Oh boy... Martin brace yourself.

That is almost spooky. Now then, if you have a fireplace and ya find yourself develops thoughts of, or wondering what the flashpoint of an accordion is... slow down, take a breath and get into some type of zen thought process.... Accordions are good, accordions are our friends.

Work with five or six inches of bellow (it can work). Take a sticky dot (or a small hole with a pen knife)and put it on button number 5.. you are at home with the pointy finger.
Practice 5,6,7 & 8 push and pull for every combo you can muster and memorize what these buttons produce push and pull. then home in on 3, 4, 5 & 6 same deal.
You can play a ton of songs on 4 buttons.

Work with melody and save the fancy embellished junk for down the line (you know what I mean by junk, not really junk). Play light and soft for now.. the accentuated harder accents from bellows pressure can come later on. Start bassing to the time as part of your exercise.

I'm going out on a limb here: I'm guessing you will get a handbuilt within 6 months. No offence by that prediction, merely a realization of vast differance in accordions. Bon Chance and welcome aboard...

Nonc D

Martin,
Being that you are a seasoned musician and probably want the best results in the shortest amount of time, I can tell you that if you continue to practice on the Arrieta ( Chinese E-bay Honer copy) you will continue to be frustrated at your results. After practicing every night for four year on my Brown Dragon, I finally gave up and had Danny Dysen of Big Lake LA build me a beautiful, red, robust sounding, easy to play, wonderful instrument, a C dry tuned. All of a sudden, all that practice paid off. I CAN play, after all. The main thing is, it just is so much easier and it sounds so much better. Get Jude or Danny or whoever you wish but get a Hand-made LA box ASAP. I am also in my 60's and I have just started to play the fiddle. Bought a 3/4 kids violin for $ 60.00.
Making good progress but my fingers are too big, so that one is going to the pawn shop and I have several 4/4's lined out to take its place. Will eventually find one I like. The Better Half, after hearing my fiddling, really appreciates the sound of the new accordion!
JB

Martin,

Like you I have played things with strings for decades, even played around a few wind instuments.

Also, like you I bought an Chinese model (Arretta) because it was cheap. At $180.00 I could give it away if I did not like it. Thanks to Mr. Powell and his videos I can croak out a few tune and have had an great time learning.

On the down side, you do get what you pay for. I have had to replace some of the button springs and as your ear for sound developed you soon notice the richness of the more expensive instuments.

As with any instrument when your skill level develops you will know when it is time to move on.

Unfortunately, unilke guitars and fiddles, you do not find quality sqeezeboxes in the pawnshops.

Good luck.
RPr