Where Are All the Teachers?!

[Mullanphy]

Living near St Louis, MO, with it's large population with German ancestry and breweries, I thought accordion teachers would be everywhere. But, alas! there are none! Zero. Nada!

I've been away from the forums for about a year, so to refresh everyone's memory, I'd like to learn to play a DBA for folk, hokey, polka, etc. Anyone know of any accordion instructors near St Louis?

 

[Jaime_Dergut]

Welcome to modern America.

Most accordion teachers have died out and nobody is following their foot steps.

Check the teacher directory on Petosa website. There is an accordion teacher in your area.

Find a Teacher

North America's Premier Accordion Company Offering Sales, Service, Rentals, Accessories, Education & More

petosa.com

 

[SteveBox]

I would expect that the great majority of accordion teachers in the US teach piano accordion, not diatonic button accordion. There is quite a lot of DBA instruction on YouTube and elsewhere on the internet. Do a search for "diatonic accordion lessons". There are also books. If you have any musical experience at all, it should not be that hard to teach yourself using these materials. There may be other DBA players in your area who could help you get started. As there are several DBA variants, you will want to find instructional material for your particular type.

A DBA is also called a "melodeon" and there is another forum devoted to these instruments: https://forum.melodeon.net/ You will probably find more help and information on DBAs over there than you will here. That forum has a list of teachers, and some will do teaching via video conference:

Links - Teachers

Links - Teachers

forum.melodeon.net

 

[Xiane]

Living near St Louis, MO, with it's large population with German ancestry and breweries, I thought accordion teachers would be everywhere. But, alas! there are none! Zero. Nada!

I've been away from the forums for about a year, so to refresh everyone's memory, I'd like to learn to play a DBA for folk, hokey, polka, etc. Anyone know of any accordion instructors near St Louis?

If you want to play diatonic you really might have to do online lessons, and melodeon.net is probably the best place to look to start. You might post you're looking for a teacher on the Reddit accordion sub reddit because you might find an alpine style teacher more easily, perhaps, due to the presence of, say, Steirische Harmonika players that might happen by there, versus the mostly British Isles and French music group at melodeon.net .

It's what I've had to do. (Well find online lessons, that is, I only found melnet, etc, much later.)

Yes, there are a lot of online resources as SteveBox mentions above, the problem (at least for me) as a beginner in an unusual instrument, is that there are a number of things that you might be doing wrong that a teacher will instantly correct, and a video never will. Things that will slow you down, or even injure you, if you play a lot later. What I've ended up with is somewhat sparse lessons and lots of practice on my own, but those lessons are gold, because of little bad habits you might get into and not ever realize you are doing, or the teacher recognizing that you've got certain things nailed down, but others need a lot of work.

I wish I could point you to someone who teaches the sort of music you want, but unfortunately I can't.

 

[Mullanphy]

Most accordion teachers have died out and nobody is following their foot steps.

I've discovered that. There was one teacher I found last year, but he was retiring and not taking on any new students. Thanks for the link, though!

I would expect that the great majority of accordion teachers in the US teach piano accordion, not diatonic button accordion

That is, sadly, so true. I tried to register with Melodian.net, but never received a reply after sending the email. Thanks for the link!

Yes, there are a lot of online resources as SteveBox mentions above,

Thanks for your remarks. Every thing I've found - YT and elsewhere - seems very unstructured in that the presenters will provide some basics but never move on from things like how to adjust straps, instrument position, etc. Any links to a thorough beginner's course?

 

[SteveBox]

Any links to a thorough beginner's course?

It would be helpful to know exactly what type of DBA you have, or are planning to buy.

There may be a delay receiving the melodeon.net registration email.

 

[Mullanphy]

It would be helpful to know exactly what type of DBA you have, or are planning to buy.

There may be a delay receiving the melodeon.net registration email.

It's been a year, so I doubt I'll receive one.

 

[Thomas N]

I'm planning to retire in a year or two and will then teach. I like kids, well not toddlers LOL, but from around 7 on up which is when I started. My wife and I plan to sell our house in Southern California and move ANYWHERE else. Then have a small amount of students. I really want to avoid all of the online classes. They're better than no instruction at all but pale in comparison to being in front of the teacher.

 

[Xiane]

It's been a year, so I doubt I'll receive one.

Send a messeage to Theo who runs melodeon.net. Apparently he was overwhelmed by spam or something.

Contact – The Box Place

theboxplace.co.uk

Most of the courses I've seen online are for Irish style B/C. What I ended up doing is finding active players in the style I liked on Youtube, tracking down personal websites if they had them, most did, and asking about teachers. These were professional, working musicians, so not all responded, but most did.

So for instance in the Alpine style you want to play, you might contact Alex Meixner, who has tons of online ways to reach out. He's a superb player of keyboard and diatonic, and might know an online teacher or a local one.

This accordion world is a very small one, you'll keep running into the same people. Keep at it, I got frustrated early on too, and didn't pick the thing up for a while, but now I'm playing with an Irish(ish) folk band and doing stuff at my current level and having fun with it.

It's not like guitar or piano, resources are scarce.

 

[Xiane]

I'm planning to retire in a year or two and will then teach. I like kids, well not toddlers LOL, but from around 7 on up which is when I started. My wife and I plan to sell our house in Southern California and move ANYWHERE else. Then have a small amount of students. I really want to avoid all of the online classes. They're better than no instruction at all but pale in comparison to being in front of the teacher.

