This is an excellent video for beginners. At the start, you got my curiosity when you mentioned that there are systems other than B/C and C#/D for playing Irish music. Could you summarize them in a comment? Sadly, my exposure to diatonic accordion/melodeon has been limited to TH-cam, and I'm likely missing out on many things. Learning about three-row diatonic in the Mexican and Columbian styles is _much_ easier, because there's more info and videos available, but with traditional Irish music-as well as Scottish and English disciplines-there is very little online in terms of instructional material. Also, I must compliment you on your accordion. I've never seen a two-row with 11/11 on the treble side, not to mention one paired with a twelve-bass system-it's very neat, and I'm sure it's functional as well. Finally, I realize this is an old video (at least on internet terms), so I'm not sure if you're still active on TH-cam, but I figured I'd ask you about the different systems anyway. _Regards from America!_ _-Brandon_
Hi Bяandon and thanks for writing. B/C is of course the dominant system for playing Irish music, and C#/D the runner-up. The main other system is the one-row "melodeon" in D, which is quite popular. In the US, up until the 1960s the D/C# system was commonly used, the most notable exponent being Joe Derrane, and when he was "rediscovered" in the 1990s D/C# had a mini-revival, notably in Québec where I live! There are also lots of older boxes lying around in the keys of C/C# and D/D#. However they are awkward systems for Irish music, esp. the C/C#, and Irish players do not play them as intended, but in the same style as B/C and C#/D, mainly as "E-flat boxes". That's about it. When I mentioned other systems I wasn't thinking about Irish music in particular, but of course you can play Irish tunes on just about any system. D/G and A/D/G can be used quite successfully but in Ireland they are few and far between. As is the once popular B/C/C# system, which is holding on in Scotland but has been largely forgotten about in Ireland. BTW my 11/11 box is a custom job engineered especially for me by the excellent Mike Rowbotham who lives in Cornwall, UK. You can find him - search for "Michael Rowbotham Melodeons". Regards from Québec. Steve
Hello Neil, glad to hear you find the clips useful. The top 8 buttons are a standard C#/D layout, push/pull, no thirds in the chords. F#/B -- A/E G/G -- D/A The extras- the two bottom pairs- are F/C -- B/F# (C# bass) The C pull is very useful for playing G and related keys. The F is handy in Dm and true Am (continental) tunes. A Bm on the push opens up a lot of possibilities and a pull F#m is useful for some continental tunes also. The C# low bass gives me a full scale of low notes. Cheers Steve
HI Chris. It's not an easy question to answer in one or two sentences... I have thought about doing a video on the subject but again it could end up being a long one. The thing to remember is that they are the same instrument, but tuned a tone apart. So it's merely a question of different fingerings for any given key. This means that you can experiment with the other system easily. For me, to experience what it's like to play in D major on a B/C, I just play in E major on my C#/D. And you can experiment with C#/D style playing on your B/C by playing D tunes in the key of C. Am on B/C = Bm on C#/D Dm on B/C = Em on C#/D G on B/C = A on B/C and so on. Both systems are great. The important thing is to work hard on the system you have. And gradually, as you get more skilled, you can work on different keys and end up being able to play both systems - e.g. a good C#/D player will be able to play any D tune in D or E, and a good B/C player can play the same tunes in D or C, and so on for all the keys. That's my goal anyway!
+Christopher Laughlin: Actually, the only difference between b/c and c#/d is that the latter one sound lightly higher in pitch... Though it is possible that the c#/d box is just the same pitch as c/d or even lower if it is an old instrument when a' was often defined as 435 Hz (instead of 440). You could play any tonality just the same way, using the same fingerings - as long as you play for yourself your tunes will always be recognized (it is just like singing, one has a higher pitched voice, the other a lower one, but they can sing the very same melody). When playing together with other instruments it will be necessary to find the best way to match (i.e. weither you play defined notes, thus using different fingerings, or a guitarist uses a capo etc..).
Thank you so much for your channel; these videos are indispensable!
Fabulous. Thanks Steve. This is very useful information and advice.
Super helpful, thank you for the tips!!
