A waltz for beginning one-row players

Here is the third installment of tunes for beginning one-row players.  As with the other beginner's tunes, I learned La Valse du Coq from Denis Pepin's out-of-print video.  I have played a highly ornamented version of this tune, and for this recording, it was actually a struggle to tone down the ornamentation because it had so thoroughly worked its way into my muscle memory.  I play the tune through with no repeats -- you could double the length of each section.  First time through with no bass/chords, second time through with basic bass/chords as well as some ornamentation.  MM reeds only (strictly for clarity) on a Melodie in D.

And a direct link to the MP3 here.

And a Melodeon Minute from last year in which I posted a recording of this waltz linked to another.

The first tune for one-row learners is here. And the second one is here.  Cheers!

Flash and glitz, and a very simple accordion!

This video should be interesting to anyone interested in the limits of simple diatonic boxes.  Do not try this at home!  Note the hat: without the hat, none of this would have been possible! Video from YouTube:

Evolution of a tune...

In an earlier post, I gave a sneak preview of a tune I had composed.  The tune has since been refined somewhat.  As a side note: originally, the A part was in waltz time and the B part was in 4/4! Hoping to make it more widely accessible to melodeon players, who can never have too many waltzes, I revised the B part into 3/4. (The earlier post is the first revision -- perhaps someday I'll post the split-time signature version, which has a very different feel!)

Played on the C/F rows of a G/C/F Castagnari Jacky with the bandoneon voicing selected (LM) and the thirds turned off on the left-hand chords.  Here is "Nikolas Builds," copyright 2012.

And a direct link for those who wish to download the MP3.

Rare and available... en France!

I always enjoy perusing the available instruments on a French diato site.  There are almost always instruments that I have never heard of before, like this very fine looking Martin 2 1/2 row.

 

(Picture by the seller.)

I can't vouch for the quality of the individual instruments (and of course I have no financial connection to the sellers), but I can say that if you are looking for something unusual, this is a good place to check.  I've seen Castagnari mixte accordions (diato treble and stradella bass) as well as oddities (a Castagnari with 30 basses -- 3 rows of 10, bass/major chord/minor chord but not stradella) and some of the brands that we see less frequently in the US (and likely, the UK).

Another tune for one-row learners...

The Marche du St-Laurent was (as far as I recall) the very first tune that I learned on the petit accordeon!  I was practicing it, over and over again, in a rehearsal room at Columbia, when a student opened the door and asked: "Is that a hurdy gurdy?"

The parts were presented the other way around on Denis Pepin's video, but I began playing them this way, without consciously deciding to do so, under the spell of Monsieur Bruneau...

Here it is on a Melodie in D:

And a link to the sound file.

A tune for one-row learners

Here is a tune that I learned fairly early on, from the excellent instructional video by Denis Pepin (out of print).  I can't recall the name of the tune, and because I don't have a VHS player set up, I can't simply refer to the video.  The tune is traditional.

In the recording, I am playing a Melodie in D with only the clarinet reeds (MM+) for clarity.

And a direct link to the MP3 here.

A Scottish from Sweden, via Austria...

     Years ago, at a fiddle-centric event near Graz, Austria, I learned this scottish, which is apparently Swedish.  The Austrian fiddlers called it "Swedisch-Schottisch."  I believe they were playing it a fourth higher.
     I'm playing it mostly on the G row of a G/C/F, reaching up to the inside row for "that note," which you will certainly recognize in the B part.

Listen to "Swedisch-Schottisch" here.

(The link above is also an experiment, part of my effort to make my sound clips accessible to multiple platforms and browsers.)

Celebrating 10,000 visits to Melodeon Minutes

      As of today, Melodeon Minutes has been visited over 10,000 times. In celebration of my fine readers, I offer a simple recording of the 2nd part of Quadrille Bouchard, which I learned by listening to recordings of departed master Bruneau.

     It has been interesting to see which posts on Melodeon Minutes were the most popular.  The most visited posts are the video of Denis Pepin and the post about using Cajun accordions for non-Cajun music.  Many visitors find their way to Melodeon Minutes via other blogs or Melodeon.net, yet many come here after Google searches.  Not surprisingly, many people who are searching for information on Denis Pepin come to Melodeon Minutes -- there is otherwise very little information about this fantastic player on the internet.  Posts about Castagnaris or specific models are also very popular.

     In the meantime, there is a lot more information on the internet for anyone who wishes to learn about diatonic accordions (melodeons).  Makers like Bertrand Gaillard and Doug Briggs have finally graced the web with information about their unique accordions.  Bloggers like Accordeonaire and Gumshoe Arcana share their personal experiences of melodeon joy.  Enthusiasts from around the world, like Toko, serenade us with their performances.  There are so many contributors to the explosion of melodeon presence on the world wide wide, I tip my hat to those whom I have not mentioned.

     To my readers, here's to you.