Button-Accordion Project
(Dual-row G-C or A-D, with Accidentals)
Based on tunes2play4fun.com & Facilitated by ZOOM
MINI-COURSE BA1
The Button Accordion, its Music & Notation
UNIT SEVEN (of TEN)
Drone & Tap Introductions to Accordion Tunes
(Dual-row G-C or A-D, with Accidentals)
Based on tunes2play4fun.com & Facilitated by ZOOM
MINI-COURSE BA1
The Button Accordion, its Music & Notation
UNIT SEVEN (of TEN)
Drone & Tap Introductions to Accordion Tunes
SLIDES & COMMENTS
Slide 1 (Button Accordion One)
Slide 1 (Button Accordion One)
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Welcome to Unit 7 of BA1, our mini-course introduction to the button accordion, its music, and notation. |
Slide 2 (List of units in the BA1 mini-course)
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Unit 7 adds bass-end drone, "drone-like" and tap beats to accordion melodies, to create tunes. It includes practice song-melodies for Units 8 to 10. |
Slide 3 (List of Topics for Unit 7)
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Topics 1 to 5 at left include demonstrations & practice using the five familiar and four "some-what" familiar song-melodies that were included in the previous Unit.
Click HERE for the Unit 6 web link that leads to the pages for these nine song-melodies. This link will open in a new window, to make it easier for you to return to Unit 7 and these slides. |
Slide 4 (Topic 0 - Prelude)
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Unit 6 was a bridge from melodies (played by right-hand) to tunes (both hands).
In Unit 7 we finally cross that bridge. |
Slide 5 (Topic 0 - Prelude)
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Unit 7 is an exploration of several bass and chord options as building block for the bass and chord accompaniments in tunes.
Some options will be shown to be preferable to others, depending, in part, on the tune itself. |
Slide 6 (Topic 1 - Drone (bass) accompaniment
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This slide gives the idea behind the use of drones in music.
It applies to a wide range of musical experiences from listening to symphony orchestras in a vast concert hall to listening to a couple of friends, one on an accordion and the other strumming a guitar. |
Slide 7
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Here is what we mean by a musical "drone"
Our button accordions provide two low bass notes with one octave of separation between them on each of bass-end buttons 2, 2*, 4 & 4*. |
Slide 8
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And here is a prime example of one type of musical drone: the Scottish bagpipe (also known as a Great Highland Bagpipe, or GHB)
The drone contains the same bass notes ("low A" and an "octave-lower A"). The pipes & chanter are often claimed to be in the key of A (but the key is actually just slightly higher than Bb). While this drone note does not harmonize well with all the notes on the chanter, it works for the tunes that are frequently played on Scottish bagpipes. |
Slide 9 (Topic 0 - Accordion "drone" imitation)
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On the dual-row button accordion, the same outside-row bass note is heard when button 2 is used on the push and button 4 on the pull, to create a drone.
On the push, this bass button note is highly consonant with buttons 2 to 11, but on the pull it is not very consonant with buttons 2*, 3*, 6*, 7*, 10* and 11*. |
Slide 10
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CAUTION: Take care not to extend the bellows beyond a safe level.
For this tune there are far more push beat-intervals (42) than pull beat-intervals (22), so you will probably need to use the air lever extensively for this "drone" version. |
Slides 11
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There are six problems, as listed at left, with this single note drone.
In the remainder of this unit we'll try to find ways of playing the bass-end notes & chords to solve, or at least reduce, these problems. |
Slide 12 - AN INTRODUCTION TO THE REMAINING TOPICS IN UNIT 7
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The five remaining topics selected for Unit 7: 2. Drone-like bass notes 3. Drone-like chords 4. Tap bass-note button 5. Tap chord button 6 Tap bass note & chord together |
Slide 13 - Topic 2: "Drone-like" Bass-note Accompaniment
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This "drone-like" exercise is easier in that it involves only one bass button, which is kept pressed for the push and the pull.
