jonny (good kind)1d ago

So since I got my finger blowed up, I can't really play piano, and I have been taking on psychic damage ever since.

However it seems like I might be able to play an accordion, since my blowed up finger is on my left hand and accordion seems like it has much less "ballistic" hits to the finger.

But I can't make heads or tails about what in the fuck kind of accordion to try: I play mostly moody emo Chopin sadgirl tunes, and I love piazzola, so I was reading about bandoneons, but it turns out that you can't actually get one (like literally it seems like they were only mass manufactured pre WWII and now only for like $10k custom made) and the key layout means you can like only play tango on them. And then since its a folk instrument there are like one million other kinds of accordion and I can't tell how much each is specialized for a specific kind of music.

Is there anyone on here I reach who plays #accordion and can help me out knowing what kinda button bag to play? I would be a beginner accordionist but I have been playing piano my whole life and am looking for a long term romance I mean replacement, so I don't need the like "there are 5 notes on this one and you can't go wrong" kind. I would love to be able to play sea shanties and folk punk tunes, but if its also possible to play some Chopin or Debussy arrangements on the thing that would be extremely emotionally valuable to me.

edit: thank you accordionists of the fedi for the information, and non-accordionists of the fedi for helping me reach them. my questions have been largely answered and i am gonna pick one up shortly :)

Show thread●1d ago
@jonny Maybe @AccordionBruce can shed some light on accordion options for you post-injury. 🪗 Good luck, the sea shanties, folk punk, and classical arrangements await your return to music, whether it's via accordion or something else.
Show threadAccordionBruce19h ago

@fembot @jonny @meganL
I do think if you have piano skills probably starting on piano 🪗 is an easy plan

George Bachich’s little book is a good starter for first time #accordion buyers and problems to look out for buying used

PIANO ACCORDION OWNER’S MANUAL AND BUYER’S GUIDE https://accordionrevival.com

Show threadAccordionBruce19h ago

@fembot @jonny @meganL
Size?
If you want to play classical-ish maybe just go for 120 bass. Probably easiest to find, more options

Counterintuitively might be cheaper than some smaller instruments that are in demand for portability

If you want smaller than 120 bass that will narrow your options so make choosing easier

Don’t get fewer than 48 bass. 72 or 78 might be better for your style, but do not fear the big 120 unless it’s too heavy

Most only play a few buttons at a time usually

Show threadAccordionBruce18h ago

@fembot @jonny @meganL
Maybe try to find a local player to help find a good instrument

It can be hard to know the quality of one without inspecting the reeds inside

But basically play every note going in and out, and if they’re in tune, that’s a good bet

Do this with every register switch, which I’m sure it could be really annoying and take a minute for a big accordion, but it sounds all the reeds

If any of them are not in tune, probably don’t buy it because they are very expensive to fix

Show threadAccordionBruce

@fembot @jonny @meganL
If you don’t mind my asking, where are you located?

Occasionally there’s someone we could recommend that you contact, though there aren’t many shops left

We do have a lot of friends we might be able to connect you with I suppose

Mar 29 at 6:58amToot!
Show threadjonny (good kind)1h ago

@AccordionBruce
oh wow thank you so much for this information. i'll be getting a copy of this book, as it also looks like it's an accordion hacker's guide, and i admit i do tend to unwisely open up things and start poking at them.

I am in LA, so there are lots of music shops, but the accordion dealers i could find are mostly focused on higher-end/custom accordions, and the more conventional music shops are mostly selling to public school students it seems. I found a shop in PA that has lots of lovely old instruments with videos for each one. I do have a bit of a romantic streak and will play used instruments that have a history to them over new instruments that might cause me less trouble, and accordions in particular seem to have a huge amount of history to them - i found the forum at https://www.accordionists.info and was immediately charmed reading it, there is a lot of folk history there!!!!

it's good to know that i don't need to worry about all the incredibly variation in these instruments to get started, i couldn't tell if i would get 'locked in' to a key layout that was specialized for a type of music, but reading and searching a bit makes it seem like aside from the major categories like chromatic/diatonic, button/key, free bass/stradella, that many of the differences are more along the lines of "grand piano vs. upright vs. spinet" than "piano vs. harpsichord vs. pipe organ."

The Accordionists Forum

An accordion forum open to all

The Accordionists Forum
Show threadjonny (good kind)1h ago
@AccordionBruce I haven't even gotten my hands on one yet and i am already worried about my desire to open it up and mess with the internals. i wonder what the difficulty in tuning is like compared to the piano - i grew up in a family of musicians, so i was taught from a young age "most instruments the musician should be able to tune as easily as breathing. except for piano. for piano you never try and tune it yourself, you can't do it, and even if it seems like you can you still can't. hire a piano tuner." and i wonder if accordion is the same way