It's clicking this time

[Bobo]

I basically started over with the CBA.
This time in addition to daily scales and working through the Galliano book, I've been using my old PA books.

I enter the melodies into my scoring software and painstakingly figure out the CBA fingering and notate every note.

It's really helping me understand the keyboard and my fingers are starting to go where they should!

I have a book of Italian songs, a book of French, and the entire Palmer-Hughes series so I should be good for a while.

I also have a lot of pieces from way back when I took PA lessons from Gary Dahl. Those are challenging because they have a lot of chords that are difficult on CBA.

 

[Bobo]

Does anyone know of an app that scans a piece of music and fills in CBA fingering numbers?

Kidding.

 

[jozz]

I don't know one, but I think it should be doable. Sort of like PDFtomusic but with fingering as extra step

 

[Bobo]

I really learned a lot about CBA by going through this exercise. It started burning in the interval relationships of the keys.

I'm working on "Under Paris Skies" now, in F minor.

 

[debra]

Does anyone know of an app that scans a piece of music and fills in CBA fingering numbers?

Kidding.

That would be a really nice app! But joking aside, there is not a single recommended CBA fingering. In fact, my wife and I both play C system and we often use different fingering for the same runs or chords. I will show her my fingering; she will try it and says this does not work for her; then she shows me her fingering and I try it and find that it doesnt work for me...
You have to find out a fingering that *you* are comfortable with. You should not ignore advice from a book or from others but use your own best judgement in deciding whether to follow that advice or not.

 

[Bobo]

I'm on fire now. All I want to do is play this thing.

I love having the Roland and being able to turn off the bellows and just practice the right hand.

 

[fphlpsnrg]

Does anyone know of an app that scans a piece of music and fills in CBA fingering numbers?

Kidding.

That would be a really nice app! But joking aside, there is not a single recommended CBA fingering. In fact, my wife and I both play C system and we often use different fingering for the same runs or chords. I will show her my fingering; she will try it and says this does not work for her; then she shows me her fingering and I try it and find that it doesnt work for me...
...

It would also be an incredibly difficult app to write from%5Bimg%5D>

[/img] the point of view in mapping the 2-dimensional linear and vertical orientation of standard music notation to the 3-dimensional layout of the CBA. Additionally, the software would need to map the hands of the player because of the diversity of hand sizes and differences in finger length.

Dr. Elsbeth Moser in her Das Knopfakkordeon mentions that fingering should feel good in the hand. My own strategy for fingering on the CBA has 3 parts: open hand, where does the hand have to be in order to address the fingering in the next measure, and how closely can a series of notes be matched to one of Mosers trapezoids and scale sequences. I have a good example of all of the above from Duke Ellingtons Sophisticated Lady, measures 55 & 56, but I cant figure out how to post it in this reply (either a case of stupid old man or stupid BB software).

I think the necessity for working out the fingering for CBA greatly reinforces learning and memory.

You are fortunate beyond measure in 2 areas: your wife not only likes music, but she also plays the same instrument.

 

[debra]

...
You are fortunate beyond measure in 2 areas: your wife not only likes music, but she also plays the same instrument.

Thats what happens when you meet each other in an accordion orchestra...
I do count myself being very lucky to share this passion with my wife! And even better that both of us made the switch from PA to CBA and helped each other to keep practicing until we never wanted to go back.

 

[Thomas N]

This is very interesting to me.

I've played piano accordion for 40+ years and enjoy it immensely. For some unexplained reason I have a strong desire to try CBA right now. It would be fascinating to learn a new instrument. Obviously the left hand would be no trouble but the right hand would be a major learning experience.

I've read other people here give accounts about starting over. Do any of you still play piano accordion? I can't see ever giving that up, but I wonder how long the draw of CBA sticks with you.

Maybe I'll start with a very simple C-system cheaper accordion or maybe an FR-3Xb since I love my FR-8X so much. I could then change between B-system and C-system at will.

How difficult has it been to make the switch? Is it apples and oranges or something that you can pick up and advance upon rather quickly?

Thanks!

 

[debra]

...
How difficult has it been to make the switch? Is it apples and oranges or something that you can pick up and advance upon rather quickly?
...

It is apples and oranges. You can learn to play a tune rather quickly (it took 10 days from first try to first public performance) but then you can play that tune and nothing else. It is a serious learning experience and in the beginning very frustrating, knowing what you can do on the PA and not being able to replicate it on the CBA. For us it took about 6 years of intense practice to be able to play at the same level as what we did before on the PA. It is now 10 years and we are getting to the point where we can learn new tunes as quickly as we did before (and sometimes even faster).
We do not ever play the PA any more except that I do it a bit when I am repairing a PA. (You do have to check that everything works well and demo it to the client.) I do occasionally still play the piano, but that is just a few times a year.

 

[StargazerTony]

On YouTube, search for "RoxysMusicStore". There is a man named Leon who has a series of quite well done videos on just this subject.

 

[Bobo]

Thomas, I did a couple things that helped jump start my understanding of the CBA treble.

I'm amazed at my progress. I might even shoot a video soon. If you decide to try CBA let me know. And it isn't about playing one or two songs, after just a month I'm really starting to understand the layout.

As a lifelong keyboardist, when I look at a keyboard I see it like the Matrix. I just see all the chords and scales, like I'm sure all of you see on your instruments. When I started CBA I got frustrated and quit.

Now I get it. And I'm hooked.