Accordion Classroom I Intermediate Level 4 and 5 I Ken Mahler, Instructor
Lesson 3
Hi, I’m Ken Mahler, owner/operator of Mahler Music Center I Accordionheaven.com. We’re located just of Seventh Street in St. Paul, which is also known as the gateway to St. Paul.
Welcome to the intermediate level of Accordion Classroom series. This video corresponds with Palmer-Hughes Accordion Course Books 4 and 5 instruction series and is a short introduction to the full course.
If not already done, I strong recommend that you study the advanced beginner video before this level, as you’ll be expected to know a variety of techniques and will have developed your reading ability.
Because of the amount of information available, I will be moving quickly. Feel free to stop this video and practice as often as you can. A half hour of practice per day is recommended, but you can still benefit from as little as 15 minutes of practice.
If you’re ready, let’s get started.
Ken performs “Theme from Second Hungarian Rhapsody” (accordion demonstration). There are a couple of things that you should know before you start this song. First of all, play the basses cleanly. Do not drag any basses, do not drag any chords. Notice the dynamics. It starts loud, then when it repeats, it goes soft and then really soft and then works its way up. Follow all of those dynamics very carefully. You’ll need those skills later on as you get better at playing the accordion.
Also notice on the first measure on c7, it starts with the alternating bass. It begins with the G bass, going to c7, then C bass to c7 rather than starting on C. This happens pretty much throughout the song, so get use to doing that because this is also used in a lot of music. Also, pay attention to the attacks. Notice that there are a lot of attacks suggested throughout this song. Try to attack these as best you can. It’s not a matter of pulling for the sake of two seconds, what you’re doing is attacking the note. Right from the start, you want it to sound like this (demonstration).
Do the best you can and remember to learn this song really well before moving onto the next.
Next song Ken performs is “A Hunting We Will Go” (accordion demonstration). Before you start this song “A Hunting We Will Go”, pay particular attention to the time signature. It’s in 6/8 time which means six beats in a measure. It’s very much like a march. Every 8th note gets one beat. I also want you to pay attention to key signature. It’s in G all the way through, but chords change.
What I think they’re trying to do, is to help you understand the different chord structures that go on in songs and a lot of times there are key changes. They do not change the key throughout the song, but in other songs, they probably would.
Enjoy this song and remember the G, the D and the A triad chords, spend enough time learning them. Also, develop your reading ability as you go along. In a page before this, they allow you an opportunity to start writing all these notes.
Every chance you can get to write music, all the better. Don’t forget that any of the exercises can be used for site reading practice.
As you go on throughout the book learning each song, remember to learn each one completely. Learn it well before moving on. Thank you for watching, we’ll see you on the next song.
To continue this lesson, order Accordion Classroom, intermediate level 4 and 5 with Palmer-Hughes Book 4 and 5 accordion course.
Palmer-Hughes Book 4 Palmer-Hughes Book 5
Accordion Classroom Level 4 and 5
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