Learning to arrange for accordion

[JesterMusician]

Hello! I'm a beginner accordionist, and I'm looking to arrange music that I know I will enjoy learning. I have a good amount of experience arranging and writing sheet music for other instruments, but I'm trying to learn the correct notation and idioms for accordion.

To start, I've been transcribing Kass' Final Song. I use Dorico, and I've configured an expression map to control an accordion VST with the typical Stradella bass notation:

Questions I've got so far:

• How does it look, visually?
  • Are the turn ornaments useful, or are they more confusing than just writing them out in full?
  • Is it okay to include chord symbols at the top of each system?
  • Is it usual to notate the bass and chords in two voices (such as at rehearsal B), or would ties make more sense?
• How does it feel to play?
  • I've got a Roland FR-1xb, so I'm trying to learn CBA, but I'm also curious about how it is on PA. It at least looks reasonable as a piano part.
  • Is the difficulty relatively constant? Or are there certain measures that are significantly more difficult than they should be?
• How accurate is it?
  • The transcription is based on this version on YouTube, but I'm not sure if I've done it correctly. Do you see any obvious mistakes?
  • Do I have the registration correct?
  • At 36, I think it is the bellows that rearticulates the tied chord that begins the measure, but I think the player's fingers do not lift. Should I leave it as written, or should I indicate this rearticulation somehow? And if so, do I do that by breaking up the ties, or is there another way?

Also I've got some questions about annotations, such as fingering, which I'm planning to add later:

• Counter-bass is usually indicated with a small dash on the note like a tenuto. I think I've also seen underlines on fingering indications to mean the same thing. If I'm using a 3-3 French bass layout, is there a standard way to indicate whether the second counter-bass row should be used?
• On the treble side, is there a standard way to indicate which row to use on a CBA (e.g. C in the 1st row vs. C in the 4th row?) On a violin, this would be indicated with roman numeral corresponding to which string to use, but I don't think that would make sense here.
• In piano music, circled numbers often indicate that the finger is crossing over. Is this a convention used in accordion music, too?
• Are there standard indications for "pull" and "push"? One of my books has upbow and inverted upbow (respectively), but I've also seen upbow and downbow, and the marks which you can see in the panel on the right of the video, underneath the "d" and the "M". Are these only ever used in teaching materials, or are they sometimes used in real works, too?

Looking forward to learning more!

 

[EuroFolker]

The playback sounds beautiful. Can't wait to read what the resident experts have to say on the rest.

"I use Dorico, and I've configured an expression map to control an accordion VST with the typical Stradella bass notation" - I'd be very curious to know what steps you took to configure this.

 

[Rosie C]

I use Dorico, and I've configured an expression map to control an accordion VST with the typical Stradella bass notation:

They gave us a free copy of Dorico for my university course, but I really didn't get on with it and reverted to MuseScore at the first opportunity!

 

[Zevy]

Hello! I'm a beginner accordionist, and I'm looking to arrange music that I know I will enjoy learning. I have a good amount of experience arranging and writing sheet music for other instruments, but I'm trying to learn the correct notation and idioms for accordion.

To start, I've been transcribing Kass' Final Song. I use Dorico, and I've configured an expression map to control an accordion VST with the typical Stradella bass notation:

Questions I've got so far:

• How does it look, visually?

Very good!

• • Are the turn ornaments useful, or are they more confusing than just writing them out in full?

I personally would have no problem with them as I am used to seeing ornaments in classical scores. But it really depends on whom you expect to be reading this. I would venture to say that the average accordion player would like to see them written out. I don't think I have personally seen these ornaments used in accordion sheet music.

• • Is it okay to include chord symbols at the top of each system?

I don't think it's necessary. It could be a bit distracting.

• • Is it usual to notate the bass and chords in two voices (such as at rehearsal B), or would ties make more sense?

When necessary, they should be written in two voices. My teacher, Charles Nunzio, always wanted to see (as long as it's possible) the chord stems down in order to see the chord symbol well.

• How does it feel to play?

