Resources for Free Bass Accordion (Quint & Chromatic Systems)

[Walker]

Today I received some books I purchased through Amazon Italy.

I wanted to share the titles with you because I think they are wonderful materials, particularly for those who want to learn the accordion with Quint free bass system. There are also some wonderful resources for button accordionists too (C system).

Firstly, for the beginner:

This book, Introduzione Allo Studio Dei Bassi Sciolti, by Eliana Zajec, contains 114 well thought out exercises to give a graduated approach in Quint free bass studies. This is a fantastic work for absolute beginners to build solid foundations with.

The second book I would like to share is a gem called 12 Pezzi Facili:
It is a transcription of some easy (and beautiful) Bach pieces fingered for both piano and button accordion, with both Quint free bass and C system free bass. Elio Boschello who transcribed the music was a renowned accordion teacher in Northern Italy and taught some world class accordionists. The chromatic accordion fingering is by Eugenia Marini. There is a delightful mix of numerous miniatures; Musetta, Minuetto, Polacca, Marchia, Aria.

The last book I would like to share with you is called Antologia I:

It is a collection of Bach pieces transcribed for accordion by 'the classical accordionist' Salvatore di Gesualdo. It contains a selection of music ranging from fairly easy to a little bit challenging, again with fingering for both piano accordion, button accordion and both Quint converter and chromatic converter bass systems. I note that the transcription and fingering (piano accordion with quint system) is by Salvatore Di Gesualdo himself, and the fingering for button accordion is by the great Claudio Jacomucci.

The list of pieces:

Dal Notebuch fur Anna Magdalena Bach:

Minuetto in sol maggiore (BWV Anh. 114)
Minuetto in sol minore (BWV Anh. 115)
Polonaise in sol minore (BWV Anh. 119)
Minuetto in la minore (BWV Anh. 120)
Musette in re maggoire (BWV Anh. 126)
Minuetto in sol maggiore (BWV Anh. 116)

Dal Klavierbuchlein fur Wilhelm Friedemann Bach

Kleine Praludien

In re minore (BWV 926)
In fa maggiore (BWV 927)
In fa maggiore (BWV 928)

Da "Sechs kleine Praludien fur Anfanger auf dem Klavier"

In do minore (BWV 934)
In re minore (BWV 935)
In re maggiore (BWV 936)
In mi maggiore (BWV 937)

In time, I hope to share more free bass accordion materials with you for piano accordion, button accordion, quint & chromatic free bass. These little books are incredible resources and I think they are worth their weight in gold.

For now I will leave you with a YouTube video of one of the lovely pieces in the last book - it's the little prelude in C minor BWV 934. I have chosen a performance on the pianoforte by Varvara Miagkova. I think it could sound incredible on the accordion if it's played as well as this...

 

[breezybellows]

Wonderful! Thank you very much. I'll see if I can find a copy of antologia I.

 

[tcabot]

Thank you.
The linked video seems like advanced repertoire, rather than something for a complete beginner though!

To add to the free bass studying collection, I've come across a book called "Ambros: metodo completo para bandoneon".
While written for the bandoneon (duh), it's got a couple hundred pages of studies arranged in increasing difficulty that can be used for the free bass accordion.

 

[Walker]

Indeed @tcabot little Prelude in C minor (BWV934) is not for the complete beginner. The music in the third book mentioned above, Antologia I, is of increasing difficulty, and this piece is surely a little bit of a challenge. However, a beginner learning Quint converter should ideally be working on the first book, Introduzione Allo Studio Dei Bassi Sciolti, by Eliana Zajec, in addition to learning the standard bass accordion, which is really just a single octave of the same system (on the left hand). I hope to share some information about Raccolta di Studi per Fisarmonica a Bassi Sciolti (Sistema per Quinte e Cromatico) shortly, which is also by Eliana Zajec. This book is written with both Quint and Chromatic systems (C griff) in mind. This writing convention is reasonably frequent in Italy.

A little note about the piece in the video (BWV934), because I like it so much. This is a lovely work to discover because, like much of Bach's music, it has the effect of developing the hands in the right way. Now, so often we hear people saying - I like playing in G, D, A major etc on the piano accordion, but often they also don't enjoy playing in Bb, Eb or Ab major, this is because they have not become comfortable with the fingering and hand positions associated with these keys. To borrow a friend's phrase (thanks Ben), a piano keyboard is 'an irregular chromatic keyboard', as opposed to the regular keyboard on a chromatic button accordion, like a B or C system.

Bach in BWV934 writes this (fairly uncomplicated) piece in C minor (3 flats: Bb, Eb, Ab) however, when you play the piece through, you realise that he weaves into the melody all of the chromatic notes (all white keys and all the black keys). He is really teaching the 'irregular keyboard player' (piano accordion included) how to become truly comfortable on their tricky keyboard. What can I say, he was brilliant!

