Dynamics

[Elizabeth]

I was playing at Pioneers Home today, and a 90 year old said, i didnt know you could play dynamics on accordion, i have never heard that.
I tried to explain how bellows control dynamics and you apply more power or less to get dynamics and she asked if that means you play the bellows faster or slower.
Well, I wasn’t entirely sure how to correctly answer her. If any of you smart, experienced people can give me any insight into how to explain how to get soft or loud I would appreciate it, if there is anything further than what I told her.
Thanks!

 

[saundersbp]

I think there are probably at least three things that give a sense of dynamics:

1. Bellows pressure, and more of it, meaning that a note or phrase in the context of a piece will sound louder relatively than its surroundings.

2. Articulation, which can mean how fast a key is pressed down, giving it a strong starting transient. Also it can mean shortening less important notes slightly before a strong note to give an accent.

3. Rhythmic accents, where an important note is slightly held back generating expectation and then placed at a key moment of musical tension or resolution.

Using all three separately and in combination gives you what is called expression and makes the accordion an extremely expressive instrument. The organ can only do 2 and 3 whereas most other instruments can do it all one way or another.

 

[debra]

I think there are probably at least three things that give a sense of dynamics:

1. Bellows pressure, and more of it, meaning that a note or phrase in the context of a piece will sound louder relatively than its surroundings.

2. Articulation, which can mean how fast a key is pressed down, giving it a strong starting transient. Also it can mean shortening less important notes slightly before a strong note to give an accent.

3. Rhythmic accents, where an important note is slightly held back generating expectation and then placed at a key moment of musical tension or resolution.

Using all three separately and in combination gives you what is called expression and makes the accordion an extremely expressive instrument. The organ can only do 2 and 3 whereas most other instruments can do it all one way or another.

Very good explanation that will probably be completely incomprehensible for the 90 year old lady...
I think that for such a person a quick demo of pulling harder and softer while playing a note should do the trick...

The only real "issue" with dynamics is that you only have "global" dynamics control and you cannot really play a chord where one note is loud and the other notes are soft. That's why an accordion ensemble can always sound nicer than a solo player.

 

[saundersbp]

Very good explanation that will probably be completely incomprehensible for the 90 year old lady...
I think that for such a person a quick demo of pulling harder and softer while playing a note should do the trick...

Thank you, the lady sounds like she may be a musician if she is using words like dynamics so I imagine she might be conversant with the concepts.

That's why an accordion ensemble can always sound nicer than a solo player.

That niceness is something I've yet to experience! Behind the door of my musical room 101 would be an accordion ensemble although I understand they are good at stripping paint and scaring small animals. And in all seriousness I imagine they are more fun to play in than to listen to.

 

[Walker]

The only real "issue" with dynamics is that you only have "global" dynamics control and you cannot really play a chord where one note is loud and the other notes are soft.

This is interesting. The accordion being a tone-sustaining, free reed, keyboard instrument will always have a key feature of having uniformity of volume in individual notes within a chord. I cannot consider this an "issue", only a characteristic, and a lovely one. If anything, it is surely a benefit. We can make the overall chord volume constant, increase or decrease on any given chord (or single note etc.) at will.

Even the piano, with variable attack in a given note within a chord, will feature gradual decay of the notes. Quiet tones will then fade to nothing quicker than others. It cannot sustain or increase volume (of a note or chord) once the key has been pressed. Some would call this an "issue" but I would consider it a characteristic.

The nuances are what give beauty to a musical instrument, but I would argue the accordion is perhaps the keyboard instrument with the greatest expressive potential.​

 

[saundersbp]

This " global dynamics" thing is a rabbit hole. It isn't the case in any musical sense because of the prominence the discipline of articulation and rhythmic accent can give putting notes into light and shade so they can sound stronger or weaker in their musical context. The accordion just doesn't have weaknesses in terms of expression when points 2. and 3 above are understood. An organist if they want to be any good lacks the added benefit of our bellows control and so the other two factors are what you spend your time working on to get expression.

 

[Walker]

because of the prominence the discipline of articulation and rhythmic accent can give putting notes into light and shade so they can sound stronger or weaker in their musical context.

Therein lies the art of the accordion.

 

[JeffJetton]

she asked if that means you play the bellows faster or slower.

Essentially, that's it.

Bellows pressure is really what's doing the primary job. But that correlates with bellows speed, and I find it a bit easier to conceptualize it that way. It's how I teach it, at least: Fast = loud, slow = quiet.

 

[losthobos]

I love the accordion...almost detrimentally to those around me .....but she sure is a bitch when it comes to taming her over exhuberance across the 'whole' spectrum

 

[Elizabeth]

Very good explanation that will probably be completely incomprehensible for the 90 year old lady...
I think that for such a person a quick demo of pulling harder and softer while playing a note should do the trick...

The only real "issue" with dynamics is that you only have "global" dynamics control and you cannot really play a chord where one note is loud and the other notes are soft. That's why an accordion ensemble can always sound nicer than a solo player.

When she said “dynamics” i was surprised. She is (was?) a scientist, so when she asked then if speed of bellows was involved, i wondered is she knew more about physics then i do.
Up until a few weeks ago, 2 other accordion players were playing with me, so it could be that any dynamics had been unnoticed.

 

[John M]

. . . An organist if they want to be any good lacks the added benefit of our bellows control and so the other two factors are what you spend your time working on to get expression. . .