• • I've got a Roland FR-1xb, so I'm trying to learn CBA, but I'm also curious about how it is on PA. It at least looks reasonable as a piano part.
  • Is the difficulty relatively constant? Or are there certain measures that are significantly more difficult than they should be?

I didn't try it. It looks good.

• How accurate is it?
  • The transcription is based on this version on YouTube, but I'm not sure if I've done it correctly. Do you see any obvious mistakes?
  • Do I have the registration correct?

I'm not sure you made that first registration correctly.

• • At 36, I think it is the bellows that rearticulates the tied chord that begins the measure, but I think the player's fingers do not lift. Should I leave it as written, or should I indicate this rearticulation somehow? And if so, do I do that by breaking up the ties, or is there another way?

I'm not sure what you want. Please explain your question.

Also I've got some questions about annotations, such as fingering, which I'm planning to add later:

• Counter-bass is usually indicated with a small dash on the note like a tenuto. I think I've also seen underlines on fingering indications to mean the same thing. If I'm using a 3-3 French bass layout, is there a standard way to indicate whether the second counter-bass row should be used?

I'm a PA player, so I can't answer.

• On the treble side, is there a standard way to indicate which row to use on a CBA (e.g. C in the 1st row vs. C in the 4th row?) On a violin, this would be indicated with roman numeral corresponding to which string to use, but I don't think that would make sense here.

Ditto.

• In piano music, circled numbers often indicate that the finger is crossing over. Is this a convention used in accordion music, too?

I don't think so. Why would that be necessary?

• Are there standard indications for "pull" and "push"? One of my books has upbow and inverted upbow (respectively), but I've also seen upbow and downbow, and the marks which you can see in the panel on the right of the video, underneath the "d" and the "M". Are these only ever used in teaching materials, or are they sometimes used in real works, too?

You can use arrows. See the attached paper. It may be useful.

Looking forward to learning more!

Hi. Thanks for posting this. I have some experience writing for the accordion with Finale, and I am s-l-o-w-l-y learning Dorico. That's why I'm happy to see someone else in a similar predicament. It's easier for me to comment within your post, so that's what I did.
Single bass notes should be preceded with "Bass Solo".
Good luck to you!

 

[JesterMusician]

Thank you for your responses!

I'd be very curious to know what steps you took to configure this.

I'll probably post something on the forum once I've ironed out all the kinks, but essentially I've got the Best Service Accordions 2 VST, which converts each bass row as a different octave, and I've got playing techniques for M, m, 7, and d which transpose their notes. I've got a hidden -12 technique for the "optional C and D" to correct their octave when necessary, and I've got a hidden staff for playing bass notes when they coincide with a chord note in the same voice.

I'm not sure what you want. Please explain your question.

In this image, I believe the buttons in orange are held while the bellows changes direction. This results in the the chord being sounded a second time, like the notation in the staff above. Is there a way to notate this rearticulation? Would it be better to just use the top staff notation instead?

I'm not sure you made that first registration correctly.

Which one is incorrect, or are both of them wrong? For the right hand, do you think it might be LMM, MMH, or LMMH, instead of MM? For the left hand, should it be soft bass instead of master?

I don't think so. Why would that be necessary?

Circled fingerings are used to signal that the finger crosses over or under, and the hand changes position. On a piano, a C major scale could be fingered like this:

It might not be very useful on a CBA or even on a PA. In the Galliano book, Complete Accordion Method, circled fingerings on a CBA indicate that the note should be played on the 4th row (or 5th row, I suppose)

Single bass notes should be preceded with "Bass Solo".

Like this? Seems a bit too busy, in my opinion.


Or do you mean the more melodic parts, like this?

And would these be better above or below the staff? And should I write it as "Bass solo" each time, or is "B.S." sufficient?

 

[PeterF]

At 36, I think it is the bellows that rearticulates the tied chord that begins the measure, but I think the player's fingers do not lift. Should I leave it as written, or should I indicate this rearticulation somehow? And if so, do I do that by breaking up the ties, or is there another way?

