Standard notation for using rows 4 & 5 on a CBA

[bgilesuk]

Hello fellow accordionists.

There is a long established convention of placing a small bar or line under the left hand note or finger number, to indicate when the player is to play theses notes on the Counter-bass row, but I can't find a standard convention to indicate when the right hand should play notes in rows 4 or 5.

I know that using right hand rows 4 or 5 is usually left to the discretion of the player, but I like to add fingering to awkward passages and don't want to use my own convention if there is already a well established practice out there.

I seem to remember my teacher putting a circle around the note or the finger number, but can't remember which.

What method do most players use?

Thank you

 

[debra]

...
There is a long established convention of placing a small bar or line under the left hand note or finger number, to indicate when the player is to play theses notes on the Counter-bass row, but I cant find a standard convention to indicate when the right hand should play notes in rows 4 or 5.
...

No idea what is standard. I underline the number when it is for row 4 or 5. I have also seen that being done by others.

 

[maugein96]

Hi,

In French CBA method books it is usual to put the circle that you mention round the relevant finger number, for notes to be played in the 4th row (5th row is usually for decorative purposes only on French boxes), but I've never seen any such notation in standard music scores, other than in a handful of publications aimed at players who are still in the elementary stages.

As Paul says there doesn't appear to be any standard system of notation, and I've also seen an underline such as he describes in French method books.

There is also no single "well established" fingering method for CBA. Sooner or later you'll come across something you've never seen before, and it's then just trial and error until you can work it all out.

 

[dan]

Harrington's book uses roman numerals to indicate row number where its not obvious but i prefer circles

 

[bgilesuk]

Thank you for all the feedback.

I think I'm going the go down the underlining finger number method, that way I can keep the circling of notes for when I need to draw my attention to a note in a passage, the same method I've been using in my pianoforte playing all my life.

What a very useful and friendly forum I've stumbled across here.

Regards
Brian

 

[george garside]

whether to use rows 4 & 5 or to stick to the outside 3 rows depends on what works best for a particular part of a particular tune and as others have said there are no 'rules' .

To me it is well worth regularly practicing the 3 scales on the outside 3 rows rather than the one scale using 5 rows. It is also worth practicing at least the most used scales on the outside 3 rows but using some buttons on the 4th or possibly 5th rows to facilitate fingering.


As to marking the sheet music to indicate using a button on the inside 2 rows It shouldn't be necessary as with practice it should become entirely intuitive when to use an 'alternative' button. (alternative in the sense of not being part of a scale played on the outside 3 rows)


The same principle applies to the british chromatic (diatonic if you like) BCC# as played by Sir Jimmy Shand. When teaching this 3 row system I keep students on the outside 2 rows for some time ( for those not familier with the BCC# box the outside rows together are chromatic . Once the outside 2 rows are working well I introduce the 'alternatives ' on the inside row one at a time as they can be used to ease some tricky fingering or bellwos reversals.


george

 

[bgilesuk]

Thanks George.

I can't believe it's been so long since my original post, but signifiant progress has made since.

I do now agree that notating the use of rows 4 & 5 eventually becomes unnecessary, as it becomes intuitive. However, I do occasionally mark the fingering with an underscore, just as a reminder that certain passages can feel more comfortable using the alternate rows, even if they do play intuitively on the first 3 rows.

I also agree that initially learning scales using just the first 3 rows is essential, thus resulting in the maximum options available for fingering passages.

Brian

 

[saundersbp]

I use a tablet for my sheet music and decided when learning a new piece that was tricky to colour the notes red for the upper two rows. Example below - works well for me and pretty bomb proof solution!

 

[Dingo40]

I wonder if guitar notation could provide any hints regarding which row to use, as guitarists obviously face similar issues regarding which string to play a note on??
Being of very limited information processing capacity, the prospect of facing this very problem has kept me very firmly in the PA camp!?