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Slide 14
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Here we keep outside bass button 2 pressed, as we play the melody part on the outside treble row. See web site for additional verses. Note that, except for one note (9* in line 3), your fingers only have to cover buttons 5 to 8. You can either stretch your little finger down, or move your hand. |
Slide 15
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Observations:
This "drone-like" bass playing has two main advantages over the single-note drone: 1. A little more harmonious. 2. Can play on both treble rows. However: 3. It still easily runs out of air. 4. The bass still too loud. 5. Some notes are still not harmonious (on the pull). |
Slide 16 (Topic 3 - Single button chord drone-like accompaniment)
Slide 16 (Topic 3 - Single button chord drone-like accompaniment)
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This lacks the lower note sound that we usually associate with drones.
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Slide 17
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Here we keep outside chord button 3 pressed, as we play the melody part on the inside treble row
My intention, in this BA1 mini-course for beginners, was to use melodies and tunes with one note per syllable. How-ever, in this song there are three syllables where there are two notes each: walk = wa_lk (line 1) dove = do_ve (line 3) balls = bal_ls (line 5) |
The underscore _ is used to show that the syllable is being stretched, turning it (in a way) into two syllables to match the two notes. The underscore is also commonly used at the end of syllables (as at the end of each line above) to indicate that the sung syllable is to held longer.
Slide 18
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Here we keep outside chord button 1 pressed, as we play the melody part on the outside treble row
This melody is also used as a doxology in many churches, sometimes titled "Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow". See web site for remainder of the melody |
Slide 19 (Positives and negatives for this drone-like feature)
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Observations:
This somewhat "drone-like" chord feature had two main advantages over the earlier single-note drone: 1. A little more harmonious. 2. Can play on both treble rows. However: 3. It still easily ran out of air 4. The drone was still some- what loud |
Slide 20 (Topic 4 - Bass Taps as a Replacement for Drones)
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Each tap is somewhat shorter than the beat interval, though how much shorter is up to the player and the type of tune being played. Recall that: One period (or dot) = 1 beat One colon (2 dots) = 2 beats etc. |
Slide 21
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This tune is an old standard for learning to play the bass-end along with the melody.
Here we tap bass button 4, once for each beat, as we play the melody part on the inside treble row Tapping is a potential solution to the problems of running out of air, and having the bass overpower the melody. |
Slide 22
Slide 22
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Again, we tap bass button 4, once for each beat, as we play the melody part on the inside treble row
Again, recall that one dot= 1 beat one colon = 2 dots = 2 beats Tapping is a possible solution to the problems of running out of air, and the bass overpowering of the melody. |
Slide 23
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Tapping does reduce a number of the problems noted earlier.
It can, however, sound a bit monotonous, like a metronome. |
Slide 24 (Chord Taps - A Second Potential Replacement for Drones)
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Here we tap the appropriate chord button instead of the bass button.
When playing the melody on the inside treble row with your right fingers, tap the outside chord button 3 with one of your left fingers. |
Slide 25
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If playing melody on inside treble row, tap on outside chord button 3
or If playing melody on outside treble row, tap on outside chord button 1 The beat pattern for this tune has been slightly simplified. See the tunes2play4fun.com web page for the original tune. |
Slide 26
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Another classic children's melody.
If playing melody on inside treble row, tap on outside chord button 3 or If playing melody on outside treble row, tap on outside chord button 1 |
Slide 27
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Again, there are both positives and negatives for chord taps.
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Slide 28 (Topic 6 - Tapping bass & chord buttons together)
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Although tapping the bass and chord buttons together can potentially increase the "running out of air" concern, it can increase the harmonic content of the tune.
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Slide 29
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A familiar melody and rhythm.
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Slide 30
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Tapping two buttons at once does raise concerns about running out of air, but it goes improve the harmony.
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Slide 31 (Topic 7 - Looking Ahead
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Practice lists for Unit 8
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Slide 32
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Web path to Unit 7 slides
and tune web pages. |