I'm not sure there's any notational convention for what you want. I would say possibly instead of ties, use a dashed tie and put a small note underneath it to say "re-articulate with the bellows".

But really, as someone else noted, a lot of these questions depend on who you intend to play it. If it's just for yourself, then use whatever notation is easiest for you. If you want to make it publicly available, then obviously you want it more standardized. But while some things are standardized in accordion notation, a lot is not and depends on the individual player.

And unless you're intending this for beginning players, you don't really need to include fingerings. Any intermediate and above player should be able to figure out their own fingerings.

(Finally, just be aware that as this is likely copyrighted material, you shouldn't be planning on selling an arrangement without permission of the copyright holder. And technically you probably need permission to make an arrangement, but this isn't widely enforced.)

 

[Caps]

I'm not an expert in any means on notation but I really like the way this sounds. This is something i would try to learn if I had the sheet music for it.

 

[Siegmund]

I think it looks very good. (And wish I was clever enough to get accordion playback in Dorico: I managed it with considerable effort in Lilypond - and so far am only using Dorico for non-accordion music because of that.)
The only immediate things I'd suggest are that one doesn't usually put a double bar at every rehearsal letter, and one usually doesn't put a rehearsal mark on the first bar.

Re the specific questions: there are few standards (and indicating fingerings is often an 'instructional material only' exercise -- do you require an unusual fingering? are you sure the fingering you want to suggest is better than the one an expert might be using?)
I prefer to see turns written out, in classical music too, especially if you care how fast they are played, but people will stick in some kind of an ornament when they see the symbol, and not everybody is after maximum precision in notation.

Bellows change markings are similarly non-standardized, and often not given since not everyone's bellows leak air at the same rate. I like up- and down-bow as an ex-string player; the Russians use upside-down L shaped symbols.
I urge you not to use horizontal arrows for the bellows, the old AAA sheet notwithstanding, because so many people use those as visuals for "speed up" and "slow down."

Two voices as needed in the bass part is cleaner than ties IMO.
Chord symbols quite often do appear in accordion sheet music, especially of popular music. It's mildly unusual for the displayed symbol to not match the Stradella chord: E7b5 and A7/G are correct descriptions of the sounding notes (and theoretically more descriptive than Gm/E and A/G), but people may well play the A7 button rather than the AM button because of what they see in the symbol. And I think better to omit the "N.C."s unless you expect someone like a rhythm guitarist to also be playing off the part.

 

[JesterMusician]

I personally would have no problem with them as I am used to seeing ornaments in classical scores. But it really depends on whom you expect to be reading this. I would venture to say that the average accordion player would like to see them written out. I don't think I have personally seen these ornaments used in accordion sheet music.

I prefer to see turns written out, in classical music too, especially if you care how fast they are played, but people will stick in some kind of an ornament when they see the symbol, and not everybody is after maximum precision in notation.

I like the turns in this case because I think the player should be flexible with the timing. But I'll probably write them out in a small footnote staff, like you would sometimes see in some classical piano editions. EDIT: I changed my mind, it's too fussy getting it to look right. I'll write out the turns in full and not include the ornament markings at all.

I'm not sure there's any notational convention for what you want. I would say possibly instead of ties, use a dashed tie and put a small note underneath it to say "re-articulate with the bellows".

I tried it with the dashed ties and I don't like them. I think I'll just leave it as-is, and let the player interpret it however they want.

But really, as someone else noted, a lot of these questions depend on who you intend to play it. If it's just for yourself, then use whatever notation is easiest for you. If you want to make it publicly available, then obviously you want it more standardized. But while some things are standardized in accordion notation, a lot is not and depends on the individual player.

And unless you're intending this for beginning players, you don't really need to include fingerings. Any intermediate and above player should be able to figure out their own fingerings.

Re the specific questions: there are few standards (and indicating fingerings is often an 'instructional material only' exercise -- do you require an unusual fingering? are you sure the fingering you want to suggest is better than the one an expert might be using?)
I prefer to see turns written out, in classical music too, especially if you care how fast they are played, but people will stick in some kind of an ornament when they see the symbol, and not everybody is after maximum precision in notation.

