Thank you for sharing! Congrats on starting to learn the accordion! Be careful with the left hand as bad technique can cause more wrist pain. If you need help, feel free to reach out. We have courses and freebies at AccordionLifeAcademy.com and also offer private lessons via Zoom should you need live feedback or one-on-one help. We're so happy you found the video helpful! We wish you the best on your accordion journey. :)

Yes! We've had some students with accordions like this! Thanks for sharing!

That sounds interesting!! I love learning new things still at the age of 76!!

Yes! One of our team members plays the 3/3 system and does diminished chords in the same way.

Thanks for sharing! There are so many types of bass systems and we could only share some of them in our video. Thanks for sharing about the Belgian Basses!

Glad it was helpful!

So fun! The Hohner Piccolo looks awesome and portable. That's great!

Glad it was helpful!

Glad you like them!

How can I connect you for more lessons

Sorry! We missed seeing this comment. Contact us at support@accordionlife.com :)

Thanks for the comment! We're happy it was helpful!

Wonderful! Congrats on the accordion! Great work on the repairs. :)

Congrats on the new accordion! We're happy you're enjoying the videos! :D

Thanks for the comment! Glad you've found a good teacher. :)

You're welcome! What a wonderful accordion to be gifted! Enjoy it that accordion. :)

Thanks for the comment! Yes! There were only so many we could cover in this video. Maybe we'll have to do another! :D

Thanks for sharing!

I have that exact button on my accordion

Hi Bruce! You're welcome! Quint is fascinating. If you want to learn, I recommend contacting Greyson Masefield. www.accordions.com/gmasefield/ He's a master and amazing on Quint system. Best wishes in your journey!

That's cool! Thanks so much for sharing. :)

Thank you for the lovely comment! We hope to have you back sometime. I checked for your account and noticed you were with us on our old site, accordionlife.com. We've updated to a new site at AccordionLifeAcademy.com and there are some free resources there. We would also LOVE to have you join us in our online community (FREE) at community.accordionlife.com/. Once a month, we have a live, free ZOOM call for anyone in the community. We hope to see you there!

@@Accordionlife Thank you for your answer. Kind like always. Bless you ..

We're happy to help! :D

That was our friend Grayson Masefield!

We're glad you're enjoying them! Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear about the 48 bass. Hopefully you get a replacement soon.

Thanks for the question! We currently have online courses available for learning to play piano accordion on our website AccordionLifeAcademy.com. I hope that helps!

Often the model will be on the accordion somewhere--typically the bass side. The serial number is usually on the back. Other than that, a lot of research and asking in Facebook groups!

Hi! Great comment and question! We recommend starting with C System because on a real quint system you have 8 rows of bass buttons which the Roland doesn't have. Also, just a note, the Roland bass side is not ergonomically designed for free bass. It's great if you want to try something out though! We wish you the best with your free bass adventures!

Thanks for the comment! We didn't have time to cover all the bass systems in this video (there are many!). Who knows? Maybe we'll do a follow up video sometime in the future and cover those!

Thanks for the comment! You can learn some classical music on stradella bass-the way it sounds will hinge on your technique and how you play it. We've seen classical played successfully on a stradella bass more than once. Free bass instruments are meant for classical music, but you can definitely use a stradella. Digital accordions have their place, but they are, personally, not a favorite of Patricia or our team because the bellows doesn't affect the keys in the way needed to provide for the technique we use.

@@Accordionlife Thank you so much!!!!!

So cool! Thanks for sharing!

@@Accordionlife The only piece I can think of played on the 130 Key Chemnitzer Concertina is Rachmaninoff's arrangement of our National Anthem interpreted by Tim Sharp to double as an optional Accompaniment to his Choral arrangements:www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/the-star-spangled-banner-arr-sergei-rachmaninoff-ed-tim-sharp-digital-sheet-music/21497685 & it's in the Key of Bb Major, very friendly for the 130 Chemnitzer. Thanks to a complete 3 Octave Range on the Treble Side (A3-A6), a complete Bass & Chord System on the Bass Side, & a Handy Dandy Fingering Chart from this Method book:concertinamusic.com/sbox/download/NickysInstructor130Key.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1MfTQmyR3g1WEoKaXTVo99AnJ5ypRmEO5KifJLDKo9Kf_KzA-b9TVIHvE playing Rachmaninoff's arrangement of our National Anthem on the 130 Chemnitzer is going to really Rock.

