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In automotive terms, we're just hitting second gear! :b
58 is about the age my wife started the move from PA to CBA, where the main aim was to go smaller without losing range. It's a difficult move. If you can live with the size of a 120 bass (41 key) PA and you don't need anything more, I would suggest to just continue. We started the move because the instrument we had, which was 45 keys, 5 reed, 120 bass with 58 notes in convertor... that was just too large and heavy for her.
To anyone who is young enough to make the switch and who is afraid that a full size PA will at some point be too large I would say, try to move to CBA. You can get so much more in the same size package! But it is a painful switch in terms of years of serious practice to get back to the same playing level.
To anyone who is young enough to make the switch and who is afraid that a full size PA will at some point be too large I would say, try to move to CBA. You can get so much more in the same size package! But it is a painful switch in terms of years of serious practice to get back to the same playing level.
Here I would not have the interest to move to a CBA. Though I had some of the theory on button placement and what not from the left hand free bass system, I must have tried the button accordion a grand total of maybe 10 times, and each time it just seemed so much more work than it was worth for me at the time. Perhaps because back then I was much further along in terms of skill and ability on the PA, I felt that it would take me years to get to where I was "now" at the time, and didn't have the desire to do so. Basically, I chickened out... lol
My hat is off in respect to your wife, it is not an easy step to take!
My hat is off in respect to your wife, it is not an easy step to take!
My wife and I both made the plunge, and you are right: it takes years to get where you were before. We were advised it would take 6 years and I guess that in the end that was about right. We are now 8 years past the switch and we can now indeed play everything we could before (which was quite good, having something like 30 years of experience). It takes a lot of work and encouragement (being the two of us really helped). Many people try to switch from PA to CBA and almost as many end up giving up.
G
Ganza
Guest
Paul,
what were your reasons for switching? And what styles of music do you play on the CBA? What styles do you find easier to play on CBA and what styles are easier on PA?
I know how to play guitar and Brazilian cavaquinho, and for the last 2 years I've been learning CBA with a teacher - although he's a piano accordion teacher, he's excellent, so it works!
So, I never knew what it was like to play piano or piano accordion - I'm interested why you switched...
what were your reasons for switching? And what styles of music do you play on the CBA? What styles do you find easier to play on CBA and what styles are easier on PA?
I know how to play guitar and Brazilian cavaquinho, and for the last 2 years I've been learning CBA with a teacher - although he's a piano accordion teacher, he's excellent, so it works!
So, I never knew what it was like to play piano or piano accordion - I'm interested why you switched...
The main reason we switched was different for my wife and me. My wife wanted a smaller and lighter instrument but still keeping the best sound and enough range (and convertor). For me the main reason was that I wanted to learn to play the accordina (a wind instrument with button keyboard).
There is just one thing you cannot do on the CBA that is easy on the PA: a glissando over all white keys. Everything else you can do and generally it is also easier because distances are smaller and you have 2 redundant rows. Also, the convertor gives you a keyboard on the lefthand side that is a mirror image of the CBA keyboard (unless you use the Russian system).
The more compact size has caused me to become addicted to larger range too. I now have an instrument with 46 notes, one with 52 and one with 56 notes. (CBA goes up to 64 notes)
There is just one thing you cannot do on the CBA that is easy on the PA: a glissando over all white keys. Everything else you can do and generally it is also easier because distances are smaller and you have 2 redundant rows. Also, the convertor gives you a keyboard on the lefthand side that is a mirror image of the CBA keyboard (unless you use the Russian system).
The more compact size has caused me to become addicted to larger range too. I now have an instrument with 46 notes, one with 52 and one with 56 notes. (CBA goes up to 64 notes)
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