Sorry to say I think this was myopic advice. I hope you didn't pay any attention!
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Will learning the piano improve my accordion skills?
- Thread starter Jaime_Dergut
- Start date
I think you are being led down a rabbit hole here, it's about being a good musician and in my experience the best have breadth rather than existing in technical silos.
I agree with Ben here. Playing say, violin, will give you insights into your accordion playing that you would not have experienced from accordion alone.
In my experience, people generally have adequate TIME to approach anything. Even though they will tell you how busy they are, with NO TIME to practice. It's more how time is used, or abused. Just saying.
In my experience, people generally have adequate TIME to approach anything. Even though they will tell you how busy they are, with NO TIME to practice. It's more how time is used, or abused. Just saying.
Very "middle class" viewpoint, Tom.
A person working 3 jobs and his partner another few in order "to keep the wolf from the door" for the family, is not going to have much by the way of adequate time to even scratch their backside.
Official statistics indicate that there is a lot of that about.
Well, I'm not going to argue with you there, Fingers. That's truly the case and you're right, there's too much of that going around. And I do feel for people in that situation. They don't deserve it.
I guess I'm speaking of people I talk to in life, or here on the Internet, who are interested in playing music, most of whom are middle class.
Walker
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I think there are so many amazing instruments... clarinet, violin, organ, bassoon, harmonium, oboe. Amazing - every one of them! I can't play any of them. The closest I'll get is pressing their registers on my accordion. I'm surprisingly content with that. Go accordion!
However, I would love to learn the Uillean Pipes and maybe even have a harp in the house for my daughter to learn (if she wants to). Hauntingly beautiful instruments...
However, I would love to learn the Uillean Pipes and maybe even have a harp in the house for my daughter to learn (if she wants to). Hauntingly beautiful instruments...
Harrytulipan
Member
Not always true.
Dingo40
Been here for ages!
A major difference: affecting technique.
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Please elaborate what is not true.
I'm not challenging your statement, just want to learn.
Of course I didn't! And I learned my lesson. And I found it to be true.
Having 2 "mistresses" automatically doubled all related costs and forced me to split my time between the two, causing me to have TWO un fulfilled mistresses and one very frustrated and tired owner, the result was TWO very unsatisfying relationships.
There is an old Czech proverb that roughly translated says "one cannot sit on two chairs with one ass"... LOL
Not sure about Czech bottoms but a recent train trip sitting next to a substantial visitor from overseas, they had a backside that amply filled two seats.....
There is also an old Celtic proverb that roughly translated says "if you sit on the same chair too long you'll get hemorrhoids"....
Sorry you had such a bad experience, over here in a lot of subjects and especially sports and music etc. you are often encouraged as far as you can to have a broader outlook rather than tunnel vision. Speaking personally, I found that being a choral conductor taught me so much about phrases breathing on the organ; playing the drums helped with rhythm and coordination on keyboard instruments, and the fingering for early harpsichord music has been invaluable for learning a button keyboard. I'm now learning the tin whistle which really teaches you natural phrasing and ornaments.
I'm sure your teacher meant well, but its like a language teacher just telling a student to learn one language: bunkum because languages all interlace and support each other, much like the way one sort of music making can inform another.
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Oh I played a LOT of sports, but always hit a level that I stopped at because I was not putting in the time that others did in to that one sport. I practiced several martial arts, hockey, table tennis, footbal (US and European styles).Not sure about Czech bottoms but a recent train trip sitting next to a substantial visitor from overseas, they had a backside that amply filled two seats.....
There is also an old Celtic proverb that roughly translated says "if you sit on the same chair too long you'll get hemorrhoids"....
Sorry you had such a bad experience, over here in a lot of subjects and especially sports and music etc. you are often encouraged as far as you can to have a broader outlook rather than tunnel vision. Speaking personally, I found that being a choral conductor taught me so much about phrases breathing on the organ; playing the drums helped with rhythm and coordination on keyboard instruments, and the fingering for early harpsichord music has been invaluable for learning a button keyboard. I'm now learning the tin whistle which really teaches you natural phrasing and ornaments.
I'm sure your teacher meant well, but its like a language teacher just telling a student to learn one language: bunkum because languages all interlace and support each other, much like the way one sort of music making can inform another.
I am also polyglot, my father spoke and wrote in 11 distinct languages (not dialects), my mother 9 my sister 7... I am the idiot of the family and am limited to 5... but I only played one instrument... and at my peak that is where I was the one that excelled over those that could not put in equal amounts of time.
Now, I am in NO WAY disputing anything you say, and you know that I hold you in the highest of respect, but my opinion is that in the overall process we can learn many things from other places, I learned phrasing from my accordion instructor to phrase on an accordion... but again, just because one is able to study phrasing and meter from other instruments, there is a conversion process that simply doesn't exist if you learn these directly on the accordion.
Just thinking about these two Czech mistresses bottoms is clouding my already feeble mind this morning. I speak pretty good English and I can only bang out a few tunes on the old cordeen, but I can grow a mean spider plant.
Thanks and with mutual mature respect we'll beg to differ on this one
I guess it all depends on an individual's psychology. Mine has been rooted in cross fertilisation from different instruments but I can appreciate that's not the way everyone likes to learn - it can be fun though!
petch
Well-known member
I'd love to play a stringed instrument like cello or nyckelharpa but as an adult learner I have my hands full with just 1 instrument... although I count it as 1½ because of the converter 
Harrytulipan
Member
You can learn both the piano and the accordion as long as you se them as two instruments.
I once was told by an organist that when he learned a melody on the piano it stuck with him more than if he learned it on the organ.
It seems that when I learn a melody on both piano and accordion it helps a lot.
The thing is that I focus on how the instrument differ and how they are similar.
Too many just play both without reflecting on that. That's why they find learning two the instruments difficult.
I once was told by an organist that when he learned a melody on the piano it stuck with him more than if he learned it on the organ.
It seems that when I learn a melody on both piano and accordion it helps a lot.
The thing is that I focus on how the instrument differ and how they are similar.
Too many just play both without reflecting on that. That's why they find learning two the instruments difficult.
Thanks Jerry, but don't sell yourself short. You're a master at both playing and....mastering. I've seen your videos. Heck, you could probably make me look good!
Walker
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@saundersbp, Please may I ask, if an accordionist had the desire to take up the piano - what would you recommend as a good quality upright (house) piano brand/model?
