using piano sheet music for accordion ?

[smdc66]

i found some sheet music which says its piano music (2 treble and 1 bass clef notes rows sections and above the top treble clef are the bass chords (seem to be in guitar chord format?) - top treble section seems more straightforward and has song words to the tune,middle treble section seems more embellished, bass clef is bass clef

anyway what im getting at is is it ok to just use the top row ?
this seems more straightforward for a beginner

when one gets more proficient could they choose whichever treble row music they want

question may be a basic one , its just i am used to 2 musical note rows - treble and bass :?

as you can probably tell i am not a great dot reader

 

[george garside]

If you don't tell the accordion it won't worry about what sort of sheet music its being played from! The dots are the dots, irrespective of instrument so if the top line is the melody then its the melody for any chromatic instrument. So a box an be played from fiddle music, flute music, mouthorgan music, or any other sort of music!!

As to the bass there 3 choices
1. to read the bass line which a good reader should be able to easily do. If all the chords are available on your size of box play them

2. Not so good readers will find it easier to work from chord 'names' but beware of them being meant for guitars or other stringy things. some may not be playable or may not be easily playable on stradella so a bit of lateral thinking may be required

3. Busk in the bass , this being relatively easier and certainly best option for not good readers if 2 above doesn't work. Also the best option for byearists. Concentrate on the 3 chords appropriate to the key you are playing in for starters then later experiment with others as well

george

 

[jarvo]

Some Piano music, especially more "modern" music with two treble lines and a bass line may often be the "accompaniment" (bass ,bottom line) and treble (middle line).

The "libretto" or lyric line (top, more simple, line) ...the lyric line will be the recognisable tune of the music if a song (this is a bit of an over simplification admittedly but generally accurate).

So in other words the bass and treble as written may not always convey the melody but leave that to the vocal (libretto,lyric line, top line)to be supplied by the singer or another instrument "voicing the melody,......

If you are not singing and want the tune to be recognisable when played as an instrumental then incorporate or just use the lyric line with some of the middle treble as embellishment......the chords usually created by a combination of middle and bass line ... the whole chord in the bass line would be a bit over powering played all in the bass line all the time.......

Sometimes you just need to pick the bits from the stave that you want...

The chord boxes (and I agree with George ,are not always easily possible on a stradella system) are for accompaniment instruments...and often they can pick out the melody from the key notes within the chord........and play solo.

This is not encapsulated in lore but just based on years of reading from commercially produced sheet music and going...that don't sound right ...where's the tune ....play the top line ...ah there it is....not always the case ....depends on the arranger.....

You have to play around with what is written to get what you want.. Not classical music though, that is what it is as written ....unless it is opera ...then we go back to the libretto .....int this great ?

 

[Glenn]

Even with classical music you will have to rearrange the notes to fit the accordion unless it was originally written for the accordion.
We all play plenty of stuff originally written for groups or orchestra. Actually, it's quite fun picking out your own arrangement. It becomes unique to you.

 

[BobM]

..and bear in mind that on many older piano arr’s there’s a chord sequence (with a grid) above the the treble stave. Treat these with extreme caution because they’re usually ukulele/banjo chords, voiced for 4 stringed instruments. So, what could be written in the piano arrangement notes as a Cmaj7th could show in the top line uke chords as a Emin. Sometimes it doesn’t matter, but it’s a good idea to check them against the piano bass line first.

BobM.

 

[goldtopia]

The top melody line is easiest and enables a tune to be leaned quickly, then if the treble stave for the piano can be used I would use that, sometimes just partially to make it sound right or easier. I think this would apply to most people. If the chords are included it is easier than trying to adapt the piano bass. If the chords are not included it means having the laborious task of working out the bass chords, even substitute chords which for me is only worth while if I really like the tune. Not all piano music is suitable for accordion and some piano music is just accompaniment with the tune hardly being recognised.