So, no, that piece isn't as easy as the pianist makes it sound. But it is really worth learning (when the time is right) - regardless of whether you play a delightfully helpful keyboard like the CBA (that nevertheless requires great accuracy to play well) or an uncompromising (but very tactile) keyboard, like on a PA.​

 

[tcabot]

Haha, I think we might have a slightly different definition of "A little bit challenging"
I would have placed BWV 934 into "Advanced/Concert repertoire" category.

 

[petch]

Seems to be sold out now? Not that I'm in a rush to get it, I've still got a couple of pieces left in book 1 of Schirmer's First Lessons in Bach

 

[Walker]

Seems to be sold out now? Not that I'm in a rush to get it, I've still got a couple of pieces left in book 1 of Schirmer's First Lessons in Bach

Hi Petch, it's available at Stretta-music, according to the 'search' I just did...

 

[petch]

Hi Petch, it's available at Stretta-music, according to the 'search' I just did...

Thanks, can't find the 12 pezzi facili anywhere that ships to the UK though!

 

[Walker]

Have you tried Fare-Musica? When I did a quick check they seem to have a copy to order online...

 

[petch]

Have you tried Fare-Musica? When I did a quick check they seem to have a copy to order online...

Yes but they don't ship to the UK! I have plenty to keep me going but it would've been nice to have

 

[saundersbp]

For now I will leave you with a YouTube video of one of the lovely pieces in the last book - it's the little prelude in C minor BWV 934. I have chosen a performance on the pianoforte by Varvara Miagkova. I think it could sound incredible on the accordion if it's played as well as this...

That is a very nice piece indeed - I'd never come across it before and had a little fiddle with it on the accordion this evening - good choice for our instrument!

Other nice 2 part stuff is all over the place -less well-known is the minuet 1 from Partita no.1 in Bb. Personally I'd avoid the 2 part inventions as they are played to death and so associated with the piano and harpischord so its nice for the accordion to claim some of the less well known but equally great Bach.

 

[JerryPH]

I think there is a lot of cross-over between Antilogia I and II in the Schrimmer book First Lessons of Back I and II:

Table of contents:

• Bourree, BWV 996
• Gavotte, BWV 816
• Gavotte In G Minor, BWV 822
• Gavotte II In D Major, BWV 811
• March In D Major, BWV Appendix 122
• March In E-Flat Major, BWV App 127
• March In G Major, BWV Appendix 124
• Minuet, BWV 817
• Minuet In C Minor, BWV Appendix 121
• Minuet In D Minor, BWV Appendix 132
• Minuet In G Major, BWV Appendix 116
• Minuet In G Major, BWV Anh. 114
• Minuet In G Major, BWV 822
• Minuet In G Minor, BWV Anh. 115
• Minuet I, BWV 813
• Minuet I In G Minor, BWV 822
• Minuet II In G Minor, BWV 822
• Musette In D Major, BWV Appendix 126
• Musette In G Major, BWV 808
• Overture In F Major, BWV 820
• Polonaise In G Major, BWV App 130
• Polonaise In G Minor, BWV Appendix 119
• Polonaise In G Minor, BWV Appendix 125
• Polonaise In G Minor, BWV App 123
• Prelude, BWV 823
• Sarabande, BWV 810
• Scherzo, BWV 827

So if you cannot find the Italian books look at the Schrimer's books on Amazon

 

[saundersbp]

I think there is a lot of cross-over between Antilogia I and II in the Schrimmer book First Lessons of Back I and II:

Or if you are a cheap skate like me you don't spend a penny and download very good editions from IMSLP!

 

[JerryPH]

I did a lot of that for the piano exercise books, the Schrimer's Bach I and II book cost me around $18 delivered to my door... "I sometimes spend more on useless stuff, so why not do it" was my thought... lol.

I spent way more in telephone charges last year looking for ONE specific book for the RCM exam!

 

[Walker]

Well, I would be prepared to spend a little time, effort and money so that the music resource I choose is focused on my particular instrument as it saves me having to work out the fingering and I can just spend time practicing instead. I think there is some value in a book with specialised fingering by people who play what I play, and so know the technique well, and I can hopefully learn from.

Speaking of resources for free bass accordion, today was a red-letter day for me because I received a very special little parcel all the way from Alexandria, Virginia in the good ol' United States of America.

Three books arrived in perfect condition and very promptly from Ernest Deffner Inc. I will definitely buy from them again!

The books are:

Palmer - Hughes Instruction Book for Converter Accordion
Palmer - Hughes Selections for Free Bass Accordion Book 1
Palmer - Hughes Selections for Free Bass Accordion Book 2



I would like to highlight these books as a brilliant resource for learners of accordion with Quint free bass system. As I write these words I realise that probably many accordion players in America already knew about these books long before I was born and are sighing in relief that the penny has finally dropped for me. Still, I would like to write a few sentences about them because they are quite excellent study books.