This is an excellent video for beginners. At the start, you got my curiosity when you mentioned that there are systems other than B/C and C#/D for playing Irish music. Could you summarize them in a comment? Sadly, my exposure to diatonic accordion/melodeon has been limited to TH-cam, and I'm likely missing out on many things. Learning about three-row diatonic in the Mexican and Columbian styles is _much_ easier, because there's more info and videos available, but with traditional Irish music-as well as Scottish and English disciplines-there is very little online in terms of instructional material.
Also, I must compliment you on your accordion. I've never seen a two-row with 11/11 on the treble side, not to mention one paired with a twelve-bass system-it's very neat, and I'm sure it's functional as well. Finally, I realize this is an old video (at least on internet terms), so I'm not sure if you're still active on TH-cam, but I figured I'd ask you about the different systems anyway.
_Regards from America!_
_-Brandon_
Hi Bяandon and thanks for writing. B/C is of course the dominant system for playing Irish music, and C#/D the runner-up. The main other system is the one-row "melodeon" in D, which is quite popular. In the US, up until the 1960s the D/C# system was commonly used, the most notable exponent being Joe Derrane, and when he was "rediscovered" in the 1990s D/C# had a mini-revival, notably in Québec where I live!
There are also lots of older boxes lying around in the keys of C/C# and D/D#. However they are awkward systems for Irish music, esp. the C/C#, and Irish players do not play them as intended, but in the same style as B/C and C#/D, mainly as "E-flat boxes". That's about it.
When I mentioned other systems I wasn't thinking about Irish music in particular, but of course you can play Irish tunes on just about any system. D/G and A/D/G can be used quite successfully but in Ireland they are few and far between. As is the once popular B/C/C# system, which is holding on in Scotland but has been largely forgotten about in Ireland.
BTW my 11/11 box is a custom job engineered especially for me by the excellent Mike Rowbotham who lives in Cornwall, UK. You can find him - search for "Michael Rowbotham Melodeons". Regards from Québec. Steve
Hello Steve, enjoy your videos and I find them a great resource for the C#D box. What is the arrangement of your 12 bass/chord buttons?
Hello Neil, glad to hear you find the clips useful. The top 8 buttons are a standard C#/D layout, push/pull, no thirds in the chords.
F#/B -- A/E
G/G -- D/A
The extras- the two bottom pairs- are
F/C -- B/F# (C# bass)
The C pull is very useful for playing G and related keys. The F is handy in Dm and true Am (continental) tunes. A Bm on the push opens up a lot of possibilities and a pull F#m is useful for some continental tunes also. The C# low bass gives me a full scale of low notes.
Cheers
Steve
Ahoy there Stiamh! It's been a while.
Good to know you're still out there and kicking Marvin!
@@srmjo aye! Everyone needs to know that I'm still on the high seas, arrgh me maties!
Hi Steve, I only have a B/C box. Could you tell me a little bit about the difference between B/C and C#/D for Irish music? I only play Irish trad.
HI Chris. It's not an easy question to answer in one or two sentences... I have thought about doing a video on the subject but again it could end up being a long one. The thing to remember is that they are the same instrument, but tuned a tone apart. So it's merely a question of different fingerings for any given key. This means that you can experiment with the other system easily. For me, to experience what it's like to play in D major on a B/C, I just play in E major on my C#/D. And you can experiment with C#/D style playing on your B/C by playing D tunes in the key of C.
Am on B/C = Bm on C#/D
Dm on B/C = Em on C#/D
G on B/C = A on B/C and so on.
Both systems are great. The important thing is to work hard on the system you have. And gradually, as you get more skilled, you can work on different keys and end up being able to play both systems - e.g. a good C#/D player will be able to play any D tune in D or E, and a good B/C player can play the same tunes in D or C, and so on for all the keys. That's my goal anyway!
+Christopher Laughlin: Actually, the only difference between b/c and c#/d is that the latter one sound lightly higher in pitch... Though it is possible that the c#/d box is just the same pitch as c/d or even lower if it is an old instrument when a' was often defined as 435 Hz (instead of 440). You could play any tonality just the same way, using the same fingerings - as long as you play for yourself your tunes will always be recognized (it is just like singing, one has a higher pitched voice, the other a lower one, but they can sing the very same melody). When playing together with other instruments it will be necessary to find the best way to match (i.e. weither you play defined notes, thus using different fingerings, or a guitarist uses a capo etc..).
th-cam.com/video/PgZQcfMiyAg/w-d-xo.html