Rhythm changes

kevingcox

Are there some good sounding substitutions that can be made with the left hand to cycle through rhythm changes or does it need to be done with the right hand? The only option I can think of is to bounce between the I and the V7, ignoring the other chords completely.

Thanks!

-Kevin

bopster

Here are some ideas:

http://people.uncw.edu/russellr/rhythm.html

HotTinRoof

Nice link Bopster 8)

Craig Bumgarner

HotTinRoof wrote:

Nice link Bopster 8)

Yes indeed. Any idea what happened to Part Two? Link at the bottom of Part One is a dead end.

CB

kevingcox

That information is great, but maybe I should put this question into a bit more specific context... I play guitar and am trying to help a beginner accordion player so that she can accompany me.

I don't play accordion myself but I know the left hand buttons move in a cycle of fifth type thing and she has M, m, 7, and diminished chords available to her.

From the link you posted it seems the easiest thing to do would just be to ignore the m7s I usually play and get her to use straight minor chords but I was wondering if there is a simple pattern specific to the accordion that players generally follow that I can tell her about that allows her to use the left hand without leaping all around the buttons (as I said, she is a beginner).

On guitar there are patterns I can follow that require minimal movement and are pretty easy to teach someone without having to explain the theory behind them, but maybe the same thing doesn't really exist on accordion due to the design. Perhaps I will redo my chord sheets with "straight" minor chords and leave out the m7th goodness.

Thanks guys!

redblues

Yes indeed. Any idea what happened to Part Two? Link at the bottom of Part One is a dead end.

Keep your eye on the URL pattern when clicking on a link, add a 2 to the original.

http://people.uncw.edu/russellr/rhythm2.html

Craig Bumgarner

redblues wrote:

Keep your eye on the URL pattern when clicking on a link, add a 2 to the original.

http://people.uncw.edu/russellr/rhythm2.html

Thanks!

CB

brandoneon

kevingcox wrote:

Are there some good sounding substitutions that can be made with the left hand to cycle through rhythm changes or does it need to be done with the right hand? The only option I can think of is to bounce between the I and the V7, ignoring the other chords completely.

Hi Kevin,

There is an easy way to play rhythm changes on the left hand WITH m7 chords. Since you want to avoid jumping around on the left hand, I'll assume you are talking about the "anatole" part (C Am7 Dm7 G7).

Just a little digression: there are 2 bass rows on the accordion, and your accordionist will have to get used to playing on both of them - I'm guessing for now she's only using the fundamental row along with the chord buttons? The other row is the counter-bass row, and these buttons are a major 3rd interval away from the fundamental row. For the above chord example, she will need to find the A and D bass notes in the counter-bass row; they're right in front of the F and Bb notes in the fundamental row, respectively.

For each chord in the above progression, I'm going to give the (bass button + chord button) to use. And since the bass buttons on the counter-bass row are important here, I'll write them with an underline.

So, the progression C Am7 Dm7 G7 becomes:
(C + C maj) (A + C maj) (D + F maj) (G + G7).
Like this, the progression is reduced to 3 chord positions all next to each other, so there are no leaps. And notice how we get Am7 and Dm7 chords with just the major chord buttons?

Hope this helps you guys
Brandon

kevingcox

Hey Brandon,

That is exactly the kind of accordion specific information I was looking for. You are 100% right that she isn't using the counter-bass buttons yet, and this will be a good excuse for her to start.

Thanks to everyone for your help!

-Kevin