The Instruction Book for Converter Accordion is a must have for anyone who wants to start on Quint free bass (also known as Palmer - Hughes free bass) because it gives lots of information, practice drills as well as tunes by people like Pergolesi, F. Schubert, J. Haydn and more, to learn from. This book, along with the Italian introductory book at the top of the thread would be excellent to get anyone started.

We then have a series of two little books of music to enjoy learning that are simple to start with and are in a slowly progressive order (simple to slightly more advanced). The selections in the books are frankly a triumph and I adore these books. Some of the tunes near the end of book 2, though not hugely difficult, did make me slightly nervous...

Selections for Free Bass Accordion Book 1 contains:

Donkey Dance by Palmer-Hughes
The Buffoon by Kabalevsky
Rigaudon by Handel
Minuet in G by Beethoven
Sonatina by Clementi
Prelude by J.S. Bach.

Selections for Free Bass Accordion Book 2 contains:

Elegie by Massenet
Prelude, Op. 28, No. 2 by Chopin
Minuetto Giocoso by Haydn
Passepied (Le Roi s'amuse) by Delibes
Ich Liebe Dich by Grieg
Rosamunde (Ballet Music) by Schubert

I generally have a preference for Renaissance and Baroque music on the free bass accordion, but I guess the occasional foray into the Romantic and Classical will also prove a useful learning experience.

I was really impressed listening to the piano performances of some of the pieces named here and actually many of the accordion transcriptions are remarkably close to the piano versions. I was struck by the sophistication and style of the music produced by Palmer - Hughes. I guess it's a welcome to the world of grown up music for me... still, I might just start with Donkey Dance, you know, just to get me started.​

Here's Elegie by Massenet on piano:


Prelude, Op. 28, No 2 by Chopin:

 

[JerryPH]

I am not surprised to see Kabalevsky there. He has several of his songs as optional pieces to play for the Royal Conservatory of Music exams. The man is a modern genius for piano and (hence including Free Bass) accordion music too.

There really is a TON of good resources out there, but I am really enjoying the fact that it is now actually starting to get easy to find!

 

[Alans]

walker-happy to see you got your music but I’m pretty sure it’s from Deffner and I have no idea how you got through. The running of that place is a disaster. I emailed several times-no response. Then o I contacted a colleague of Frank Busso who runs the place and he wrote to say my email had gone in their junk file?.If you’re running a business shouldn’t you check that file if this happens? And I left a message three times-no tresponse.He said give me your list and he would prepare my order-never heard back and that’s at least four months ago. And I heard from a very advanced player/ teacher who said he has the same issues all the time. Busso/Deffner has a great catalogue-maybe the best-but their business practices are dreadful.I must have left three voice messages-very strange place.

 

[Walker]

Really sorry to hear about your experience Alans...

I ordered online through the Busso Music- Ernest Deffner website. I just loaded my online shopping cart and checked out. The system calculated the whole cost including the delivery costs to the North of Scotland. I paid by Paypal and it couldn't have been easier - no email or phone conversation. Very shortly afterwards the books arrived - and it's a fair distance from Virginia to the Highlands!

To be honest, when I was initially ordering the books I didn't expect they would be anything special - certainly not worth writing about... However I was very pleasantly surprised. I was actually amazed at the quality of the writings. In fact I would go further still and would say I was given a masterclass in the art of writing lovely music for the accordion. The Palmer-Hughes Selections for Free Bass Accordion Book Two contains music selected and arranged by people who really knew music and picked out little gems that I had never even heard of. When I think the book had a copyright of MCMLXXVII, that's 1977 in new money. Palmer & Hughes were light-years ahead of their time.
​

Busso/Deffner has a great catalogue-maybe the best​

I quite believe it!

You somehow need to find a way to get at all the goodies. Good luck Alans.​

 

[Walker]

I would like to share something a little different now. This is a scale book!

It was written primarily for button accordion - C system both sides (with converter) by Borut Zagoranski. I find this book an excellent resource for developing a feel for comfortable hand positions on the CBA. When I am working out fingerings for tunes I often think about the typical patterns and positions used in this book and apply them, where appropriate, though I consider it a guide rather than a rule. There are always some differences as the flow of a tune is not quite like a scale.

The book is seriously good stuff for dipping into every so often. There are few things in life quite as nice as playing a Row 2 Major scale on C system. I imagine it's a bit like free-running along the Giant's Causeway - but using your fingers along the rows of buttons instead. Exhilarating!

Mr Zagoranski was a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London. Enough said!

I really enjoy having a little button accordion in the house and will be really sad when I have to hand it back to the owner. It has a particularly strong violin sound (borderline musette ) and I love it. I wish the accordion was a little bigger, as I hunch over it like Quasimodo.

Don't tell Saundersbp, but I have been learning folk songs on it recently with full Stradella engaged, even though I'm meant to be trying out the free bass, which is also very good but not quite as perfect as the RH side is.​

 

[JerryPH]

My equivalent of this book would be this:

Created by none other than the man that was Michael Bridge's teacher himself.