Harmony Question, CBA versus Piano?

[Tom]

So, I play piano and don't know anything about CBA.

When I want to play harmony, or as we say here, "chording," I play the melody with (mostly) my middle, ring and little fingers, and chording (mostly) with my first, second and middle fingers.

Is it the same on CBA?

 

[losthobos]

For me I'd agree..... Normally play melody with pinkie side of hand and see what else may fit sweetly with the thumb side of things..... Rarely use 5 fingers... 4 about my limit and pinkie often first to be fired....
Possibly result of bad habits derived from self teaching....

 

[debra]

I think there is no other way to do it (with just the right hand), so yeah it's pretty much the same on CBA. And on 5 row CBA you have more ways to hit the notes, making fingering for melody and chords easier. (Sadly, I'm not good enough to really do this at any acceptable level.)

 

[lmschgo]

I have seen in various posts references to playing block chords; chording, and filling in below the melody note.
Are these three 'terms' just a different name for the same end result, a fuller, more robust right hand?
Are block chords a specific combination of notes and/or a reference to the technique of playing chords on the right hand?

 

[dunlustin]

I've seen 'block chord' used to describe LH bass + chord together - don't know about use for the RH.

 

[losthobos]

Ernie Felice claims have invented the 'block chord accordion method' and he plays big 4/5 note chord blocks up and down the scale... Fat sound..... Another method used by more modern players is to use chords made up of 4th intervals that have wide ambiguous tone and allow for some cool right hand comping permutations...
Everythings fashoinable in its day i guess

 

[Alan Sharkis]

When learning right hand chords, I was taught to play “open chords,” arpeggios, up and down the keyboard and “block chords,” again, up and down the keyboard, both starting in root position and going to first inversion, then second, then third, if applicable in a cyclical fashion. That, and the reference to Felice and his style, were the only times I heard the term, “block chords,” applied to solo accordion.

 

[JeffJetton]

I have seen in various posts references to playing block chords; chording, and filling in below the melody note.
Are these three 'terms' just a different name for the same end result, a fuller, more robust right hand?
Are block chords a specific combination of notes and/or a reference to the technique of playing chords on the right hand?

There are different ways to add additional harmony notes under (or even above) some or all of the melody notes.

In the parlance to which I am accustomed, "block chords" refers to a specific style of doing that, which involves harmonizing every melody note (for a section of the tune at least--rarely for the whole thing) with two, three, or more extra notes underneath it. So basically, everywhere there used to be a single melody note, there's now an entire chord of some kind with the melody on top. The chords don't add any additional rhythm--they're played in lockstep with the original melody.

And there are several ways to do it too, involving choices on whether or not you just use one hand or both, whether you put all the notes in the chord right next to each other or shift some down an octave to leave more space in the chord, etc.

I believe it started with piano players like George Shearing and Dave Brubeck, who in turn were copying the way the horn section would often be arranged in a big band. Accordion players like Ernie Felice and Art VanDamme were no doubt inspired in turn by the piano players.

 

[stickista]

There are different ways to add additional harmony notes under (or even above) some or all of the melody notes.

In the parlance to which I am accustomed, "block chords" refers to a specific style of doing that, which involves harmonizing every melody note (for a section of the tune at least--rarely for the whole thing) with two, three, or more extra notes underneath it. So basically, everywhere there used to be a single melody note, there's now an entire chord of some kind with the melody on top. The chords don't add any additional rhythm--they're played in lockstep with the original melody.

And there are several ways to do it too, involving choices on whether or not you just use one hand or both, whether you put all the notes in the chord right next to each other or shift some down an octave to leave more space in the chord, etc.

I believe it started with piano players like George Shearing and Dave Brubeck, who in turn were copying the way the horn section would often be arranged in a big band. Accordion players like Ernie Felice and Art VanDamme were no doubt inspired in turn by the piano players.

Fun fact... Brubeck suffered from hand problems that limited his dexterity, hence his predilection for block chords.