Melodeon / (Diatonic) Button Accordion - Beginners' Introduction, Buying Guide, DG vs BC vs GC

/ paulyoungfolk
www.paulyoungfo...
A bit of an unplanned ramble about what sort of melodeon / (diatonic) button accordion you should get if you want to start playing Irish/English/French/European folk music. Hope it's useful to somebody, but sorry about all the stuff I know I forgot to mention.
0:00 - Introduction
3:22 - Irish music, BC, C#D, one row D melodeon
9:10 - DG for English music and other styles
14:31 - 2 and a half row stuff
17:06 - GC for French/Euro/bal and everything else
22:15 - ADG. GCF, etc.
26:28 - Let's go shopping!
31:12 - 3 voices, thirds stops, etc.

[@newfiecelt]

Thank you very much Paul! I am a solid D/G man myself, coming from an Irish-Newfoundland tradition. I am grateful for, and somewhat reassured by your comments on the D/G boxes. Sometimes I feel that I should have got into a B/C and/or C#/D, but I am very much in my comfort zone with my accordion….. Great video and your friends in Canada are throughly enjoying your music, keep up the good work!

[@cgws3064]

Such a good video. I've just bought a paperwork from RedCow music. Really looking forward to an exciting new challenge. Many thanks again Paul

[@pauldevlin9835]

Wonderful. Your videos have been great for me learning here in Canada

[@goldbatonlady]

Thank you! The thought of buying an ADG box had crossed my mind and I didn't thought about the A being lower, so that helped me a lot right there.

[@patrickrwhite8354]

Hello Paul, This video is very informative. I knew nothing about what you mentioned about different boxes. So I learned something new and being self-taught it should be helpful if I should buy another box.

[@mauricerichard3611]

Excellent review thanks !!

[@justaman2891]

Great video, thanks.

[@Concertina_Appalachia]

Fantastic video and advice Paul. Well organized. I feel conflicted as you have specifically called out something that I had potentially intended on doing which was go straight for a high end Castagnari 18 Bass box as a beginner. I've started off my accordion playing with a 30 button C/G anglo concertina and within a year I find a lot of my repertoire that I enjoy playing frequently now lies up in the Amaj, Emaj, Bmaj ranges. I require a concertina with more buttons and accidental reversals, etc and therefor I thought it would be wise to just jump right into a fully fledged G/Cacc or D/Gacc box as I surely would immediately miss those accidentals if I was able to take up button accordion as well. I've purchased far too many concertinas in my first year trying to figure out what suits me best and I think it would be unwise to approach the button accordion the same way as I likely will end up only playing 1-2 instruments at most once I settle down into it. I enjoy the C/G and G/D anglo concertinas but I gravitate to my C/G so I think it would be best to go for a G/C button accordion but obviously being a new instrument it probably doesn't matter much, just a matter of muscle memory. Anyhow you've given me and all of us some things to seriously think about as wanting to begin playing button accordion. I can't help but feel like I should just take your advice and not try to labor my way into a $5000+ box that is likely unwieldy while I'm still trying to figure out the fundamentals. Maybe I'd be suited better off for a mid range 2.5 row that fits inbetween. I think the real focus you were trying to impress more than anything is ergnomics and hinderence in enforcing the basics. The more complicated it is the harder it is to learn. I realize I didn't have much of a question here in my comment, merely just stating my thoughts as reaffirmation to the points in your video. I appreciate such a wonderful musician as yourself sharing some knowledge on the subject, thank you again! Looking forward to the next video!

[@peterreece6547]

I do like to hear melodeons and I have the Hohner pokerwork in dg but I prefer to play my 5 row c system Fantini 96 bass. The only down side of the 5 row is the weight so I have to sit to play it where as I stand up and can move around when on the the small Hohner.

[@saoirsepaddy]

Cheers Paul great info :) I got a Saltarelle Awen B/C box couple of yrs ago I got into some old time/ bluegrass fiddle tune lately playing them on the box , Anglo Concertina & Irish Cittern. The traditionalist will go out of their minds 'You can't play these bluegrass tunes on a Box are you Nuts ! Playing this Bill Cheatham fiddle tune in A ''I can't this one double stops F# A on the B/C Box yeah I can go around it. But it's so cool with these full double stops. So I was thinking maybe buying a Saltarelle Laurentides ADG Box would work not just for Irish ,American Fiddle tunes some jazz & Beatles tunes. Cheers Paul :)

[@cgws3064]

I've recently started learning anglo concertina. Teaching myself. I'm doing so I've been trawling youtube for tunes and have found I've been drawn to melodeon videos the most. Seduced by the richness of the instrument and that deep bass...lovely. You've explained much of what I've struggled to understand when coming to terms with finding a first box. A paperwork dg seems the obvious but they are hard to find. Do the newer Chinese versions stand up against the older German made boxes? Can you make a video helping fledglings like me, who probably need to teach themselves, avoid had habits that will later become difficult to eliminate? Many thanks for the splendid video. Regards Clive

[@paulyoungfolk]

I should have mentioned in the video - my own DG Pokerwork shown here is Chinese. All apart from the old wooden keyboard that makes it look like an older box. Had it tuned though. Makes a world of difference. So yes, Chinese Hohner absolutely fine. I have an old beginners DG lesson video on my channel but making some more teaching videos is definitely on my to do list.

