Reluctantly I have decided to sell the beautiful accordion Bryan made for me nearly 5 years ago. Learning to play an instrument very late in life was a great, and challenging, experience. However, I have decided to make the move to a 2 row G/C box which gives me the range to learn the the music I was exposed to in my Slavic culture and the French cafe music I've enjoyed so much over the years. I'm just too far along in age to be able to give sufficient time to expanding my skill in both instruments.
If you are interested in L'Anse Grise #5, Key of C (click the link to see it on Brian's site, it still looks the same) let me know. I will be taking to Bryan for a thorough going-over to make sure it is spot on.
That's right. If you want to be able to play in all keys on one instrument, a keyboard- or a chromatic button accordion is your choice.
The single row accordion is designed for volume and rhythm, and played very much "on the bellow". But it's not suited for French musette accordion, which is very melodious.
I have seen some very good diatonic musette players on Youtube (wow- but very difficult to play), but that requires a special instrument with a lot of extra basses. If you already have experience in playing on a keyboard, I would go for a keyboard accordion.
I play a very small one , so I can put more swing in my playing if I want.
See Link #3 which leads you to a piece of "French Cafe music" (which I call Musette). Not at all impeccably played, but it gives a good example of the possibilities.
Check out the original Nany, and there is also a very very good diatonic version of it on YT (much better than mine).
The original was played on a big chromatic button accordion by - I guess- French accordionist Gus Viseur, and was composed in the forties by Joe Colombo.
Of Slavic music I don' t know much, but they also seem to play big chromatic accordions, and not small diatonic ones!
The April 2011 Dewey Balfa Cajun & Creole Heritage Week