Bellows change markings are similarly non-standardized, and often not given since not everyone's bellows leak air at the same rate. I like up- and down-bow as an ex-string player; the Russians use upside-down L shaped symbols.
I urge you not to use horizontal arrows for the bellows, the old AAA sheet notwithstanding, because so many people use those as visuals for "speed up" and "slow down."

If including fingering and bellows indications is uncommon and non-standard, then it's probably best that I don't include them in the score. Despite that, I'd want to be aware of any conventions that do exist for my own reference. I'll still be writing fingerings and...bellowsings?...in pencil so I can edit them as I figure them out — but how do I write them?

Piano music indicates each finger 1-2-3-4-5. String music indicates fingering with T-1-2-3-4. Guitar music indicates fingering with 1-2-3-4 for the left hand and p-i-m-a for the right hand. Accordion appears to follow the piano fingering convention, but I'm wondering if there are other things to keep in mind.

Most notes on a violin or guitar can be written in more than one way. A specific string can be indicated with I-II-III-IV for violin or with circled 1-2-3-4-5-6 for guitar. I was wondering if such an analogous convention also existed for accordion (4th/5th row indicated with a circled fingering, like in my Galliano book?)

The only immediate things I'd suggest are that one doesn't usually put a double bar at every rehearsal letter, and one usually doesn't put a rehearsal mark on the first bar.

Chord symbols quite often do appear in accordion sheet music, especially of popular music. It's mildly unusual for the displayed symbol to not match the Stradella chord: E7b5 and A7/G are correct descriptions of the sounding notes (and theoretically more descriptive than Gm/E and A/G), but people may well play the A7 button rather than the AM button because of what they see in the symbol. And I think better to omit the "N.C."s unless you expect someone like a rhythm guitarist to also be playing off the part.

Yeah, I should remove the double barlines, but I'm going to keep the rehearsal letters where they are. The chord symbols are there for the reader to understand the underlying harmony, so I think I'll leave them alone, too. I'm also kind of mimicking the house styles that my video game sheet music books seem to follow, and they usually include chord symbols and rehearsal marks like this.

(Finally, just be aware that as this is likely copyrighted material, you shouldn't be planning on selling an arrangement without permission of the copyright holder. And technically you probably need permission to make an arrangement, but this isn't widely enforced.)

In the past, I have published copyrighted piano arrangements legally with Musicnotes. And if Nintendo didn't stop allowing third parties to publish their music, I might have also published this one there, too. Alas, this arrangement shall be just an exercise. I should probably take the video down from my post after my questions have been answered.

Thank you for all your responses so far!

 

[PeterF]

I tried it with the dashed ties and I don't like them. I think I'll just leave it as-is, and let the player interpret it however they want.

A perfectly valid decision! Sometimes you just have to go with your gut feeling in notation.

If including fingering and bellows indications is uncommon and non-standard, then it's probably best that I don't include them in the score. Despite that, I'd want to be aware of any conventions that do exist for my own reference. I'll still be writing fingerings and...bellowsings?...in pencil so I can edit them as I figure them out — but how do I write them?

Piano music indicates each finger 1-2-3-4-5. String music indicates fingering with T-1-2-3-4. Guitar music indicates fingering with 1-2-3-4 for the left hand and p-i-m-a for the right hand. Accordion appears to follow the piano fingering convention, but I'm wondering if there are other things to keep in mind.

Most notes on a violin or guitar can be written in more than one way. A specific string can be indicated with I-II-III-IV for violin or with circled 1-2-3-4-5-6 for guitar. I was wondering if such an analogous convention also existed for accordion (4th/5th row indicated with a circled fingering, like in my Galliano book?)

Generally I see accordion right hand fingers marked just like piano music: 1-2-3-4-5 for thumb-index-middle-ring-pinky. Left hand stradella is often similarly marked 2-3-4-5 for index-middle-ring-pinky. And I suppose you could use T for thumb though this is so rarely used as to be moot.

