The Medusa Fora

In how far do / did you use the bass buttons when playing with the Pogues? I don't think you can hear them too much on the recordings but that doesn't necessarily say something...
vale!

In the early days, when I told myself I was learning a new instrument and I wanted to do it properly, I used the bass buttons, and figured out what they all were and how they worked in songs and stuff, but then, when we went out playing live, it was too difficult to mike the bass side of the accordion up, and, when I bothered to, I found the bass side sort of became redundant and lost among the guitars and mandolins and bass - well, eventually, I gave up. Now and again, I'd use the buttons for recording (sort of cheated on the Old Main Drag, by putting a bass button drone on a tape loop), but mostly they go unused. Since getting a new accordion for the reunion shows, with mikes installed inside it, it has made more sense on stage, but still restricted to drone sound and maybe the odd oompah - in OMD and Lullaby of London, and Body of an American and maybe once or twice, if I can keep up, in Repeal of the Licensing Laws.

james, i can't tell you what a relief that is to hear. being a guitar player, accordian is more of a hobby, but i was really fretting having to perfect the bass side of things. and it certainly makes sense that it would get lost among the other rhythm instruments.

lullaby of london is such a beautiful tune.

Nah, you don't need to worry. It's only when you get enquiries for movie company office parties and weddings and shit, when they want you to wander around the fucking tables pretending to be italian or french or something, in a smock and clogs, that you have to know the bass end, not that I've ever done that, or ever likely to do, but you know what I mean.

And, while I'm on the subject - where were you last night, because I was at Molly's with the Cranky George Trio, minus our bass player, and it's just round the block from you, or did you go and I missed you?

It's your birthday isn't it, soon?

Happy Birthday.

thanks james - yeah i was at the show last night. 2nd row, next to your writing group, i believe? but i know about those lights. sorry i couldn't say hi, but had to bolt straight after the long tune there at the end. let's just say it involved a woman and an airport and leave it at that... ha ha...

well done you and the mulroney's. seems you've been gathering some new tunes, eh? really enjoyed it, and looked like you did too. apologize again for splitting, promise i'll talk your ear off the next time. i'd particularly like to get to the bottom of these unpublished novels i've read about somewhere's on here.

cheers for remembering the birthday. take care.

thanks for answering so quickly!
I found having to learn to use those bass buttons always kind of intimidating. It's good to know I could have other players cover up what I'm not able to do. But I think I like the idea of playing cheesy music at weddings enough to give it try. Well, actually I don't.
Still, I imagine that your intro to 5 Green Queens and Jean would work in such a context.

Well, this is a little old so maybe nobody'll read it, but I just wanted to say that as a guitarist and accordionist I can't really imagine not using the bass notes. Well, that's not my point, my point is (and I have no idea how much you--eyeball & '77--have figured out the bass notes) that they are set up ridiculously easy for a guitarist to understand. Simply think of it as I-IV-V with relative minors. If you just worry about the Major and minor rows, well, it's set up so that whatever button you are pushing, the one directly above and the one directly below are the IV & V. So, when you're playing the C Major button, G is directly above and F is directly below. Also, all of the minors are also within easy reach. They're the row right next to the Major row and set up exactly the same, only they're the 3 notes directly above the 3 major notes you're using (Dm, Am & Em are one row over and 3 notes up). You've probably already figured this out, but I know it's useful especially for someone coming to accordion from guitar, and it'll make playing the accordion a lot more fun when you're not with your group.

By the way, Mr. Fearnley, what a treat that you actually post on here. I play with an Irish folk/rock group and I can't even imagine where I would've gone with my accordion playing if I hadn't studied your playing. There are plenty of other Irish accordionists out there, but for whatever reason I just haven't had the connection with their playing that I've had with yours. Huge influence, thanks.

It's funny that I stumbled on this topic today. I just got a birthday present, although I can't use it yet until then, and it is none other than an accordian. This is one of those weird situations where you kind of wonder if this is God speaking to you, fate, too much alcohol, or a big mixture of all of then.

Well, enough rambling and all that other good stuff, time to go play my mandolin.

When I started playing accordion, I was determined as hell to learn both the treble and bass sides of the accordion. I did that solo, then joined a band called Rossnareen and also found it too costly and difficult to mike the bass side.

When I play solo it is extremely hard to play without the bass side, so I use it acoustically.

When playing my Cajun button accordion (only has two bass buttons, push and pull are c and g), I always use the bass side, even though half the time it doesn't have the right chords. On that box you have to think of the bass side as someone clapping their hands or keeping time with some other instrument.

Jim

I can't believe James Fearnley post's on this website.

Man this is AWESOME!!!

man you have 462 posts - cough, more than me!

and your only after noticing?

Someone hasn't been reading all the topics!!

hey James btw.

I too am digging deep in old threads in this forum, and like TheIrishRover I'm finding this to be some very interesting info. Thanx to all of you for helping me to further expand my musical horizons. I actually googled "accordion" and was thinking I could pick one up just to mess around with it. I'm originally a drummer, but always wanted to learn an instrument that could play melody. And something a bit more folky and out of the ordinary... without strings. I figure an accordion and some whistles wouldn't set me back too far and would be good to have around the house as my kid grows up. And who knows, it might keep her away from Ms. Spears and Backstreet Boys-like pop crap.

JamesFearnley wrote:In the early days, when I told myself I was learning a new instrument and I wanted to do it properly, I used the bass buttons, and figured out what they all were and how they worked in songs and stuff, but then, when we went out playing live, it was too difficult to mike the bass side of the accordion up, and, when I bothered to, I found the bass side sort of became redundant and lost among the guitars and mandolins and bass - well, eventually, I gave up. Now and again, I'd use the buttons for recording (sort of cheated on the Old Main Drag, by putting a bass button drone on a tape loop), but mostly they go unused. Since getting a new accordion for the reunion shows, with mikes installed inside it, it has made more sense on stage, but still restricted to drone sound and maybe the odd oompah - in OMD and Lullaby of London, and Body of an American and maybe once or twice, if I can keep up, in Repeal of the Licensing Laws.

Sorry to dig up an old topic....

You use both to good effect on "Planxty Noel Hill." I just picked up accordion a few days ago, and I'm glad to see that the bass side isn't too important, heh. Thanks James.