good things come to those who wait!

well, I still really wanted a nice small piano accordion to play around with as a secondary instrument - also for my kids - one of whom, I'm sure will take to the PA like a duck to water.

I made an ebay saved search and a couple weeks ago saw an auction for a nice 48 bass PA. I stealthly watched it until the very last hour and at the last minute submitted a strong bid.

I won the auction for $76 - the item was shipping from Illinois, so I felt fairly confident that it would make it to me safely.

Yesterday it arrived - it is in very good condition - all of the keys and basses work fine, the valves might need a little work and it is pretty well broken in, but that's good.

Best thing is it's light.

I need to get some straps for it.

learning the basses

This summer I've been making some progress with starting to use the basses on my button accordion.

I would have to say my brief foray into the PA probably helped me the most in getting started with coordination needed for playing both sides.

On the PA, I began with the first Palmer Hughes book which starts you out right away using the bass buttons. Playing simple tunes, this really helped me get the independence between left and right.

What helped me most on the button box was sitting down and learning the locations of the notes - playing a simple scale with the basses - then memorizing where those notes were. It's not that different than learning the notes on the treble side when just beginning. You just need to learn D on pull E on push ect ect --

more later...

been busy...

Hi Everyone -
Sorry I haven't been in touch recently.

I had a great opportunity last weekend - unexpectedly, I met one of my favorite youtube people at an Irish dance feis - Ryan Duns, SJ -

Not only is Ryan a great whistle player, he is also a very good piano accordion player. I have learned a lot of tunes from playing along with Ryan -- here's a tune I learned and posted a reply to Ryan's version of the tune - check it out!

something you'll never see on American Idol

wow.

June news

Well it's been a while since Accordion World has been updated... sorry to my many readers.

What began with great expectations has diminished to a guttering flame near extinction.

My long awaited purchase from Bulgaria has either been lost at sea or from the begining I was duped. Interpol is investigating the situation and I hope to gain satisfaction eventually. But for now, my interest in the PA has dwindled.

Instead, I have redoubled my efforts on the l'accordéon diatonique, système si/do - aka - l'accordeon Irlandais - a propos de l'Irish Button Box.

What I have come to appreciate is, that is is very difficult to attain a high level on both instruments -- the time required to practice and increase in ability on one instrument makes it very difficult to do the likewise on the other instrument.

Specifically -- I have made strides in my l'accordéon diatonique abilities in the past couple months - but have not been able to give time to the piano accordion my friend has so graceously given me the use of.

So... for now, I believe I will continue to do that which is of my first love, playing la'musique d'Irlandais because I have invested so much time to gather the abilities I currently have.

I realize that it would be very difficult to transfer the skills I have gained on the l'accordéon diatonique over to the piano accordion. Someday I would like to try to learn and play the PA but now is not the time.

One of the best accordion players in the world

Listen to this great story on Esteban Jordan on NPR!

National Public Radio All Things Considered June 2, 2009

Link to story here