The accordion can be a fairly difficult instrument to play.  To make matters worse, in a lot of areas accordion lessons can be extremely difficult to find.  (It isn’t exactly the most popular instrument, unfortunately! )  I actually just got an e-mail the other day from a young lady named Margaret who said she searched far and wide and finally found an accordion instructor about 35 miles from her house.  Anxious to begin playing, she decided to begin private instruction with this teacher.  The only problem was that her new instructor wasn’t very good.  According to her, he was an excellent accordion player, but a very poor accordion teacher. There is a big difference there!

It took me over two years of offering private accordion lessons to finally get a good teaching technique down.  Teaching and playing are two completely different things.  You could take lessons from an expert performer in any instrument, be it accordion, guitar, drums, anything, and not learn half of what you would with someone who is an expert instructor! See the difference?  An expert instructor understands the needs of beginner students and tailors lesson plans to that.  This is what I had trouble grasping for the first two years I gave accordion lessons!

Ok, enough with the background.  To answer the e-mails I’ve gotten about my accordion lessons: I am located in a small town in Western New York called Angola.  I give private instruction out of my studio for the cost of $15 per half hour lesson.  If you are interested, you can e-mail me (see the contact page).  Please note that I really only have a few spots available and will be first come, first served!

But this is the internet! I bet the only people from my small town who actually visit this page are my friends, family and students!  So if you are looking for online instruction, I’ll show you the place to go.

This online accordion course is a prerequisite for private lessons with me.  I require all of my students to take this course before I even start to teach them.  Why?  Because:

• it gives them all the basics and fundamentals needed to begin serious play
• the course is very easy
• they can go through an entire six months worth of lessons over the period of about one and a half weeks
• them taking the course lets me know they are really serious about the accordion
• and it saves them money!  By them having all the basics out of the way for the low cost of the course, they save the six months (about $350) worth of lessons with me
• (still with the money theme)…if they then decide the accordion is not for them, they are only out the cost of the online course, rather than hundreds of dollars worth of private instruction

I strongly encourage anyone looking to teach yourself accordion to invest in this course. The man who put the course together is both an expert player and performer and also an expert teacher who is extremely passionate about the accordion.  It also offers more intermediate and advanced lessons if private tutors are not available in your area or if you simply want to do it all alone.

Again, anyone who is actually from Angola can shoot me an e-mail about setting up lessons.  And yes, if you are going to begin private lessons with me you must take the online course first!!

Thanks so much for reading guys!

Beth

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I decided to put together a short list of some accordion buying tips.  This list is aimed mostly at those just getting into the accordion and looking for accordion lessons.

Rentals

I highly recommend to all of my own students and those looking to begin accordion lessons to start with a rental.  Nearly every town and city has a few music shops, and almost all of these offer rental instruments.  You can usually get an accordion for a very reasonable monthly cost.  Please note here that you want to take extra special care of a rented accordion…you do not want to ruin the music store’s instrument and have to pay a lot of money to fix or replace it!!

Used Instruments

Another place to start would be looking at used accordions.  You can usually find these by doing an Internet search, possibly on eBay, looking in the classified ads, and even on bulletin boards at music stores.  You want to be sure the accordion you are buying is in good condition, doesn’t make any “rattling” sounds, etc.  Since you haven’t yet begun accordion lessons and therefore probably don’t know how to play the accordion, you might even ask the seller to play you something, just to ensure there is nothing wrong with the instrument.

Smaller Accordions

If you cannot find rental or used accordions, or simply just really want to own your own, then I recommend starting with a student-sized “12-bass” accordion.  These are smaller than standard accordions, but they are much cheaper and a lot easier to learn on for a beginner.  Once you’ve developed your chops a bit and decided you really want to stick with it, then you might want to think about upgrading to a “120-bass” accordion.   This way you will both save yourself a lot of money and learn how to play the accordion faster.

That about wraps up my accordion buying tips; these are the exact same things I tell my new students and prospective students when starting accordion lessons.

Thanks for reading and keep playing that accordion!!!

Beth

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Keep Your Accordion Upright!

Most accordions have four little “feet” for the accordion to rest on at the bass end.  If you store your accordion “flat” (with the piano keys horizontal), some important internal parts called reed valves can open.  This causes a permanent “rattling” sound when the accordion is played and can be quite costly to repair.  You don’t want that added expense, especially if you are just beginning your accordion lessons.  Take it from me and store the accordion upright!!

Keep Your Accordion Away From High Temperatures!

Really high temperatures (like the inside of a parked car on a summer day) can cause the reed wax to melt.  The reeds can actually fall off and when those notes are played all that is heard is the sound of rushing air.  Again, this can be quite costly to repair, a cost you don’t want to sustain – especially if you are just beginning accordion lessons.

Carry The Accordion Case With The Lid Against Your Body

This is, of course, in case the lid accidentally opens.  This can happen with even more “expensive” cases and if the lid opens the accordion could fall to it’s demise.

Never, Ever Lift The Accordion by The Strap

The strap could break or come off, causing the accordion to fall and sustain damage.

Let Your Accordion “Warm Up”

This is true for when the accordion is brought into a warm area from a cold one.  If you take private accordion lessons, do not leave your accordion in your car for an extended period of time, especially if it is cold out, after your lessons.  Condensation on the reeds from the cold could cause the reeds to rust.  It is much better to let the accordion “warm up” slowly before playing it, so that condensation is not created inside the accordion from the warmer air in the room coming into the accordion.

Keep Your Accordion Away From Animals! (Pets)

This one should seem obvious, but some people just do not think about it and leave their accordion out where a cat or dog could get at it and have their way with it.  So please, keep that accordion away from the pets!

Those are the main tips that I recommend to all of my private accordion lessons students.  Really you just want to treat your accordion with care and remember that it is an instrument, often an expensive one, and that it is very fragile.  Treat it with care and (after taking accordion lessons) you will get a lifetime of playing enjoyment out of it!

Check out my youtube videos page showing two videos on how to care for your accordion!

As always, thanks for reading guys!

Beth

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Anyway I found a really cool youtube video of a very skilled player playing “Flight of the Bumblebee” on the accordion.    I figured I’d post it here.  Well, I guess I should say that I will try to post this here…hopefully it works!  If you begin your accordion lessons as soon as possible, hopefully one day in the near future you can be at this level!!

And I found another two on accordion care!!

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Lets hope this works!

Beth from the accordion lessons website.

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