Hey Virginia, Could you send us some photos or a short video of the instrument to support@accordionlife.com? It's hard to tell just from a description.

It sounds like the accordion you have purchased has a piano keyboard on the right hand and if it is a convertor bass, then it switches between c-system and stradella bass. Does that help? I'm not 100% sure what you were asking.

I hear you! They're not as common in the US either, and are definitely more expensive than stradella instruments. Hopefully you are able to find one someday soon!

The USSR factory Leningrad has produced free bass / converters. Search eBay for Leningrad. They are affordable.

I did see Mestrinho with a Giulietti Transformer, but rarely seen him use it. There’s a few others like Vitor Gonçalves and Lucas Cyprano. I’m American, but I love the Brazilian styles! Saudações! 🇺🇸

Thanks for the comment! We'll make note of that. :)

@@Accordionlife So, if you play the same chord or melody with both hands, different fingers are used for left and right hands in B system, just like on piano, but the same fingers can be used for both hands in C system, because it is a mirror image. So this is the left hand B system used in bayans. However, turns out, there are also B mirror image system used in some other B system accordions. For example, the digital accordion Roland FR-4X with multiple free bass layouts provides a mirror image B system free bass layout under the name "N. Europe". So now I am not sure which of them is more popular. But I correct my earlier statement: there are both mirror image and continuous/split versions of the B griff free bass layout. All the notes are the same on each row, but they go in the opposite directions from low to high and from high to low. For example, on the outer row: Bayan: F2,...,B4,D5,F5,...,B6,D7. N. Europe: B6,...,F5,D5,B4,...,F2,D2

Hi Morgan, great question! We received your email the other day and our team responded. If you could send a pic of the bass side of your accordion to support@accordionlife.com, we can better help you figure out the layout. :)

@@Accordionlife thanks for your reply! I just found your email in my spam folder. I'll send a pic and continue the conversation with you there. 🎹🎵🎶

Great question! To make a diminished chord on 3/3, you just drop down and play the 7th from the row below. For instance, for C diminished, you would play the C bass note with the F 7th chord. This works because of the way the notes are structured in the 3/3 system.

There are several variations of the accordion bass. The five we shared in the video are definitely not all of them! :)

Thanks for the comment! Yes, converters are more expensive and heavier. I don't know of a hybrid accordion like that, but that would be very interesting. We're not Roland fans either for the same reason, especially since a lot of technique relies on the key tension which is related to bellows control. If you ever find that dream accordion, let us know! We'd love to hear about it. :)

Thank you for the comment! The Hohner 48 bass is still a stradella bass system. We talk more about the different sizes of stradella bass systems in our Mastery of the Bass Buttons Course here: accordionlifeacademy.com/bass/mastery-of-the-bass-buttons

Yes! Converter is awesome. One of our instructors is our chromatic/convertor genius. It's such a great instrument!

Hi! Great question! I really can't give you prices because it varies so much from manufacturer to manufacturer and between different levels of accordion models. Is there a specific kind you're looking for?

Congrats on your new accordion! You can check out our other videos as we have "How To Play Accordion Lesson One" which will give you a good start. We also have more resources and freebies on our website, AccordionLifeAcademy.com. Hope you enjoy learning the accordion! It's such a fun, rewarding instrument! :)

@@Accordionlife helo, and gracias soy latino, thank you for the graet demostracion,s i hade the wroung understanding wich side of the acordeon is best to play and start up by, i love my belini , acordeon and wish to , make some noise it make some sense lol, a simple val,s polka or wath ever tune comes out , by me traying well guive me graet satisfaction thank you plentlly for the demostracions, the fellow hom plays it incouraged me to worck hard at it , in order to soccide to injoy it.

Hi! Thanks for the comment! We do currently have courses for the piano accordion as well as a course for the stradella bass. If you are looking for chromatic accordion or free bass, we teach those live via Zoom and have had multiple students learn this way from India! You can learn more about our online courses here: accordionlifeacademy.com/ If you're interested in lessons via Zoom, send us an email at support@accordionlife.com and we can talk about the details. :) You can also email with any questions you might have about our courses. We're happy to help!

Hi @danielmaluenda9731! Congrats on the new accordion! We do have a free ebook about the bass layout and chords at AccordionLifeAcademy.com. However, it is geared for Stradella bass, which yours may...or may not...be. Feel free to send us some photos and/or a video at accordionlifeacademy@gmail.com so we can help further!

@@Accordionlife thank you so much will do!

It's such a fun instrument! Do you have one?

