Accordion

Contents

• Preface
• Why Play the Accordion?
• Brief History of the Accordion
  • History of accordion in Australia
• Types of accordion
  • Chromatic button accordion
  • Diatonic accordion
  • Piano accordion
• Introducing the Piano Accordion
• What Instrument to Have‎
• Elementary Technique and Information
  • Body Position
  • Operating the Bellows
  • Keyboard
  • Basses
  • Free Bass
  • Reed Ranks and Switches
  • Reading Accordion Music
  • How to Handle the Accordion
  • Getting Ready to Play Your First Song
• Concertina
  • Anglo German Concertina
  • English Concertina
• Sample accordion music

About this Book

This book is for anyone interested in playing the accordion but has little to no prior knowledge about it. It features some background into the history of the instrument, how it works, and most importantly, an instructional guide aimed at getting you to playing at a simple to intermediate level.

If you are planning to seriously study the instrument, we recommend you find yourself a professional accordion teacher; no textbook can wholly replace the first-hand knowledge of a live, real performer. However, this book is useful as an initial supplement to just get you started.

N.B. The book is still a work in progress and currently only deals with the piano accordion, not button models (although they may be covered at a later date).