I have been playing piano accordion for about 10 years (i'm only 21) and when I moved to Kerry 5 years ago, I had no teacher. I have no problems (I think) with my right hand, however, I would love to know more major and minor bass patterns. Is there anyone who can give me some tips??
I'm with Llig - if you are going to play bases then please, please, do so sparingly. Unfortunately many PA players fail to understand that swamping the music with bases does little for the beautiful melody.
that's ridiculous. You can't just write a chord sequence down with no relation to a tune. If you really want to, you can put chords to tunes, but the chords follow the tunes, not patterns.
if you really want to use your basses, listen a lot to any kind of backing : guitar, bouzouki, piano... and accordion, diatonic or chromatic. You can do it in oumpah style, but that tends to be quite heavy for ITM : you can use the basses in other ways : keep a bass note playing drone-like, do rythms patterns a bit like the regulators of the irish pipes...
but the best - for me - would for you to get some Karen Tweed solo cds, and listen to what she does. She did a few years ago 2 CDs of ITM session tunes : "Drops of Springwater" and "the Silver Spire",along with a book of scores : the left isn't written on the score, but she plays quite a few tunes with the basses, will give you an idea of a testeful way of backing ITM with PA !
have fun trying !
Or listen to pipers and try to do something similar. Whatever you do don't just bash away a 1-2-1-2 rhythm. Oh and use loads of dominant seventh chords cos piany-box players love to use these. Especially in a minor / g major structured tunes: make sure there is a good big loud D7 chord leading into the third bar (e.g. The Knotted Chord, The Sligo Maid, The Bag of Spuds).
In a tradition that enables the melody line to be so rich, I really never see the point in using the bass. Maybe as a drone in slower pieces but I'm not convinced that trad is the perfect vehicle for vamping or chordal accompaniment on the piano accordion's bass...
In response to Llig, I was only suggesting something simple. Those sequences are meant to be adapted to the tunes. When I learn a new tune, I usually play those sequences (or transposed versions) at first, then tweak it to fit the tune.
thanks everyone, very useful comments (apart from the ones about chopping fingers off...) luckily enough i had a one-on-one lesson with karen tweed about a month ago and will hopefully be meeting her again soon. she is brilliant and after that one lesson i now sound very different. martin t - when i saw you at the gradam cheoil awards at the inec, i noticed how little bass you used, it struck me as quite interesting. i personally feel that basses give any tune a lift, which is why i would like to improve my left-hand playing.
Lucky you, taking a one-to-one course with Karen Tweed... I'm green with jealousy... give her a hello from Switzerland, if you see her again. We had a few mail exchanges some time ago, when purchased her score book...
Piano Accordion Bass
Piano Accordion Bass
I have been playing piano accordion for about 10 years (i'm only 21) and when I moved to Kerry 5 years ago, I had no teacher. I have no problems (I think) with my right hand, however, I would love to know more major and minor bass patterns. Is there anyone who can give me some tips??
# Posted on November 12th 2008 by marian clare
Re: Piano Accordion Bass
Chop your left hand fingers off
# Posted on November 12th 2008 by ...
Re: Piano Accordion Bass
I'm with Llig - if you are going to play bases then please, please, do so sparingly. Unfortunately many PA players fail to understand that swamping the music with bases does little for the beautiful melody.
Subtle pulsing accents will be best.
Good luck
# Posted on November 12th 2008 by Brown Creeper
Re: Piano Accordion Bass
Don't chop your fingers off though.
Then you could never take up the fiddle.
# Posted on November 12th 2008 by Joe CSS
Re: Piano Accordion Bass
...or the dopey viola.
# Posted on November 12th 2008 by Lint - upon - Tweed
Re: Piano Accordion Bass
Try these patterns:
D major: D (2 bars) G (1 bar) A (1 bar) etc
E minor/dorian: Em (2 bars) D (1 bar) Bm (1 bar) etc or:
Em (1) D (1) C (1) Bm (1)
For bass note patterns, you could either hit the counter bass notes for the second beat of the bar, like
|| Bass / Chord / Counterbass / Chord etc.