I absolutely agree on being with an actual teacher, but there's literally no one where I am. I could drive 4 hours for a lesson each way, but that's a lot for one hour. Sadly for the people of Portland, at some point in the far future, I might end up the one who will give beginner diatonic lessons.

 

[Tom]

I'm planning to retire in a year or two and will then teach. I like kids, well not toddlers LOL, but from around 7 on up which is when I started. My wife and I plan to sell our house in Southern California and move ANYWHERE else. Then have a small amount of students. I really want to avoid all of the online classes. They're better than no instruction at all but pale in comparison to being in front of the teacher.

Come to Wisconsin! With what you get for a house in SoCal you could live like a king. And plenty of people want to learn to play accordion…..as long as you teach polka!

 

[SteveBox]

In another thread, Mullanphy is asking about a Roland FR-1XB. That is a Chromatic Button Accordion (CBA) not a DBA. Both have buttons, but otherwise they are very different.

 

[Mullanphy]

In another thread, Mullanphy is asking about a Roland FR-1XB. That is a Chromatic Button Accordion (CBA) not a DBA. Both have buttons, but otherwise they are very different.

Is this the second or third time you've pointed that out? Is there a special reason to keep doing this? I'm not allowed to express interest in more than one instrument without being harassed? What did I do to you to earn such treatment?

 

[Xiane]

In another thread, Mullanphy is asking about a Roland FR-1XB. That is a Chromatic Button Accordion (CBA) not a DBA. Both have buttons, but otherwise they are very different.

I was in the wilderness, and not an experienced musician with any other instrument, so I have a lot of sympathy

 

[SteveBox]

Is this the second or third time you've pointed that out? Is there a special reason to keep doing this? I'm not allowed to express interest in more than one instrument without being harassed? What did I do to you to earn such treatment?

My apologies. I do not recall mentioning this to you before. Just trying to be helpful, as many people don't know the difference between button accordion types.

 

[Torader]

Living near St Louis, MO, with it's large population with German ancestry and breweries, I thought accordion teachers would be everywhere. But, alas! there are none! Zero. Nada!

I've been away from the forums for about a year, so to refresh everyone's memory, I'd like to learn to play a DBA for folk, hokey, polka, etc. Anyone know of any accordion instructors near St Louis?

Hi,

I am happy to help you learn the basics on a two row in either GC or AD. We can use zoom and follow a standard lesson plan. Just send me an email if you want to set up a meeting.

Nick
SixFeetBackBand@gmail.com

 

[Mullanphy]

Hi,

I am happy to help you learn the basics on a two row in either GC or AD. We can use zoom and follow a standard lesson plan. Just send me an email if you want to set up a meeting.

Nick
SixFeetBackBand@gmail.com

I will keep you in mind. I still have to buy an accordion. I thank you for the offer and will let you know when I finally buy one. Lookd like I'll have to buy a webcam, too, for zoom lessons.

 

[Torader]

Living near St Louis, MO, with it's large population with German ancestry and breweries, I thought accordion teachers would be everywhere. But, alas! there are none! Zero. Nada!

I've been away from the forums for about a year, so to refresh everyone's memory, I'd like to learn to play a DBA for folk, hokey, polka, etc. Anyone know of any accordion instructors near St Louis?

I will keep you in mind. I still have to buy an accordion. I thank you for the offer and will let you know when I finally buy one. Lookd like I'll have to buy a webcam, too, for zoom lessons.

Hi Mullanphy,

You should be able to use a laptop cam or cell phone to zoom. It is important to have a good shot of the buttons and bellows. I use a Zoom Q8 handy video recorder because it has good sound quality.

For the accordion, GC is more common tuning because it will play with more other types of instruments. I have several GC accordions that can be purchased or rented. We can work something out either way if you don't find something you like locally. If you buy a used one, make sure it is playable. There are a lot of neglected accordions for sale out there.

I recommend new if you can afford it. They are easier to play and learn on. Castagnari makes a good box. Salterella and Mengascini are also good. Hohner costs less and makes more keyboard noise due to the difference in design.

Good luck and have fun finding an accordion that you like.

Nick

 

[Xiane]

Hi Mullanphy,

You should be able to use a laptop cam or cell phone to zoom. It is important to have a good shot of the buttons and bellows. I use a Zoom Q8 handy video recorder because it has good sound quality.

For the accordion, GC is more common tuning because it will play with more other types of instruments. I have several GC accordions that can be purchased or rented. We can work something out either way if you don't find something you like locally. If you buy a used one, make sure it is playable. There are a lot of neglected accordions for sale out there.

I recommend new if you can afford it. They are easier to play and learn on. Castagnari makes a good box. Salterella and Mengascini are also good. Hohner costs less and makes more keyboard noise due to the difference in design.

Good luck and have fun finding an accordion that you like.

Nick

Glad you posted here, Nick. I'll keep you in mind if I move on to stuff beyond my B/C Celtic, which I'd like to do at some point. We're not even that far apart.

 

[Torader]

Glad you posted here, Nick. I'll keep you in mind if I move on to stuff beyond my B/C Celtic, which I'd like to do at some point. We're not even that far apart.

Maybe I'll see you at Folklife.