Chording with Fundamental plus Sub-base

[Stephen Selby]

I'm starting to learn the Stradella System, having come from Anglo concertina. I see that there are lot of chord patterns - Major, relative minor, seventh - that are available just using nearby combinations of fundamental and sub-base (rows 1 and 2, without touching the pre-set chord buttons). Is that a bad route to take? It seems to cut out a lot of jumps (e.g. G Maj to Em).

 

[dunlustin]

To help you decide, try holding down c,e,g,a = A6 and see if you like the effect.

 

[JeffJetton]

I'm starting to learn the Stradella System, having come from Anglo concertina. I see that there are lot of chord patterns - Major, relative minor, seventh - that are available just using nearby combinations of fundamental and sub-base (rows 1 and 2, without touching the pre-set chord buttons). Is that a bad route to take? It seems to cut out a lot of jumps (e.g. G Maj to Em).

Yes, it's (usually) a bad route to take. @dunlustin's reply will probably do the trick for you as to why.

The notes used for the bass buttons are (largely) different from the notes used for the chord buttons. Whether on the fundamental row or counter-bass row, the bass notes are typically all arranged within a single, fairly low octave (per reed set).

This does not make for good chord voicing. While you can formulate chords using the bass notes, they'll be muddy and indistinct compared to the "real" chord buttons, which (mostly) play notes in higher octaves.

There's a reason guitar players strum chords and bass players usually do not, even though it's technically possible for their instruments to do so.

(I'm using a lot of parenthetical here because both bass and chord buttons, as well as the RH, will often play a given "note" in more than one octave at the same time, depending on the register setting, so there can be overlaps as a result. But generally, your bass buttons are designed to "sound lower" than the notes used for the chord buttons, which are in turn designed to "sound lower" than the RH keys.)

 

[Glug]

Have a look st the 'register switches' section of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stradella_bass_system.

Example: for 'Soft bass' aka 'bass piano'
bass button plays bass, tenor, contralto
chord button plays contralto

 

[Stephen Selby]

Thanks for all the advice.
I was trying out 'Dark Island', with Am - CM - Em - GM in the first four bars. [AEC] - CM - [EBG] - GM seems a very economical route. But then this is a dark song, so maybe that's why it works.
A+CM to make C6 (=Am7) seems s no-brainer. I don't think I would have tried AECG anyway.

 

[JeffJetton]

A+CM to make C6 (=Am7) seems s no-brainer.

That will get you an Am7, but not really a C6 since A will be undeniably on the "bottom" of the chord. Again, the notes generated by the bass buttons and note generated by the chord buttons are not necessarily interchangeable. It makes a difference which note of a chord you assign to the bass, even though the four notes are the same overall. (Depending on register settings, blah, blah, etc.)

Typically you'll want to put the note that the chord is named after in the bass. So if you want a "true" C6 in the left hand, you'd have to do something like C bass plus Am chord button (optionally with the C major chord button added, but it probably won't make much difference).

 

[Stephen Selby]

Thanks for the advice. I'll soldier on in the correct fashion.