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[Bryson]

I'm really finding this forum very useful. Lots of good practical tips. So yet another request.
I often read comments on the need to get away from the standard "um pahhing" on the basses and chords - often prefixed with "boring". Now obviously a bit of "um pahhing" is necessary at times but I, having autodidactically acquired playing the melodeon, tend to do it most of the time. In fact the only alternative I use is no left hand at all :).
So all you helpful folk out there what I'm looking for is some practical advice on variations on an "umpah". I find I learn best using actual tunes as examples e.g. I'm currently using a couple of slower 3/4 tunes to get into cross rowing and thus am able to use more variety with my left hand. This is coming on well but I would also like to add some variety to my current "bass, chord, chord" style.
All ideas gladly accepted -with the bribe of some decent pils if you ever visit Berlin, Germany.
cheers
Bryson

[george garside]

I'm really finding this forum very useful. Lots of good practical tips. So yet another request.
I often read comments on the need to get away from the standard "um pahhing" on the basses and chords - often prefixed with "boring". Now obviously a bit of "um pahhing" is necessary at times but I, having autodidactically acquired playing the melodeon, tend to do it most of the time. In fact the only alternative I use is no left hand at all :).
So all you helpful folk out there what I'm looking for is some practical advice on variations on an "umpah". I find I learn best using actual tunes as examples e.g. I'm currently using a couple of slower 3/4 tunes to get into cross rowing and thus am able to use more variety with my left hand. This is coming on well but I would also like to add some variety to my current "bass, chord, chord" style.
 
you are quite right um-pah-ing  definately does have its place  particularly when there is a need to 'drive ' a strong rhythm.  As yu have said it can become monotonous both for the player anad the listener  and it can also sometimes bugger up  a decent melody.

You  haave already discovered a very useful technique of leaving the bass off & carrying on with just the melody for a bar or two. This is particularly effective when playing any fancy bits on the treble end or fast runs with a lot of bellow s movement as it prevents the whole thing sounding mushy and instead emphasises the fancy bits of treble. 

Two very easy ways of varying the sound are to occasionaly play both bass & chord together (try to do it crisply) or to just play either the um or the pa which effectively lightens the bass up a bit.  Another useful variationof the um ph is to occasionaly stick in  um pa pa pa instead of um pa um pa. perhaps  at the end of  aan A or B part  or where you feel intuitively that it is going to add something to the music. practice this separately from playing a tune

A totally different approach is to  play bass notes - either both bass note & chord togethr or either - of more or less the same length as the treble notes you are playing - usseful for song accompaniment and for slow airs.  keep the bss notes slightly shorter than the treble as this gives a nice crisp feeling to the proceedings.  This  type of playing depends on  harmonising the two ends of the box  & is where row crossing on the treble can be used effectively to get suitable bass & treble notes in the same bellows direction.  the slower the tune you do this on to begin with the better  and  a slow air gives loads of scope.  You can also furthur enhance thigs by sticking in some extra harmony on the treble end but perhaps its sensible to sort the bass end first!

hope this of some help - doubtless there will be many more  useful ideas posted on this subgect.

george

[Theo]

Bryson,

Have a listen to this its a link to a Youtube clip with some really tasty left hand work.   Its a delight to listen to, its not terribly complicated and some of it is just a simple vamp, but with enough little variations to bring it to life.   The melody playing is pretty good too.

A very simple thing you can do is to do the up-pah thing and then mark the end of a phrase by doing something different for the last couple of beats.  The different thing should be as simple as possible eg playing bass and chord together, playing a long bass note (careful with that one!) or leave one out.

omm-pa omm-pa omm-pa pa-pa
or
omm-pa omm-pa omm-pa pa-aa
or
omm-pa omm-pa omm-pa omm (  )

[Clive Williams]

Possibly the first step to practice is to play the melody with no basses at all. It's often harder than it seems for those trying it for the first time, because often playing bass chords implies the treble fingering - and without basses, playing the treble can deteriorate if you're not used to it.

Once you've got the hang of that, try pressing and holding the chord (only) during each bar, and as George says, not playing basses at all during certain bars. You'll have to change your fingering around to make the chords work properly and smoothly without bellows changing direction in the middle of a chord, but you're already doing that!

Sometimes, it's unavoidable to change bellows direction in the middle of a chord, and there's no alternative chord in the other direction (E minor, for example). Oops. Now the trick is to practice playing the chord when you're going in the right direction (pull for E minor), and stop it for however brief a time you're pushing during that chord.

Next, try using less and less chord playing - you don't need to hold the thing down all the time - you can use it as often or sparingly as you like, even if you've got it available to you at a part in the tune. Try to find a balance you like... which will probably vary depending on which box you're playing, and how heavy the basses are relative to the treble.

Again, as George says, you can do all this stuff, rather than just with chords (the "pah"), with the fundamental bass (the "oom") instead, or at the same time.

One final thing to consider, and practicing this on waltzes is a very good starting place - while playing a chord throughout a whole bar, without a break, try 'pulsing' it relative to the beat - i.e. vary the bellows pressure according to the rhythm - 1-2-3 (a slight extra emphasis on '2' for a waltz I believe, but that's a different debate). Some players do this by waggling the bellows downwards as they play, but personally I find it easier just to try and emphasise the beat in the melody line - this then comes across to the bass chord automatically. Players such as Andy Cutting are absolute masters at this, and recommended listening as to what you can do with basses in this style...