On more beginner level books, I have seen the fingering number underlined when the note is intended to played in the counterbass row instead of the bass row. Again higher level players are expected to figure this out themselves. I'm not really a free bass player so others will have to weigh in on that subject, though I think these conventions could hold.

Note that there are number of documents out there on the web that attempt to codify accordion notation. You might find it interesting to look at them for ideas too. Here are a couple...

Robert Young McMahan/American Accordion Association

https://www.ameraccord.com/artwork/2016/Feb16/Composersguidetotheaccordion.pdf

Royal Danish Academy of Music (probably more focused on free bass)

https://assets-global.website-files.com/650859939b44018adfbdefc0/6522edb6e57f35eef0d49000_Handbook.pdf

Good luck! Music notation is a fascinating subject and a bit of a brain teaser with the accordion!

 

[Zevy]

If including fingering and bellows indications is uncommon and non-standard, then it's probably best that I don't include them in the score. Despite that, I'd want to be aware of any conventions that do exist for my own reference. I'll still be writing fingerings and...bellowsings?...in pencil so I can edit them as I figure them out — but how do I write them?

I personally include lots of fingerings, as most of my accordion arrangements are for myself (or a student). I will therefore leave them in, so that anyone else can benefit - take it or leave it.
As an aside, before the “official” AAA “canonization” of accordion notation, the left hand was often fingered as 1-4 with the index finger as #1 and the pinky as #4.

 

[JesterMusician]

The playback sounds beautiful. Can't wait to read what the resident experts have to say on the rest.

"I use Dorico, and I've configured an expression map to control an accordion VST with the typical Stradella bass notation" - I'd be very curious to know what steps you took to configure this.

Just wanted to mention that I've shared some more detailed instructions and an example project, as I posted in another thread!

I've noticed a few interesting things in that edition of that piece by Henry Cowell (which I tried to copy as close as possible, minus the fingerings). The piece was commissioned by the AAA, so it should be a legitimate reference for notation. I'll compile them here if anyone is curious about such details:

• I can see that B.S. is used where the bass has an extended passage without chord notes. There's a "(Chord solo)" notation written as well for a chord passage without bass notes, but this is not abbreviated as "C.S.". The parentheses suggest that this notation is a courtesy.
• It seems that you may use the B below the staff if a bass solo run calls for it.
• It's inconsistent whether to use two stems or one for simultaneous chords and bass notes. (Compare the beginning and the end of the piece.) However, when there's a one-off single-note (e.g. a chord without bass), it uses a rest for the other voice, even where it is otherwise single-stem writing of two notes.
• Chord symbols seem to be a bit like accidentals — they should be omitted for successive chord notes of the same pitch. But any other chord note "cancels" them. This means successive major chords of different pitches should each have their own M. (You can't use one M for all of them.)
• Registrations are often labeled with their conventional name (except for Soft Bass for some reason). I noticed that the bass is set to Master at 92 when it was already set that way at 8 — perhaps an error, or a reminder just in case the player switched off of it.

 

[JeffJetton]

The B.S. notation tells the player that the indicated notes are to be played using the bass buttons, even if they're in the range of the staff normally used for chords. In other words, it temporarily switches off the rule that notes on or above the middle line are chords.

If you have an extended passage of bass notes, but they never go into the upper part of the staff, you don't need to write B.S.

Reference: https://www.zisman.ca/squeezebox/About Accordion Bass Notation.pdf

 

[Zevy]

The B.S. notation tells the player that the indicated notes are to be played using the bass buttons, even if they're in the range of the staff normally used for chords. In other words, it temporarily switches off the rule that notes on or above the middle line are chords.

If you have an extended passage of bass notes, but they never go into the upper part of the staff, you don't need to write B.S.

Reference: https://www.zisman.ca/squeezebox/About Accordion Bass Notation.pdf

I like to include the B.S. in either case as a “heads up”. That way the performer knows that we are out of bass/chords mode and we are playing a bass line.