Welcome to my TUNES site. It is dedicated to the memory of four great Canadian button-accordion players: Harry Hibbs, formerly of Wabana on beautiful Bell Island, Art Stoyles of historic down-town St. John's, Minnie (Hoskins) White of picturesque St. Albans and the Codroy Valley (NL) and Elly Kelly of St. Charles (NB) and Campbellford (ON). In addition to their roots in the traditional music of Newfoundland and Labrador, Harry & Minnie were strongly influenced by the music of Ireland and Scotland, and Art by the music of Portugal. Elly's playing reflected her Francophone-Canadian heritage,and included many of her own outstanding compositions.
Why this site? Well, I am learning to play my diatonic button-accordion ("melodeon" in the UK), mostly aided by my accordion notation and youTube videos. This is a transposable instrument, which facilitates a simple music notation, based on button numbers, appropriate for a wide range of folk, gospel and popular music selections. My goal is to be able to play a large number of both new and traditional tunes by "ear," and this site, though initially a demo in web design, has been helpful. I'm happy to share it with folks who, like me, seek tunes 2 play 4 fun on their accordions.
Why this site? Well, I am learning to play my diatonic button-accordion ("melodeon" in the UK), mostly aided by my accordion notation and youTube videos. This is a transposable instrument, which facilitates a simple music notation, based on button numbers, appropriate for a wide range of folk, gospel and popular music selections. My goal is to be able to play a large number of both new and traditional tunes by "ear," and this site, though initially a demo in web design, has been helpful. I'm happy to share it with folks who, like me, seek tunes 2 play 4 fun on their accordions.
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My notation is written mainly for (Hohner-Erica ) style accordions with two treble rows, keyed a fourth apart (such as A-D, D-G, G-C, or C-F), and with accidentals on each treble-row's top button.
This also corresponds to the middle and inside treble rows of many triple-row Corona-style accordions, though requiring adjustments for playing on the outside row. These are commonly keyed E-A-D, A-D-G, G-C-F, and F-Bb-Eb.
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My notation has rather limited value, if any, for accordions with two rows keyed a semi-tone apart, such as B-C or C#-D, or for accordions with different button layouts, such as the Hohner Club.
To help you learn tunes, two types of web pages are available from the drop-down menus above.
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1. The Information & BA-tutorial (background) pages contain information at introductory, basic, intermediate and advanced levels. From time to time there may also be a NOTICE on this page for (free) limited-enrollment Button-Accordion Zoom-enabled tutorials, aimed primarily at folks who are teaching themselves to play.
2. The tunes are grouped into six categories of web pages - by geography: Canada, USA, and World; - by focus: Dance-Tunes, Gospel, and Kids; where most pages contains a tune in button-accordion notation, with lyrics (where available), and a number of embedded youTube videos, along with other relevant tune information. Four of these six broad categories also include tunes I've selected to learn "BY EAR". |
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