Cheers,

Clive

[Lester]

Can anyone quote the John Kirkpatrick "Four Um Pah Rule" he taught at Witney some years ago. I can only vaguely remember it

[Open_G]

I started to think about how to explain a couple of ideas I find I use- but I couldn't, it was easier to dig out a box and record something. -Here's a link to an mp3 of a tune played once through, the a part is straight and the b part has a couple ideas to mess around with.

Hopefully it is clear (I can hear it but then I know what I'm doing) -sorry the quality isn't tops, it was all done through my internal mics/speakers on my lappy)

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=185634&content=music

it is the file named WTHP

[george garside]

Can anyone quote the John Kirkpatrick "Four Um Pah Rule" he taught at Witney some years ago. I can only vaguely remember it

not sure about this but I assume its something on thelines of don't um pa more than four times without then doing something else.  This  would be  2 bars worth of um pa's.  If same rule is applied to 3/4 waltz it  would be 4 barsworth or half an A or B part. so it would certainly be time to  put in a bit of variation to avoid monotony settin in. 

george

[Theo]

don't um pa more than four times without then doing something else.  This  would be  2 bars worth of um pa's.

Which reminds me of another variation, just do one oom-pah per bar,  works especially well for jigs.

[Lester]

Can anyone quote the John Kirkpatrick "Four Um Pah Rule" he taught at Witney some years ago. I can only vaguely remember it

not sure about this but I assume its something on thelines of don't um pa more than four times without then doing something else.  This  would be  2 bars worth of um pa's.  If same rule is applied to 3/4 waltz it  would be 4 barsworth or half an A or B part. so it would certainly be time to  put in a bit of variation to avoid monotony settin in. 

george

It was something like:

• When you start playing you play the basses too long - Ommmmmm  Pahhhhhhhhhhhhh
• Then you learn to play them stacatto - Om Pah
• Then you learn to play Om Pahhhhhhh
• But what you should learn is Ommmm  Pah because that matches the natural gait of a dancer

But like I said someone may have been paying more attention!

[Alison Scott]

It was something like:

• When you start playing you play the basses too long - Ommmmmm  Pahhhhhhhhhhhhh
• Then you learn to play them stacatto - Om Pah
• Then you learn to play Om Pahhhhhhh
• But what you should learn is Ommmm  Pah because that matches the natural gait of a dancer

But like I said someone may have been paying more attention!

Ah! If it's that, then you have it nearly right except the end bits are in the wrong order. The 'dancing' bounce that JK and others recommend is short Oom, long Paaaaaah, and it is the hardest of the four to practice. But he does recommend practicing all of them. This is one of the many cool things on the DVD -- and we also did it in the Bass workshop with Saul Rose at Witney.

[george garside]

It was something like:

• When you start playing you play the basses too long - Ommmmmm  Pahhhhhhhhhhhhh
• Then you learn to play them stacatto - Om Pah
• Then you learn to play Om Pahhhhhhh
• But what you should learn is Ommmm  Pah because that matches the natural gait of a dancer

But like I said someone may have been paying more attention!



I remember john doing a workshop much as Alison has described - the aim being to develop the skill of playing  on ( or should it be emphasising)  the off beat i.e short um & long Pa. a technique much to be recommended.

george

Ah! If it's that, then you have it nearly right except the end bits are in the wrong order. The 'dancing' bounce that JK and others recommend is short Oom, long Paaaaaah, and it is the hardest of the four to practice. But he does recommend practicing all of them. This is one of the many cool things on the DVD -- and we also did it in the Bass workshop with Saul Rose at Witney.

[Robin Harrison]

Another tecnique,that although is still an oom-pah,but can add great interest to the bass line is the use of the counter bass,such as piano accordions use.I am just staring to use it more as my interest in the left hand increases and it goes some way to getting over the repetitive oom-pah.
         Would some-else like to describe it in an "easy to follow way" ?
                      Regards Robin
        

[george garside]

Another tecnique,that although is still an oom-pah,but can add great interest to the bass line is the use of the counter bass,such as piano accordions use.I am just staring to use it more as my interest in the left hand increases and it goes some way to getting over the repetitive oom-pah.
         Would some-else like to describe it in an "easy to follow way" ?
                      Regards Robin
        
 The counterbass on stradella (accordion) bass are a third apart from the fundemental bass in the same diagonal row & the drill is to play fundemental bass, chord, counterbass, chord etc etc.  On DG this is possible  on the push using g & b bass with G chord and on the the pull using A & C bass & A chord.  I find that whilst not strictly following  this  simply playing (on the push) g bass g chord c bass  G chord etcgives a nice variation in sound provided not overused  as does  the occasional use of ( on the push) of D bass D chord B bass D chord.

It is a very useful aid to not doing the same thing for long on the bass and with a bit of practice cn be done quite easily using just 2 fingers ( I use 3 & 4)

george

[BruceHenderson]

  (snip) On DG this is possible  on the push using g & b bass with G chord and on the the pull using A & C bass & A chord.  (snip)

    A very simple way for beginners to try something different is to try:

GBass/ GChord/ DBass/ Gchord
GBass/ GChord/ BBass/ Gchord
    These are very easy.  Of course, they sound like crap sometimes but sometimes they fit and sound good.  These may be good "baby steps" for someone just getting off "oom pah".
BH NC USA

[Bryson]

Thanks to all of you for the ideas. I've already started applying some of them.
It's surprising what the offer of a good German pils can do 
BTW I particularly like the "end of phrase" idea it can really give a lift to a tune before launching into the next phrase..
..so cheers one and all and thanks again.
Bryson

[Simon]

Another easy alternative especially for slow waltzes is to play only the chord on the first and third beat (long legato notes). In the repeat you could increase the volume by pressing both bass and chord simultaneously on one and three.