I’ve been thinking lately that I’d like to take on one or two button accordion students. In my trusty notebook, I’ve been putting together some notes on how to go about it. The triple row button accordion (called a concertina in Portuguese circles) is in some ways a simple instrument, but the initial learning curve can be pretty steep.

There are a few reasons for this. First, the notes are different when you push air through the bellows than when you pull air through the bellows. When I was learning, I found that was very confusing until suddenly I didn’t have to think about it any more. Secondly, the triple row consists of notes based on three diatonic scales. On the GCF box, it’s only possible to get a Bb pulling air through the bellows. All this means that you have to be careful about how you go about managing air, a problem that pretty much goes away on say, a piano accordion. Finally, unlike on a piano accordion where the notes are sequential, on a button accordion they simply aren’t like that.

There are lots of things to learn from air management to bass patterns to applying embellishments like grace notes and triplets, to extracting feeling from the bellows.

I live in the Toronto area and would give lessons here at Anchovy World Headquarters in weekly hour-long session. If anyone out there is seriously interested in learning, let’s talk. My students would learn corridinhos, viras, waltzes, polkas and more.