Hello, just discovered this forum because someone linked to my tradFrench music blog. I play G/C accordions, and I'm pretty focused on that Auvergne/Massif Central repertoire. I do play whistle, and at one time played whistle a lot, and played Irish music a lot. I was on the old Irtrad mailing list, and I believe I was on Chiff and Fipple back in the early '90s. I could be wrong about that, though. My memory ... what was I saying?

Then I discovered French music and the squeeze box and my quality of life shifted significantly.

I was surprised to see how this forum has grown and expanded. Seem like a nice bunch of folks. Thanks for having me.

Gary Chapin
http://accordeonaire.blogspot.com/

Hey everyone. Some of you remember me from past posts as a guitar player and whistler..

Just got a Dino Baffeti B/C. Hoping to slowly attain tunes as well as use the thing for sea shanteys and in my music group. I took the advice to get a B/C from a thread here but was surprised to see a plurality have the C#/D. I chose the B/C because I wanted to have C as an option because it occurs so much in the non-Irish music I play....

Anyway, found a great accordion store called Smythe Accordions here in the SF Bay Area (Oakland). It all started when I found a PA on a wantad for $100. Traded it in for credit against a chromatic, then traded up for this one. It has a really sweet sound and a something-or-other bar on the bass side to take away thirds on chords (I guess for minor playing accompaniment). Anyway, Kimric Smythe gifted me a B/C VHS tutor so I shall work my way...

That's my story.

Hi Weeks ... Long time! It's nice to see you around these parts again.


A very nice box. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.


Well, I think it's partly generational. There was a trendy shift to C#/D a few years ago. But both are very much out there. In fact, I personally still see more B/C boxes in the hands of actual session players (including myself, rarely).

And sure, there's no reason not to learn to play melodeon style on the C row at the same time you're learning cross-row B/C style. In fact, I wish I had done more of that when I first started. And it may make learning the basses easier. Also, if you learn to play in C and F and the related keys, then switching to a C#/D box should be fairly easy.


No, not just for minor. Because of the modal nature of the Irish dance tunes, playing with the thirds pulled out tends to be the preferred default setting for everything. That is, if you play the chord buttons at all.

Nice to see yer buggy eyed frog there, too, MT. I assume yer still keeping San Diego safe for all of us.

Thanks for explanations and info. The box is a beautiful little thing. It has swing tuning, which sounds great to my ears, whether that's ultimately what I might want...