Now that I have the diatonic accordion on the way, maybe I should have gone a different direction?

While I am waiting the last few days for the two diatonic accordions to come my way, I had a new thought...what if this was a mistake and I should have gotten a Chromatic Button Accordion (CBA)?

The diatonic accordion is limited by the keys it can play and some pieces just don't fit well in all keys. For solo work, it doesn't make much difference, but if I ever wanted to play in an ensemble, having the box be in the right key would be crucial. And even then, each box only has so many notes available to it and puzzling it out is part of playing the instrument. You could need to carry - 3-4 boxes with you to a gig and even then the pieces wouldn't be spot on because of the need to switch bellow directions for different notes, etc.

One way around that is the piano accordion (PA), of course, or the Chromatic Button Accordion. The latter is probably where I would go if I really wanted to blend in with a band, chorus, etc or, more importantly, to place a larger variety of music.

Of course, that got me thinking immediately then, "Crap, maybe I should have just started with the CBA" - and not really for playing with anyone. I mean come on... I'm 47 and probably not going to ever play for anyone but myself... but will I find the diatonic limiting? (Why the doubts Melissa?!?!?!?)

A CBA accordion is basically like a piano accordion, but uses buttons instead. From everything I've read, they are easier for most people to play if they are coming to the instrument fresh, but the piano accordion would probably be easier for those who come from a keyboard background.

One of the reasons the CBA accordion is easier (from what I've read) is that it is super easy to change key (same fingering pattern) and more importantly, it's more ergonomic for the hand. Here is one piece played on a melodeon and then on the PA and the CBA:

And then there is this Virtuoso on this CBA: WOW!!! This is just AMAZING!

The CBA also has more notes than a keyboard can hold... those a wider range of what can be played without modification. I would never, ever, ever, ever be able to play like the one above, but I can appreciate the enormous talent! 

What will I sound like? Probably a lot like this, including lots of F bombs....

But, I will start with what I have on the way. It is less to learn all at once. "If" I ever find that limiting, I can switch to a CBA and would have a head start because I would understand bellows, playing the two hands separately and would have a better understanding of playing basses. The wait is almost over! (The method book arrived today!) Oh... and the two melodeons should arrive today too! Whoop!!!!

What's easiest? And Resistance!

All this time I am googling and googling things on accordions. There are so many types and so many voices. One thing I kept noticing was that a lot of advice for playing kept popping up from a site called melodeon.net However, their site was down. I had no idea if it was just recently down, or if it was like many old sites that still will show articles, but you can't click on them to read the articles.

The more I googled, the more I wondered about diatonic accordions. Sites say they are easier to learn. Youtube videos showed me that they could be played with just a few notes. Most of the time you play one note with the right hand and one note with the left hand. You still work the bellows, and there is some unique bellow movement you need to do with many types of these accordions (not all - more on that in a future post), but it was making me be more curious.

Another thought that kept coming to my mind is that piano accordion is half piano. My luck with piano is so terrible, so there was so hesitation there, but also I noticed a couple of other things - accordion playing and melodeon playing, while there is over lap. It's not the same. Like listen and pay attention to this waltz on the piano accordion.

And now this one on a melodeon.

See the difference? Both are lovely. Both are simple tunes... but look how much of a beast a piano accordion is and how much she has to move her fingers compared to the melodeon? PLUS side to that is that piano accordions can play in any key - unlike melodeons, but then there is the Chromatic Button Accordion that is more intuitive for this layout that can do it all. The piano accordion is really only easier if you already play piano - I do not and most of the stuff I think I'll ever play will be simple tunes. I am 47 years old, after all! Not such a spring chicken to be learning a whole new instrument!

Here's a waltz on a chromatic Button Accordion (CBA)

So, I googled and googled and learned more and more what I liked and didn't. What I thought would be a simple "I'll just get an accordion" opened my eyes to how much more there was to it! But, that's the next post!
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Another addendum: Yesterday was inauguration day. I didn't watch it. I couldn't. But I did help with childcare at work so that adults could have a discussion of what Resistance to do now. And then I attended and helped out with this Resistance Un-Ball. There was open mic... I have never been able to do open mic - how lovely it would be to pick up an instrument and play a piece to unite people and bring strength and joy. I think that will be a future post.