Thanks for the comment! Yes, that's a KZfaq thing, but it's probably auto-generated from other videos and search terms. While we don't use that misspelling, we do sometimes search it to find accordion content that's been misspelled. 🤷‍♀️

This is sometimes seen on smaller instruments or vintage accordions.

Do you have the standard stradella bass? If so, you might find our free Jumpstart Guide To Your Bass Buttons helpful! You can find it here: accordionlifeacademy.com/

@@Accordionlife Thank you. Yes...

Those are registers and they change the tone of the bass buttons. :)

Yes! We only had so much time to cover bass systems, but we might do a second installment to this video sometime in the future. :)

@@Accordionlife Here's a good one:www.smythesaccordioncenter.com/the-accordion-blog/the-luttbeg-accordion & they should make more of them cause Pianists will love playing their music on this Gizmo.

That's really interesting! Definitely more limiting than the bass systems available now. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for sharing! Yes, we didn't have time to share every available bass system in this particular video. Perhaps in the future!

Thanks for the comment! We have a couple videos here on KZfaq with teaching-one for the bellows and a first lesson video. With a 12 bass, you can learn to manage the bellows well, but it's going to be challenging because you're very limited on the size of the accordion. You may have to change the bellows every two measures which isn't always idea. We have a few free resources over on our website: accordionlifeacademy.com/

I understand! We have a free 'Jump Start Guide To Your Basses' ebook available over at AccordionLifeAcademy.com

Hi John, great questions! Free bass is where all 6 rows of bass buttons are individual bass notes -- the first two rows are the same as the first two in the Stradella system while the remaining 4 rows are either chromatic B System or C System (mirrored to the right hand). The Quint system spoken about at the end of the video is a variation of free bass, but is just the first two rows of Stradella repeated in the remaining rows. So all 6 rows are just repeats of the first two rows in different octaves. It's not referred to as 6/0 though -- just Quint system. I believe the 2/4 and 3/3 terms are used only in reference to the Stradella bass combination of single note rows with chords. I hope this is helpful! Please let me know if you have further questions. :)

@@Accordionlife Thanks! So free base means what I thought it meant. And there is no current standard system where all six rows relate to each other the way the three bass rows in the french system do. For me that would be an ideal system. But, good to know that does not exist, and therefore is not available (unless I buy a Roland and program the bass side!). Thanks again!

I think you have a confusion between "Quint Bass System" and "Free-bass". One with six rows laid out like the two bass rows on the standard stradella is not free-bass, but quint-bass. Free-bass is exactly what you described in the first sentence in your comment. Additionally, calling quint-bass system as 6/0 is not correct. Let me explain it with an example. Consider a stredella bass system, with 20 rows and 6 columns (totally 120 bass). The bass buttons in the 1st column are always major third above 2nd column (e.g. if button in 2nd column is C, its neighbouring button in the 1st column is the major third above C that is E). Similarly in French 3/3 System, 2nd column is always major third above 3rd column. Now, revisiting the same example, let's have again C and E in the 2nd and 1st columns, respectively. 3rd column of this row now becomes Ab since C (the second column) is the major 3rd above Ab (3rd column). Imagining a 6/0 with this approach would yield a system whose 1st column is major 3rd above 2nd one, 2nd one is major 3rd above 3rd one...5th one is major 3rd above 6th one. An example row would be (starting from 1st column): E-C-Ab-E-C-Ab. As you see it repeats itself and does not make sense unless the repeated columns have different octaves. That 6/0 system (that we just made up to explain) differs from the Quint-Bass system in the sense that: Quint bass system repeats the 1st and 2nd column in 3rd-4th and 5th-6th ones, so an example row in quint system would be E-C-E-C-E-C. Of course, each repeated column pairs have different octaves, so Quint-bass system provides 3 octave bass range. I hope, it is now more clear....

