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Author Topic: Can a piano accordion player also play melodeon?  (Read 7577 times)

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Owen Woods

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Re: Can a piano accordion player also play melodeon?
« Reply #20 on: May 17, 2012, 10:33:56 PM »

Quote
the term is apparently fairly unknown in America.

Just curious - does the average person in the UK know what you're talking about when you use the work "melodeon"?

Probably not! But the point is that the term is not one that is held in common between nations and where it is, it has conflicting meanings.
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sticky fingers

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Re: Can a piano accordion player also play melodeon?
« Reply #21 on: May 19, 2012, 06:13:09 PM »

I too made the transfer from PA to D/G many many years ago and found it quite easy, Infact I am now thinking of aquiring a new PA ( My last one went to the recycling centre! ) as lots of my PA repertoir never quite transfered to the diatonic scale of D/G, best wishes sf.

Accordion Dave

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Re: Can a piano accordion player also play melodeon?
« Reply #22 on: May 20, 2012, 01:33:14 AM »

I have played piano accordion most of my life and perhaps a decade ago started playing diatonic button accordions.

At first it was difficult to get used to having a different note for each direction of the bellows.

The first box I had was barely playable. The bellows leaked so it took a lot of effort to play.

About 5 years ago I bought a Hohner 1-row and then I started to make progress.

Back to the original question, I play both piano accordion and button box accordion just about every day.

When I play in public, I carry both types of instruments for variety. Usually it is one piano accordion and several melodeons.
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Bobtheboat

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Re: Can a piano accordion player also play melodeon?
« Reply #23 on: May 20, 2012, 05:15:19 AM »

Sorry to contribute to the thread drift but re' the nomenclature discussion, should we perhaps then be members of 'Diato.net' ? Too far? Bob.
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Rob2Hook

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Re: Can a piano accordion player also play melodeon?
« Reply #24 on: May 21, 2012, 08:47:09 PM »

Judging by ads on ebay, in N. America a melodeon is a reed organ - more commonly referred to in the UK as a harmonium!  This common language...

I know of quite a few people locally who play both PA and melodeon, often for different purposes.  The thing that confused me the other day was two people who played one of each for Morris and then swapped for the session playing afterwards!

Rob.
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Nick Hudis

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Re: Can a piano accordion player also play melodeon?
« Reply #25 on: May 22, 2012, 02:47:21 PM »

I had a go on my sister's PA the other day, and although I am a competent piano player it completely blew my fuses. I just couldn't cope with the vertical keyboard. If I am ever tempted down the unisoric route it'll have to be a CBA.
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george garside

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Re: Can a piano accordion player also play melodeon?
« Reply #26 on: May 22, 2012, 10:23:02 PM »

I had a go on my sister's PA the other day, and although I am a competent piano player it completely blew my fuses. I just couldn't cope with the vertical keyboard. If I am ever tempted down the unisoric route it'll have to be a CBA.

its all down to what your joints are  used  to doing. If I play an electric keyboard in its normal position i.e. parallel to the floor I get quite severe wrist ache within minutes.  Stand the bugger vertically on end so its same way round as  the keyboard  on  a box and everythings fine!    Thinking about it the relationship between the arm and the hand via the wrist is much more natural  playing a box than when twisted round to play a horizontal keyboard!

george
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Owen Woods

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Re: Can a piano accordion player also play melodeon?
« Reply #27 on: May 22, 2012, 10:36:56 PM »

I disagree with your last statement George :P Illustration: Put your arms out in front of you and relax your hands. You will find that your hands are in a position where they could play the piano. Now put your hand in front of your chest and relax your hand. You will find that it flops down perpendicular to how it needs to play the box.

Mind you, the hold needed for the fiddle is far, far, worse.
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george garside

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Re: Can a piano accordion player also play melodeon?
« Reply #28 on: May 22, 2012, 11:16:15 PM »

I disagree with your last statement George :P Illustration: Put your arms out in front of you and relax your hands. You will find that your hands are in a position where they could play the piano.   ,   .
 

mine relax  at right angles to the floor when held out  as you describe - perhaps its 50 odd years of box playing thats 'converted' them

george ;)
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Owen Woods

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Re: Can a piano accordion player also play melodeon?
« Reply #29 on: May 22, 2012, 11:29:39 PM »

Hmm. Maybe it's me having played piano for the past 18 years and box for only the last 10 :P
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Re: Can a piano accordion player also play melodeon?
« Reply #30 on: May 24, 2012, 05:29:23 PM »

(I'm sure I've told this story on mel.net before, so ignore this if it sounds too familiar.) My first squeezebox was a PA, and back then I had no problem with the right hand keyboard but could never get the hang of the stradella bass so I sold the thing. Then I started playing melodeon and anglo; after a couple years of that, I had occasion to play around on a family friend's PA when visiting my parents and was totally flummoxed. I wanted to change bellows direction with each note, which was awkward with an instrument of that size and somehow caused problems with response (it probably needed some professional attention anyway, having sat in a closet for most of its existence.) And being used to the eight basses of a two-row box made the stradella bass even more of a puzzler for me than it had been before... Everyone around expected me to be some sort of accordion genius (mainly because I was the only person they had ever heard play melodeon, and they had no point of comparison whatsoever,) so it was rather embarrassing.
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AirTime

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Re: Can a piano accordion player also play melodeon?
« Reply #31 on: May 28, 2012, 12:02:16 AM »

Another thing that's important to bear in mind is that PA players have a completely different colour sense from button box players:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Student-Beginner-Red-Piano-Accordion-/150825454105?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item231de5ca19#ht_500wt_1214
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Accordion Dave

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Re: Can a piano accordion player also play melodeon?
« Reply #32 on: June 01, 2012, 04:51:58 PM »

I also play piano and organ, in addition to various types of accordions.

I am toying with the idea of building a portable pedal board similar to the type used on a pipe organ to play along with my accordions.

I have already tried playing organ pedals with the accordion and my brain seems to be able to handle it.

I would like to create a "one man band" sort of a show with a variety of unusual instruments.

I am amazed by Pat Metheny's "Orchestrion Tour". He controls all sorts of instruments with his guitar.

Of course I could spend many thousands of dollars for a Roland virtual accordion.
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pikey

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Re: Can a piano accordion player also play melodeon?
« Reply #33 on: June 06, 2012, 02:41:33 PM »

More crucially, can a Blue man sing the Whites?   >:E
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Chris Ryall

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Re: Can a piano accordion player also play melodeon?
« Reply #34 on: June 06, 2012, 07:16:24 PM »

EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY VIOLATION - EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY VIOLATION - EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY VIOLATION !

 :-\
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pikey

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Re: Can a piano accordion player also play melodeon?
« Reply #35 on: June 07, 2012, 05:03:04 PM »

EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY VIOLATION - EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY VIOLATION - EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY VIOLATION !

 :-\

"If he'd have been green, I've have said can a Green man sing the Whites...."   (with homage to the late, great, politically incorrect Fred Trueman, sometimes of this parish.... (his missus came from down our road) ).

Incidentally, YorkieKen of MELNET can play (and very well!) English Concertina, and melodeon (but not, thankfully, at the same time).

BTW, I tried to play PA once, but couldn't work out why the note didn't change when I altered bellows direction.
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