Several Questions from A New Player

[Don Roberts]

And while we're on the subject of the bass side. I have been working some bass into some of my tunes and I have a tendency to avoid using the pinkie finger. Should one learn to use that finger or just do what is most comfortable ?

[Mr.Nate]

Jenny,

About the basses...(and chords) I don't really use them much myself. I was surprised when I watched Dermot Byrne played and he never touched the basses. Then on his song accompaniment he only uses his right hand for chords.

Personally, if I had a custom setup I would just use the basses, light on the reeds please. No chords and in/out the same note for each. A,D,E,G.
Now you know I am weird! (maybe C and F..Idunno?)

Anyways, back to you. I think the Hanrahan book is a good place to start. Even though it is B/C you are still playing in the usual Irish keys of D, Em, G, A so you just fit the basses in for a short blast here and there to match the rhythm. You can hear on the Hanrahan recording that it's a little hear and there. You can't use to much because it uses up your air...GASP!

I am sure Steve will correct me on this but that's OK

Nate

[StevieJ]

No contradictory opinion to advance Nate!

For the pinky question - Andy Cutting, an ace D/G player, strongly recommends using all four fingers. Dave Mallinson, another excellent D/G player, uses two, but says do what you like.

Among Irish players, John Williams (to judge from his DVD) uses four. Jackie Daly uses two or three, not four, so far as I have been able to see.

I've experimented with using four on a 12-bass box and found it to be unworkable, for me. It makes more sense on an 8-bass box I think, but so far - at my level of bass use - I find two fingers do the job just fine.

So... do what suits you - as in all of this stuff.

[Jenny]

Nate - You're right about the Hanrahan book. After I got over the switch from B/C to C#/D, I decided the principles would be the same for either box.

So I'll just keep on working on the right side and mess with the bass side when I take a notion.

Thanks!

[TaylorMartin]

[quote="Jenny"]Nate - You're right about the Hanrahan book. After I got over the switch from B/C to C#/D, I decided the principles would be the same for either box.

So I'll just keep on working on the right side and mess with the bass side when I take a notion.

Thanks![/quote

Jenny,
I apologize for hi-jacking this threas, but I have been working on the right side for a couple of months, and now I have a notion to add some bass. The questions that I have are:
1. If I am playing with other folks (some of whom may be actual musicians,) will my bass virtuoso be heard, with all of the other racket and all?
B. How does one keep from clashing with musicians (or other posers) who may have a wider selection of chords from which to choose?
III. I came to the accordion through the guitar. Do I use the same chords that I would play to a tune if I were playing on the guitar?

Thank you.

Now back to your regular thread

TM

[Martin Milner]

Eek! Martin, that layout has no low B... verrry un-handy for playing Irish music.

but

D is the bottom note on pipes, whistles and (mostly) flutes, which is why the majority of tunes don't go any lower.

so for the majority of Irish tunes, you don't need a low B.

I don't play Irish on the D/G, but I know some people do, so they must manage. This is opnly the standard layout - maybe if people plan to play Irish , tyey get a bottom B put in place of something else.

[StevieJ]

... so for the majority of Irish tunes, you don't need a low B...

Well for me, Martin, a B would be 100 times more useful that than Bb stuck out of the way down there!

There are hundreds of cracking Irish tunes that do go down to low B, and a big chunk of other ones that go down to low G - I couldn't bear not to be able to tackle them (or to have to fudge them à la whistle/lfute, perish the thought).

If I wanted to play D/G on a 21-button box I'd be tempted to put D/E on button 4 and get rid of those useless high notes at the top end. And I'd put no accidentals on the D row, which would give me everything down to low G.

For a few accidentals my choice would be a 2½ row (e.g. Hohner Galaad), or maybe one of those continental layouts with a mini third row of just two buttons. With a 4th button tonic you could put some accidentals at the bottom of the G row - but I'd rather have them in a more convenient position on a half-row.

[StevieJ]

1. If I am playing with other folks (some of whom may be actual musicians,) will my bass virtuoso be heard, with all of the other racket and all?
B. How does one keep from clashing with musicians (or other posers) who may have a wider selection of chords from which to choose?
III. I came to the accordion through the guitar. Do I use the same chords that I would play to a tune if I were playing on the guitar?

Never assume that what you are playing can't be heard - the acoustics of a session can be very surprising! Noodlers beware...

The answers to the second and third questions are the same really: you have a very limited range of chords on your left hand, so you haven't much hope of not clashing with other accompanists, or of being able to use all the same chords you would use on a guitar.

I'd be tempted to experiment at home, but not count on playing the basses very much in a session. If your resident accompanist is good, it's fun to ask him or her exactly what he/she is playing for a particular tune, and seeing if you can fit it with it. In my experience accompanists are pleased to have a little recognition of their contribution, and flattered if you try to complement it.

Conversely, sometimes you can work out a really neat accompaniment and realize that the people around you are doing something much simpler. I had this experience recently with a nice Em waltz, one of the few I have a convincing left-hand worked out for, in which I use just most of the chords I have available (Em, G, C, Bm, D, A). But the guitarist at the session (who did know the tune) was using far fewer changes.

The options would have been to not play the basses, which is what I did, and possibly spend a couple minutes discussing the tune afterwards. But this is only possible in a fairly relaxed session, not one of those where as soon as a tune ends someone wants to jump in with another.

[SteveShaw]

Stevie mentioned Jackie Daly earlier. Too right! Have a listen to his use of the basses on the album "Music From Sliabh Luachra Vol 6." Magic.