Hey John, The Quint system's rows relate to each other in the same way that the first two rows in the stradella (and thus the first three rows in the French System) do. Samil26's explanation of the Quint is correct. :)

@@Accordionlife Your explanation of the quint system was very clear, and I already understood it. The misunderstanding is about what I really mean when I say 3/3 and 6/0. My way of using that number system would be to call the quint system out as being 2/2/2. So, please let me explain (not so much for you as for anybody trying to follow all this!). You will already know a lot of what I am about to outline, but it needs to be very clear for anyone else following this conversation now or in future. So, using the C diagonal row, I propose to outline the notes (or chords) for each of the six diagonal row buttons, beginning always at the bellows: E C Cmajor Cminor C7 Cdm (stradella C diagonal) 2 bases then four chords E C G# Cmajor Cminor C7 (French or 3/3 C diagonal) 3 bases then three chords (I own and play a B chromatic with this bass system and I love it!) E C G# E C G# ("My" 6/0 system C diagonal) 6 bases and zero chords (EVERY row relates the same to every adjacent row) E C E C E C (Quint base C diagonal) Call this 2/2/2? Second and third pairs are just single notes, but in higher octaves (if I understand correctly) It is critical to understand the following: In Stradella, you can play a melody using rows 1+2 In 3/3 french you can play a melody using rows 1+2 OR 2+3, using the exact same patterns (different key tho). ALL THREE bass rows are "isomorphic". In 3/3 french you can play complicated melody using all three bass rows. 1+2+3 WITHOUT moving your hand. In quint,, you CAN play stradella melody on rows 1+2, OR on 3+4 OR on 5+6, AND can make large jumps between paired rows. In quint, you CANNOT use Stradella type patterns to play on rows 2+3 or on rows 5+6, that you CAN play on 1+2 or 3+4 or 5+6. Because quint is not "isomorphic". In "my" proposed 6/0 system, you can: play a stradella type melody on ANY pair of rows. 1+2, 2+3, 3+4, 4+5, or 5+6 you can play "complicated" melodies such as on the 3/3 system using ANY three adjacent rows: 1+2+3, 2+3+4, 3+4+5, or 4+5+6 WITHOUT moving hand. because of that, you can play complicated melodies in EVERY key while keeping your hand away from the strap inhibited areas. All 12 keys are "under the hand" in the easy to navigate middle area of the bass button jungle. No moving hand way up or down the strap! Every button is stacked bass octaves, as in stradella bass and counterbass rows. System could also be laid out as notes though. This layout is completely isomorphic everywhere. "Isomorphic" means that, like the B griff and C griff chromatic keyboard layouts, the same finger patterns can be used starting from any button. Changing patterns is only needed if you get too near the "edge" of the "button forest" just as with B griff or C griff keyboards. All that is said to explain what I am calling "6/0" better. I hope someday somebody makes one!

I am from Pune,(state Maharashtra) India.

Hi! Thanks for the comment! You can find our online courses at accordionlifeacademy.com/

There can be a lot of choices! What kind of music do you want to play? That can help with the decision. Another factor to take into consideration is how easy it is to find teaching materials and resources for your desired accordion.

@@Accordionlife I want to play EVERY kind! I guess I'm most likely to end up playing gospel, jazz, blues, folk punk, indie rock, and funk stylistically and compositionally but I don't want to be limited. So far, as I've been researching, B System seems like it would make more sense and be more intuitive to me than C but as for bass, I still don't know

We have a Roland FR-8x arriving in a few days and will check it out. :)

Actually... yes, if you have a piano accordion that doesn't have any bass buttons and the treble keys sound very low, you likely have a bass accordion! We show on in another video here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/pNKgfailvM_YZWw.html

@@Accordionlife Wow, thank you for the precise link!

You're welcome!

Yes! We honestly didn't have time to cover all the different bass systems-so there are more than we have the video including the Belgian bass. But who knows?! Maybe we'll do another video about those systems sometime in the future. :)

From Wikipedia: "The Belgian bass system is a variation used in Belgian chromatic accordions. It is also arranged in a circle of fifths but in reverse order. This system has three rows of basses, three rows of chord buttons allowing easier fingering for playing melodies, combined chords, better use of fingers one and five, and more space between the buttons. This system was rarely used outside of its native Belgium."

Sweet! How many of them are single notes? It's possible you have an extra row of counter bass notes. :)

@@Accordionlife It’s a Dallapè Maxima, if that means anything. It has 140 bass notes total with three rows of bass. I think you’re right about the extra row :)

Also it says made in Italy but there’s no number, like it got scratched out or something, so I can’t find the year it was manufactured

That is so cool! I've never played a Dallape Maxima, but from looking it up, it does appear that you have an extra row of counter bass notes. If it follows the same pattern, it may be the same layout as the first three rows of the 3/3 system, but I'm not 100% sure about that.

@@Accordionlife I'm thinking so too, it looks like it goes 7th, Dim, Minor, Major, then bass notes.

I have never seen bass buttons move so fast in all my life

Thanks for the comment! Yes, we are planning to do the background music differently for future videos. :)