Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Ziachmusi/Louise]

I've lived in Bavaria for about 20 years and recently decided I'd like to learn some kind of instrument. I needed something fairly easy as I have no musical background at all. I was recommended the Steierische Harmonica (Alpine melodeon) and learning by TAB (griffschrift) I'm progressing OK. The thing is learning by tab means I can't play by note music and tunes available in griffschrift are all Bavarian / Austrian / south German music, which are of course great but I'd like to play other folks music too. I've got a Strasser ADG 3 row. The DG rows seems fairly similar to a DG Melodeon but have one unisonic button per row, on the A row all buttons are diatonic and I have 11 bass buttons. Any suggestion how I could get started on notes etc - and what do I do with the Bass buttons?

[sCANdanADIAN]

I don't play a Steierische but wish I had one and I like the music. I do play a C/F club which is similar in that it has the unisonsonric C note on the F-row.I can play a bit of Slovenian and German music which is often played on a C/F/Bb instrument.

If you can arrange your tab notation to account for the Gleiton you should be able to play other styles of music.You can take advantage steierische tuning and not  have to reach for the A reversal like I have to on my A/D/G corona.Most British and North American fiddle tunes are in the keys you have so there's lots to choose from.

Chris

[Gerard374]

I play about two years a strasser GCFB. More information you can find on my website www.ggms.nl
I am used to play with numbers under the notes, these numbers correspond with the buttons on the diskant of your melodeon. On my site you can find a keyboard lay out with the numbers next to the buttons. Its an option so you can learn to play with sheetmusic.
If you are interested just send me a mail or if you have questions about this system.

Last Year I got from Musky527, he has a lot of Buttonbox movies on Youtube and lives in America a sheetmusic lay out where under every note was a small steier keyboard, for the note above was one button marked. It took some more paper but it learned it very fast, I must admit.

[Ziachmusi/Louise]

Great website Gerard. I'll look at your sheet music and see if i can get along with the number system. My real question is can I play english style music on my Sterische? All my german alpine musik has one or two tacts before I go from push to pull, never seems to change bellow direction just for individual notes. My box is (my opinion) quite heavy and I need a lot of air especially for the bass notes.
Will I still be able to play english style or should I invest in a two row Melodeon?

[Dazbo]

I know someone in Sheffield how has a two row DG Steierische (with the gliechton(?) replaced).  I believe it was a special order that he picked up cheap off ebay.  I've had a play around on it and with perseverence you should be able to play English tunes in an English style. 

You'll have to figure out a way round the different bass set up (which confused the hell out of me) but assuming you figure out a way to read the English tunes and play them then all you have to do is master the air button and reduce the amount of cross rowing. 

I think your best bet is to treat it as a two row club type box using the outer two rows (I presume the A row doesn't have the gliechton) and ignore the the inner-most row to start with at least.  Just pretend in your mind the outer two rows are DG not AD.

[Gerard374]

Well Ziachmusi thanks for the complements. The answer on your question is Yes. You can play other styles of music on your steirische melodeon, I do this myself. I understand off course your problem with your bellow. It is yust a question of looking on your keyboard lay out, to look for some notes in an other row in the pull for example so that you can pull lets say three or four sizes before you started to push where a two row changed already by two sizes. You have three rows just use them.
If you don't have a keyboard lay out you can find one on http://members.line.com/~Arizona/harmonica/
You can also choose to make a few sizes from push to pull, most of the basses are on push and pull on your instrument. 
I have more to tell about this subject, but I have to go to my work, sorry, probably later this evening.

[Gerard374]

What I forget to say yesterday was that there is a program for the computer which translate Griffschrift to sheetmusic and vice versa. I have no experience with it, but perhaps someone on this forum has.
http://www.rubisoft.com/toccata/leistung_trans.htm.

My own experience is that i have more than one melodeon gathered in the past five years. All of them are secondhand the price is not too high, in different keys. So I can play in the key or the ritme/style that I like at that moment. The steier by the way was the most expensive one.

[Martin J]

Hi Ziachmusi

I've just posted a query regarding Steireische melodeons but I did have one some years ago and I did play English tunes on it.  It certainly loaned itself well to Polka's.  If you want to play quickly then you must cross row and the keyboard is fantastic for that.  I've always made my own keyboard maps but I see Gerard 374 has recommended a site where you can get one.  I have tried the web address but I got a gambling site.  If Gerard reads this perhaps he can post an amended address.

If you get stuck on the keyboard map, contact me as I have the right hand laid out.  I haven't done the bass yet but I could ask Udo Shneeberg.

I can't help with the music side.  I play by ear.  If stuck I play the tune on a keyboard from music or use an ABC file until I know the tune and can find it on the melodeon.  The one tip I can give is to decide on the bass you are playing first as this often gives you the direction of the bellows before you decide on the right hand fingering.

Hope this helps your progress.