As soon as I send this blog post off, my husband and I are off the the Women's March in Washington, DC. Of my circle, every single local woman I know is planning on attending - several are flying or driving in. I'm about positive the gathering will be bigger than yesterday's Inauguration - and it's happening around the globe. RESIST!

It's a small world

Now that I had a bee in my bonnet about getting an accordion, I was ready to research. I never dive into anything without giving it careful thought and attention. And wow, there was a lot more to the accordion than I thought.

My first search was to see if there were accordion lessons available anywhere nearby. Yep! There was - two miles from where I work! Then I looked to see if there was anywhere local to buy used accordions. Same place as lessons - 2 miles away. Wow...this was beginning to feel like fate! (and I don't believe in fate!)

The local store didn't have much in stock, but they did have a few. They had several piano accordions and some funny looking thing with a row of buttons. Off to google that. Oh, that is called a button box accordion, or diatonic accordion. In the UK it's called a melodeon - interesting.

So I google more. What I learned is that in the US, diatonic accordions are rarer, harder to find instructors to teach, but easier to learn to play. A downside is that they only can play the one key if they are one row melodeons, two keys if they have two, etc. With that information I ditched the idea (for now). I didn't want to be limited by what key I play in, but "easier to learn to play" did stick in my brain.

I went back to the site that was selling accordions locally. That site also had a link to another online site called, Reverb. It's where people sell new and used musical equipment. I started to look up accordions that were affordable. I found one almost immediately. It really piqued my interest because this one was being sold by a refurbisher of accordions which was important because I had learned in my googling research that a lot can go wrong with an accordion. Something may look pristine on the outside, only to be completely falling apart inside.

But here was an accordion that sounded perfect. I decided to contact the seller to ask a few more questions. I went to click on the "contact seller" button and saw it said, "Cedar Falls, Iowa" for location. Whoa! Really? I'm from Cedar Falls and that is half way across the country! This was becoming like it was meant to be. To find lessons right near work and an accordion from my home town that has been professionally refurbished and the accordion is being sold for a good price? It's fate! (whatever that is!)

I wrote to the seller and in the end of that message I mentioned I was from Cedar Falls and listed some musical teachers I worked with there. When I sent it, I took note of the last name of the seller, but decided not to ask about it as I knew someone in the town with that last name. It's a slightly unusual last name, but I've met others with that last name too, so it was probably no connection.

The seller wrote back about all kinds of info about the accordion and also said he worked for 32 years at Holmes Jr. High with a teacher I mentioned. Well then I knew that this seller was the person I knew. Mr. Uhlenhopp! I never really knew his first name, even though it was right there in the yearbook I dug out later. 

Me the beginning of 9th grade.

Mr. Uhlenhopp as I remember him.

Ron Uhlenhopp was my 8th grade math teacher (and a really good teacher at that). I knew he taught math, went fly fishing, and in summers did roofing, (and had his own roofing company) but what I didn't know was that he was a life-long accordion player! In retirement he plays 32 gigs a month and for a hobby restores old, high quality accordions. How cool is that?

I sent him a couple of photos and we exchanged a couple more emails and he gave me some very good information on what to look for in old accordions and some pointers in what to do for starting. Here he is recently.

Now, in the end, with all my googling, I decided not to buy a piano accordion and there were a few reasons for that. More on that tomorrow!
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I'm adding an addendum to this post. Today (will be) the inauguration of Donald Trump. I work in DC. I work for a humanistic organization where we work to make the world a better place and we fight against injustices and meet on Sunday's for community, enlightenment and to help our children question that which they are told and to fight for justice. I'm the Director of Lifelong Learning. Last night I was part of a vigil all up and down 16th Street in DC for "lighting our way for justice and our planet". You can see our building across the street. While you cannot see the name of the organization, the Washington Ethical Society, it makes me happy you can see the Black Lives Matter banner and the bottom edge of the Rainbow Flag.

How is this related to the melodeon? This election result and what it means for our country and perhaps the world has added a heap of stress to my life. It put the exclamation point to let me know I needed to find something joyful - like music. And writing now and googling melodeons the last month has taken my mind off things I cannot change. Though, I do resist and fight for the oppressed and will continue for the rest of my life.