchase.

And its called....?[/quote]
i will guess that Alan was referring to The Mighty Accordion by David DiGiuseppe.

https://www.amazon.com/Mighty-Accordion-David-DiGiuseppe/dp/0786688394

It could also be Palmer-Hughes Accordion Course: Melodic Adventures in Bassland

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0...rd_wg=3T678&psc=1&refRID=S3C2W8GKDYN54DE1Y46A

Both concentrate on the basics of the Stradella system bass.

 

[Alans]

It's called Melodic Adventures in Bassland by John Caruso.Alfred publisher. It is still in print. He teaches the bass with simple tunes,takes you from absolute beginner to a higher understanding. Great book.

 

[JerryPH]

Its called Melodic Adventures in Bassland by John Caruso.Alfred publisher. It is still in print. He teaches the bass with simple tunes,takes you from absolute beginner to a higher understanding. Great book.

Oh cool, thanks Alan!

Ok, so we have a few options now for those looking!

 

[bocsa]

Thanks, ordered .... it was worth a punt at £5.42 incl delivery

(Book Depository via Amazon)

 

[JerryPH]

Thanks, ordered .... it was worth a punt at £5.42 incl delivery

(Book Depository via Amazon)

That was quite affordable!!

 

[JeffJetton]

Its called Melodic Adventures in Bassland by John Caruso.Alfred publisher. It is still in print. He teaches the bass with simple tunes,takes you from absolute beginner to a higher understanding. Great book.

Agreed. Full of very interesting left-hand workouts. Worth adding to ones accordion library. Note that he favors the 3-2 bass fingering. If youre a 4-3 person, youll probably want to override the written fingerings in many places.

The previously-mentioned DiGiuseppe book is strongly 4-3, so its the 3-2 folks who will have to ignore the written fingerings in that case.

(They are quite different books, by the way, with little overlap.)

 

[losthobos]

FWIW...have a dabble with both sets of fingerings....3/2 is perhaps easier for single note runs....4/3 perhaps better for chord work...
Obviously no real rules...you'll fin your style...don't dismiss anything, just discard what doesn't fit...