Martin

[Gerard374]

Hello Martin,

You were right, my link was not correct, the spellcheck correct the word yline in line. My mistake I wasn't alert.
I hope it will work now, thanks for your comment. There is also a bass lay out to copy.
http://members.yline.com/~arizona/harmonika/

http://www.volksmusikschule.at/griffschrifttab3adg.htm
Instead of a computer program you can also translate music by hand. On this link you find info about translate griffschrift to notes. It is in German, but on the page is a button to translate in English.

[Ziachmusi/Louise]

Thanks for all the good advice. I thinking about just sticking at my alpine griffscrift stuff for the time being. I only started learning last November and I'm a bit worried that if I try to learn two different styles of playing at the same time that I'll end up being useless at both of them. I think when I know my steierische better and get my ear trained up a bit it might be easier to learn a new style. My main problem is that I'm completely non musical.

louise

[JohannPascher]

The posted page is also in English available:

http://www.volksmusikschule.at/engnotes.htm

I am also from Austria so if i can help, i will!

best regards, Johann

[Ziachmusi/Louise]

Hi Johann
Thanks for the offer of support.
Are you just a Melodeon player or do you play the Steierische as well? If so do you play non Austrian folk on the Steierische? Are you a note, tab or ear player? I'd already come across the Volksmusikschule.at website and have found one or two griffschrift tunes i can cope with. If I try playing another tune by note I just don't know what to do about the bass notes. (Sorry if this is now drifting off into teaching and learning)

louise

[JohannPascher]

@Ziachmusi

I am am from Austria and i also like to play different styles of music on my alpine style boxes.

Don't say that i a really any good in playing other diatonic style music but it is possible to learn some techniques used in other countries.

The defences of loyalty in treble and bus side do not be that triadic that this would not be possible.

The weight and size and the tuning do change the resulting sound a bit.
I have small boxes with the same key layout as on alpine boxes, and the sound is not the same.
As for fast push pull parts this is possible i don't thick this is the problem, even it is a bit easier to do fast push pull change an a smaller box.

More problem could be the gleichtone,   but most of this fast runs are on higher sounding notes and within this keys there is no difference at all.

Bass section is the bigger problem.

I don't think you do have minor buss on pull in the second row, as i pref ere.
A lot of music is in minor or do use the bus keys from the second buss row in pull, so if your box is without this minor keys you miss the most important thing and the music want be anything like the original even if you learn to do fast push pull.




 

[JohannPascher]

I just did see that there is a reply from you, so i post an other answer a second time!

Are you just a Melodeon player or do you play the Steierische as well?
I play Steirische and melodeon but my melodeon has a Gleichtone.

If so do you play non Austrian folk on the Steierische?
Yes i do bat as a did say i don't play god at all.

Are you a note, tab or ear player?
All more or less, mainly by ear and notes, but i cant play from sheet music with full speed, as good musician can.

Know more about the music as i actually can put into a good performance.
I mainly should spend more time to do the needed exercise.

So my level of playing  is surly not much higher if at all as yours!

If I try playing another tune by note I just don't know what to do about the bass notes. ?

i think it could be that your instrument is different concerning the bass button layout, we would need to take a special tune that puzzles you an d look at the notes what are needed on the bus side. and the n we would have to make clear if the notes are available on your box.

[meltzer]

I'm intrigued now.... what's so odd about the bass layout? 

[JohannPascher]

I'm intrigued now.... what's so odd about the bass layout? 

don't you know?

if you yust use the outer row and you don't need alternating bass in combination wit the first row most of alpine style music could be played on a melodeon.

The original question was the other way round.

Playing other music on a Steirsche type of instrument.

Since a lot of Steirische or better Bavarian type of instruments don't have any minor buses it may difficult to use the correct bass notes. (Real Steirische or Bohemian buss layouts do have minor buss notes chords)

and second a lot of different buss layouts are in use if we talk about the second row on the buss side, so we nee to know what the bass layout is like.

[meltzer]

Thanks for that. I hadn't even heard of a Steierische Harmonika until this thread. And to think I lived in Munich briefly. 

[Theo]

Hi Johna

Good to hear from you again.  Could you provide a Sterisch note layout chart that we could add to the ones here

[JohannPascher]

Thanks for that. I hadn't even heard of a Steierische Harmonika until this thread. And to think I lived in Munich briefly. 

That surprises me since it is very common  in Bavaria my be you just did not know the name since it is often just called Ziach in Bavaria.

[JohannPascher]

Hi Johna

Good to hear from you again.  Could you provide a Sterisch note layout chart that we could add to the ones here

Hi, Theo!

The pleasure is on my side!

i hope i will stay now a bit longer with your forum my be i get used to it, i had problem to get notifications is someone posted but now it look s it works.

I was wondering that there was no activity on the other question on foam melodeon.

To the layout there a r a lot of buss layout in use do you know the website of Christian Amon with the option of selecting all possibility's?
http://members.yline.com/~arizona/harmonika

Nearly the same info on a diffent website also origianaly made by Cristina Amon:

http://www.harmonika.com/de/tonbelegung3.htm


I surly could post one of the mayor layouts in use, but is that what you want?

Or we could provide a English translation of this interactive web page.