Hope this information is of some help.
# Posted on November 12th 2008 by jakep
Re: Piano Accordion Bass
that's ridiculous. You can't just write a chord sequence down with no relation to a tune. If you really want to, you can put chords to tunes, but the chords follow the tunes, not patterns.
# Posted on November 12th 2008 by ...
Re: Piano Accordion Bass
if you really want to use your basses, listen a lot to any kind of backing : guitar, bouzouki, piano... and accordion, diatonic or chromatic. You can do it in oumpah style, but that tends to be quite heavy for ITM : you can use the basses in other ways : keep a bass note playing drone-like, do rythms patterns a bit like the regulators of the irish pipes...
but the best - for me - would for you to get some Karen Tweed solo cds, and listen to what she does. She did a few years ago 2 CDs of ITM session tunes : "Drops of Springwater" and "the Silver Spire",along with a book of scores : the left isn't written on the score, but she plays quite a few tunes with the basses, will give you an idea of a testeful way of backing ITM with PA !
have fun trying !
# Posted on November 12th 2008 by Nikita Pfister
Re: Piano Accordion Bass
the left HAND, of course, and a tAsteful way...
# Posted on November 12th 2008 by Nikita Pfister
Re: Piano Accordion Bass
Or listen to pipers and try to do something similar. Whatever you do don't just bash away a 1-2-1-2 rhythm. Oh and use loads of dominant seventh chords cos piany-box players love to use these. Especially in a minor / g major structured tunes: make sure there is a good big loud D7 chord leading into the third bar (e.g. The Knotted Chord, The Sligo Maid, The Bag of Spuds).
# Posted on November 12th 2008 by continuo
Re: Piano Accordion Bass
http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/2657
# Posted on November 12th 2008 by Henk Bos
Re: Piano Accordion Bass
In a tradition that enables the melody line to be so rich, I really never see the point in using the bass. Maybe as a drone in slower pieces but I'm not convinced that trad is the perfect vehicle for vamping or chordal accompaniment on the piano accordion's bass...
Just my opinion.
Martin.
# Posted on November 12th 2008 by martin t
Re: Piano Accordion Bass
Karen Tweed's style is tasteful and restrained - just right
# Posted on November 12th 2008 by millionyears_bc
Re: Piano Accordion Bass
In response to Llig, I was only suggesting something simple. Those sequences are meant to be adapted to the tunes. When I learn a new tune, I usually play those sequences (or transposed versions) at first, then tweak it to fit the tune.
# Posted on November 12th 2008 by jakep
Re: Piano Accordion Bass
hmm...I wonder what the melody might sound like on the left hand? It is fully chromatic after all. Might sound like tunes on a pipe organ.
# Posted on November 13th 2008 by mellow_bellows
Re: Piano Accordion Bass
thanks everyone, very useful comments (apart from the ones about chopping fingers off...) luckily enough i had a one-on-one lesson with karen tweed about a month ago and will hopefully be meeting her again soon. she is brilliant and after that one lesson i now sound very different. martin t - when i saw you at the gradam cheoil awards at the inec, i noticed how little bass you used, it struck me as quite interesting. i personally feel that basses give any tune a lift, which is why i would like to improve my left-hand playing.
# Posted on November 13th 2008 by marian clare
Re: Piano Accordion Bass
Lucky you, taking a one-to-one course with Karen Tweed... I'm green with jealousy... give her a hello from Switzerland, if you see her again. We had a few mail exchanges some time ago, when purchased her score book...
# Posted on November 14th 2008 by Nikita Pfister
Re: Piano Accordion Bass
Also try to listen to Alan Kelly CDs, some lovely gentle base going on there too.
# Posted on January 12th 2010 by sallygardens