Isn't the organ volume pedal similar to bellows? Some organs even had more that one pedal for separate volume control for each manual.

 

[saundersbp]

Isn't the organ volume pedal similar to bellows

The organ doesn't have a volume pedal. The thing I think you mean is a swell pedal which many organs don't have either. Its effect is more like that of a multi level sordina, but it doesn't change wind pressure.

 

[John M]

The organ doesn't have a volume pedal. The thing I think you mean is a swell pedal which many organs don't have either. Its effect is more like that of a multi level sordina, but it doesn't change wind pressure.

I guess I was thinking of an electric/electronic organ such as the Hammond. I play my 8X very similar to my B3.

- B3 Upper Manual -> The 8X treble keyboard
- B3 Lower Manual -> The 8X Chord Rows 3, 4, 5, and 6 (Major, Minor, 7th, and Diminished)
- B3 Pedals -> The 8X Single Bass Note Rows 1 and 2
- B3 Volume (swell) Pedal -> 8X Bellows

 

[Javthedog]

The only real "issue" with dynamics is that you only have "global" dynamics control and you cannot really play a chord where one note is loud and the other notes are soft. That's why an accordion ensemble can always sound nicer than a solo player.................. I reckon that in an ensemble there are (in 'our' band) around 10 - 15 boxes of various quality..........with a slight variety in tuning. Have to disagree. The alternative term for a group of accordions has to be a cacophone!

 

[Walker]

No doubt our @debra has a great love of accordion ensembles and his Orchestra will be excellent and subtle. I would like to hear them in person one day. However, as I enjoy repeating myself (and other people) I think the essence of what some people call playing 'with expression' or 'with feeling' is arguably to some degree a product of the elegant implementation of what is written here:​

I think there are probably at least three things that give a sense of dynamics:

1. Bellows pressure, and more of it, meaning that a note or phrase in the context of a piece will sound louder relatively than its surroundings.

2. Articulation, which can mean how fast a key is pressed down, giving it a strong starting transient. Also it can mean shortening less important notes slightly before a strong note to give an accent.

3. Rhythmic accents, where an important note is slightly held back generating expectation and then placed at a key moment of musical tension or resolution.

Here is a recording of a very good Italian accordionist who displays real sensitivity and musicality (much of what is written above).



P.S. This is probably the largest accordion I have ever seen... piano accordion with 49 keys (C to C).

I would also add a recording of Hanzhi Wang on button accordion. In addition to her expressiveness, her movements are 'at one' with the accordion.



Maybe being 'at one' with the instrument is a sign of great musicians.​

 

[debra]

No doubt our @debra has a great love of accordion ensembles and his Orchestra will be excellent and subtle. I would like to hear them in person one day. However, as I enjoy repeating myself (and other people) I think the essence of what some people call playing 'with expression' or 'with feeling' is arguably to some degree a product of the elegant implementation of what is written here:​

...

The only things I have enjoyed playing (solo) in public a lot have been the famous Czardas by Vittorio Monti (I played it first on PA, later on CBA, both a number of times in public) and tunes from the movie Turks Fruit by Rogier van Otterloo (again first on PA, later on CBA). That movie arrangement I made myself has really stressed my ability to make a solo arrangement that considers the balance between left and right hand, and that also cleverly hides where the Stradella base cannot give you a chord you may want. That arrangement does have one flaw: it can only be played on an accordion with sufficiently large bellows. It's the only solo piece on my YouTube channel. (It's not played live on YouTube, but I have performed it in public a number of times.) I have also tried this with the impossible chords on MIII on my Hohner. That sounds even better than the attempt to "seamlessly" transfer between left and right hand. But it's not really feasible in modern practice as there are few MIII accordions left. (The piece does not give you time to press a convertor switch, so Stradella and melody bass need to be available at the same time.)
A trick I have seen in public solo performances with external microphones is to vary the balance between left and right by shifting your body to change the distance from the mics. When I performed I had either no amplification or mics on the accordion so varying the distance was also not an option.
PS: I have no orchestra of my own. I have two quintets for which I arrange music, but stopped being the conductor of my own orchestra well over 10 years ago. I enjoy playing in an orchestra (where I play the bass accordion) but I'm glad I don't have to lead it.

 

[Ffingers]

Walker: "Maybe being 'at one' with the instrument is a sign of great musicians."

Being 'at one' with the piece of music and not needing a score in front of you is also "...a sign of great musicians."

 

[saundersbp]

Being 'at one' with the piece of music and not needing a score in front of you is also "...a sign of great musicians."

Not sure about this one. I personally find it easy to play without the score but I've come across many superb musicians that need a score and it's doesn't hamper their music making at all. Strangely this includes some great and rather famous folk musicians that to my suprise use a printed score! I guess our memories all work in different ways.

 

[debra]

Not sure about this one. I personally find it easy to play without the score but I've come across many superb musicians that need a score and it's doesn't hamper their music making at all. Strangely this includes some great and rather famous folk musicians that to my suprise use a printed score! I guess our memories all work in different ways.

It's mostly a matter of training at a young age. When I was in music school (studying the piano at the time) we had to play everything by heart from about year three onwards. Everyone simply played everything by heart. But about 25 years ago we moved from Belgium to the Netherlands and learned that here nobody is required to play by heart and even many professional musicians cannot play anything by hears. There are just a few top accordion players who play by heart.

 

[GeorgeH76]

Is this an example of bellows dynamics ?