[@cgws3064]

Many thanks for replying Paul. I'll certainly put that too of my list. It's a minefield with the likes of black diamond, sandpaper and I've even considered paying a lot more and getting a black pearl ii for just over twice the price but I don't know if, as a beginner, it will suit my purpose. Thanks again , Clive

[@heikkaa]

Hi!! Can I ask the name of the song you play in the beginning of the part 4?? I learned it from a friend years back but have forgotten what it’s called. It’s one of my favourites because it took me ages to learn it with GC accordion 😁

[@paulyoungfolk]

That's Mazurka d'Embrault or "Fubu" by Thierry Mirebeau. My full video of it is here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kGWYYaWVhbionK8 By the way I just recently learned Haudanmaan Hääpolska from your video. Please post more videos of you playing some day. :)

[@heikkaa]

Thanks a lot! I’m hoping to start posting again soon, there are lots of great traditional tunes from Finland. Hoping to post more of my own tunes as well 😊

[@macleodcushing9852]

Great video, Paul. My girlfriend plays Pokerworks and assorted other 8-base accordions, and I accompany her on fiddle. She is thinking of moving into a Mory but is wondering if it would be "too big a for a girl." Do you know of any female players who play Mory's or similar box? We really love your music.

[@paulyoungfolk]

@@macleodcushing9852 Anna Pack and Rannveig Djønne are the first female Mory players who spring to mind. Sophie Cavez, Amélie Denarié and many others play the even heavier Handry 18. But big heavy boxes do take some getting used to for anybody.

[@Lycanta]

Thanks for the informative Video. I finished university last month. Now I have air to do something new. Do you think the accordion ist an instrument u can learn playing on the couch after work or is it more a music school reliant kind of instrument?

[@paulyoungfolk]

Definitely the former! Get a few lessons to get started if you can.

[@Kantstoner]

Do you think you could do another video on different layouts? I've always wondered what the differences are between 3 row layouts. And why they're different as it pertains to the style of music. Also how do you know all this stuff about which keys are common? Maybe you could share some more on that as well. Anyways, nice video and thank you!

[@paulyoungfolk]

Here's a start: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mmPdeaGqiJlrbcU

[@NoLagNagol]

What about an A/D box?

[@gabithemagyar]

Great video ! :-) Trivia question : your single straps look very comfortable and high quality. May I ask where they are available ?

[@paulyoungfolk]

Most of these came with the instruments. The one on the Pokerwork I found in a box of old odd straps in a shop I used to work in. Best source I'm aware of for straps is Thomann. www.thomann.de/gb/accordion_straps.html

[@edek5361]

Is keyboard (piano) style accordion good for playing Irish music? I'm piano player so just wonder if there is any better way...

[@gguitarwilly]

Playing Irish music on piano accordion can be done, you can find a few examples (try searching for 'Itchy Fingers' on KZbin). However, as a player of Irish music on both chromatic button accordion and melodeon, I find there are big differences between these two instruments. Diatonics are much more responsive due to the small bellows, so the instrument is way more expressive. Also in Irish music quite often there are big jumps in the melody, and on a melodeon all notes are very close to one another making it easier to play those jumps. And on melodeon the push-pull movement adds extra juice to the music. These may be the main reasons that a piano accordion is seldom seen in Irish music.

[@MnemonicNex]

And heres me, a scrub, with a CF melodeon

[@herpmf]

Second this.

[@paulyoungfolk]

If you already have a CF my usual recommendation is learn to play it pretending that it's a DG or GC. There's lots of free software available to pitch shift music so learning from and playing along to recorded music, video lessons, etc. can all work. Then just get a DG or GC when you want to go into the world and join in with people (unless of course you're in one of the countries I didn't mention where CF is common). Or if you're already a long way into learning the CF as a CF then learn everything possible in orignal keys on your box and when you want to learn tunes in D, G, A and beyond get a 3 row 18 bass CF and you can do everything.

[@MnemonicNex]

@@paulyoungfolk This is really good advice, I happen to be pretty good at transposing using my knowledge of the circle of fifths (i play a few other instruments also). But i hadnt even considered using spftware to do it, i'll definitely neing giving it a go. :D