I was given my first accordion a week ago, SO much fun!

[Glenn]

Jon,
You are touching on a very delicate question for which no one person is qualified to advise without many years of personal experience. In my own case it is a very long and drawn out process. A promise of getting rid of some surplus instruments may help but do not give a fixed time scale if you really men to retain them all. Your partner will hold you to your promise if you are too clear in your "deal".

 

[QuaverRest]

Wise words glenn, wise words. My last purchase was the mandolin you see pictured, and it was on the proviso that I 'do not buy another instrument for one year'. I circumvented this problem with the 12 bass on a technicality, as it was given to me (hehehe)..

I will use your proposed technique! It sounds bullet proof. I may also tell her that the 80 bass is 'about the same size' as the 12 bass, and appear bewildered that it is much bigger on the day of its arrival.

Your guidence in this matter is very much appreciated

 

[Puxto]

Wow, nice collection! Am happy for you, reminds me of when I started out. That's a nice little starter box, and will be worth keeping for camping trips etc! You can get lucky on E bay, but it is a gamble.. worth keeping an eye on though, but be very careful reading the descriptions, "All buttons working" for example probably means hideously out of tune, but if you see something legit put a £50 bid on it anyway, I did this once expecting it to shoot up to hundreds, came back later and had got myself a beautiful old restored box for £50.. felt bad bad paying so little, and its served me well for years! Still if you can save a few hundred and find a reliable dealer its probably worth it.. Best of luck to you either way, I reckon you'll be banging out the jazz solos in no time.. :tup:

 

[donn]

Glenn and johndev, youve certainly convinced me! Ill save up for an 72 or 80 bass

I return to my regular refrain on this point: the number of bass buttons is a convenient but not very useful way to classify accordions. If youre OK with the compromises that come with those two bass sizes, then thats good to know in case you run across such an accordion that otherwise meets your requirements. But conversely, if an accordion should meet your requirements and have even more bass buttons, then thats all to the good. Theyre almost free, because they use the same reeds that were already there - 72 bass has all the notes there are, so it has the full complement of reeds.

 

[QuaverRest]

Glenn and johndev, youve certainly convinced me! Ill save up for an 72 or 80 bass

..72 bass has all the notes there are, so it has the full complement of reeds.[/quote]

A very good point well made!

One of the aspects of playing my little 12 bass that I have enjoyed is trying to pull every drop of harmony out of it, given its very limited vocabulary. I have written a few arrangements for it (although playing them smoothly is another matter, haha!) and I feel I have learned a lot of transferable skills concerning the manipulation of bass/triad buttons. I would like to have the minimum number of buttons that would (with practise!) open up unlimited harmonic complexity.

A newbie question - would the 72 bass be capable of advanced altered harmony, such as major9#5 chords and so-forth?

Thanks for all your help, fellow squeezers!

 

[Glenn]

Yes is the short answer.
It will require some more advanced finger positions though.

 

[donn]

Im not really sure the question has a definite answer. If it helps, heres the wikipedia article on the Stradella system: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stradella_bass_system, and there you will see what you get with common configurations. I think there are some other references that include suggested combinations for some more complex chords, but I dont have them.

Of course the central issue with 72 vs 96 vs 120 is the column span you need, to play a tune in the key you want, without wrapping around. With the standard 72 bass configuration, if youre playing in D, you can get to the III chord where youd normally expect it next to the VI; in A, you have to leap over to the Db column for it. A 96 bass gives you a couple more columns of buttons on the sharp end, connected to the same rods as the corresponding ones on the flat end, so you can play those very same reeds without the jump.

If you continue to be for whatever reason obsessed with the number of bass buttons on your prospective accordion, then I guess the question with the exotic chords is whether theyd extend the column span youd need, since you cant very well jump to the other end of the keyboard to play one note of a chord.

 

[Glenn]

Good point Donn, for some jazz chords you will need s fuller number of bass buttons otherwise they will become impossible on a 72 bass in some positions.

 

[QuaverRest]

There is a lot to take into consideration! I don't want to try and sprint before I can crawl.. Perhaps the best idea would be to start with a 48 and become comfortable playing that before moving up to an advanced model?

Would I be correct in making the assumption that there would still be a rich repertoire available to a 48 bass?

This is a very interesting subject, and one that seems idiosyncratic to the accordion. I play a range of instruments, and the harmonic limitations on each are more or less integral to the instrument, but with the accordion there is such a variety of choice! I love it!

 

[dunlustin]

To whet your appetite:

http://accordionpage.com/chcomb.html#common

 

[donn]

There is a lot to take into consideration! I dont want to try and sprint before I can crawl.. Perhaps the best idea would be to start with a 48 and become comfortable playing that before moving up to an advanced model?

I believe youre putting us on, but ... 48 bass is not going to be any simpler.

Its like doing the same dance in different rooms. At some point, there isnt enough room and you run into the walls, so you have to change the dance. Smaller is potential problem, it isnt a solution to any problem.

Most full size accordions have enough bass buttons, so if you can just forget about bass buttons youll probably be all right.

 

[QuaverRest]

Thanks Don

 

[Glenn]

My first accordion was a 48 bass. I grew out of it in a couple if months as even the simplest musettes etc called for chords which simply don't exist on that instrument. Of course you can do wonders with a 48 bass but of a certain style. Also as a beginner you don't have the skills to extract super clever ways if circumventing the limited notes. By the way, I came from many years of piano playing classical then jazz and blues. From a folk music direction s 47 bass can be very useful however.

 

[Glenn]

That should read 48 bass at the end . I haven't invented a new system.

 

[QuaverRest]

Thanks Glenn

I would say the music I enjoy listening to the most on the accordion is jazz, 19th century french and italian folk music, astor piazzolla (difficult to hem that fellow into a particular genre!) baroque and early classical. Perhaps going for at least a 72 bass to begin with would be a good idea, as it will likely be the last I can afford to buy for quite some time, and I certainly don't want to grow out of it!

Of course, ideally I would like ALL of them!! Sadly I don't think my girlfriend or bank would back me up on that one..

 

[Glenn]

120 is however the most common and probably the one you will find for the beg price.