Hello from South Wales

[Rosie C]

Hello everyone,

I got my first piano-accordion on Monday! It's a little 12 bass Scarlatti, bought second hand locally, just to get me going and learn enough to know what to look for in a larger/better instrument. I play in the band of a Morris dancing side, up to now I've been playing recorder and flute. Another member was kind enough to loan me a melodeon and give me a lesson. I loved the melodeon sound, but the "double action" wasn't for me, so I went with piano accordion.

I play piano so I got a tune out of with just right hand quite quickly, but of course that doesn't help at all with the left hand which is going to take a bit longer, and I can see that the way I use the bellows is a bit of an art too. Our next performance is the end of September, I'm hoping to learn a few tunes well enough in time, but it's only five weeks!

 

[Ffingers]

Welcome, Taff, from someone born in your part of the world while the Nazis were bombing Tiger Bay and the
docklands to smithereens.
There are a goodly number of well experienced and kindly folk here who can guide you along; I’m a late starter so not much good with advice.
Croeso

 

[Ben-jammin]

Welcome Rosie.

the best way to approach developing skills on the accordion is to practice one thing at a time. So only playing one hand at a time until you get bellows control down. It’s a good exercise to try to maintain consistent volume on a single note and then playing scales.

I think it may be prudent to point out that your current instrument may make that task more difficult than other accordions. The two things you have working against you are a small bellows volume and some less than stellar reeds which are usually less efficient and less consistent between notes. Just wanted to let you know so you don’t get discouraged if it seems more challenging than you expected.

 

[Dingo40]

Welcome Rosie!
There's a lot of information on YouTube about how to get the most out of a 12 bass accordion, and it's quite remarkable what they can do: check it out!
Good luck with it!
Here's an introduction:

 

[TomBR]

Croeso Rosie and best wishes on your accordion journey. Enjoy it and have fun and you'll be well able for playing some tunes in five weeks.

You'll find the left hand comes naturally sooner than you'd think. If you'll be playing with melodeons you'll find they may make some "odd" chord choices that are built into their instruments, but if you've been playing in the morris band for a while you're probably used to them.

If you want a book to work from "Piano Accordion - Absolute Beginners" by Dave Mallinson and Karen Tweed is good and goes straight into useful folk tunes.
Best wishes, Tom

 

[Rosie C]

Thanks for all the welcomes!

Welcome Rosie.

the best way to approach developing skills on the accordion is to practice one thing at a time. So only playing one hand at a time until you get bellows control down. It’s a good exercise to try to maintain consistent volume on a single note and then playing scales.

I think it may be prudent to point out that your current instrument may make that task more difficult than other accordions. The two things you have working against you are a small bellows volume and some less than stellar reeds which are usually less efficient and less consistent between notes. Just wanted to let you know so you don’t get discouraged if it seems more challenging than you expected.

Thanks for the advice! I've been doing some exercises and running out of air, so good to know my instrument has small bellows. I've not noticed the reeds, but then I've not got a lot to compare it too.

Welcome Rosie!
There's a lot of information on YouTube about how to get the most out of a 12 bass accordion, and it's quite remarkable what they can do: check it out!
Good luck with it!
Here's an introduction:

thanks!

If you want a book to work from "Piano Accordion - Absolute Beginners" by Dave Mallinson and Karen Tweed is good and goes straight into useful folk tunes.
Best wishes, Tom

Thanks for the advice and the book recommendation. I'm working through Ivor Beynon's "Complete Piano Accordion Tutor" which is OK, but your recommendation sounds more like my kind of thing.

 

[Rosie C]

If you want a book to work from "Piano Accordion - Absolute Beginners" by Dave Mallinson and Karen Tweed is good and goes straight into useful folk tunes.
Best wishes, Tom

Thanks for the recommendation, I found a second hand copy online, which arrived yesterday. It's really good. Much more interesting than the book I was using!