+thorn324 Thank you for such a positive assessment of this video, as well as your encouragement to make more. As you have recognized, such presentations do take a lot of planning and time consuming video editing. Still, I intend to take this as far as necessary so that people can decide on an instrument and start learning it on their own from a book. I start Part 2 with a discussion of what practical issues affect the choice of chromatic system, C-Griff or B-Griff. See you in Part 2. Leon

+thorn324 Hello Neil. Thanks for the positive review. I agree that information on the CBA is scarce, even if you buy a book. Everything I have seen starts off teaching how to play the instrument. But what about people who are still trying to decide which instrument to buy? It’s taken me years to figure out on my own simple concepts that I wish I had known when I first started. Hopefully my experience will help ease the pain for others. I don’t intend in this series of videos to talk about freebass. Currently I do not understand it. But it is something to keep in mind. Leon

+thorn324 Thanks for letting me know. I guess I got mixed up. I reposted my replay to Neil.

Refer to Roland's website to see all the models of V-Accordion that they make. Refer to roxys.com for our store.

+Neil T Hi, Neil. I agree with the first part of what you wrote you completely, having been exploring the CBA for almost 3 years now. I read opinions of many players, the wisest (& most experienced) of whom conclude that ultimately one gets used to whatever one learns & sticks with. I made my decision to learn the C-system because that was the layout for which I could find the most material. (And when I say "find," I don't mean to imply it was easy! I'm in the U.S. and had to order most of my methods from Europe.) Btw, I have a Roland FR-1xb such as Leon uses for this video, so I tried after about 2 years of the C-system layout to change the setting & attempt the B-system. OMG, that was confusing! But I suspect that if I'd begun on B-system & did the experiment by shifting to C-system it'd have been just as flummoxing. (I should also say that since I've been a pianist for a long time (decades!), even the few years spent on C-system haven't brought me to the same kind of comfort level I have with piano. But I accept the self-set challenge for what it's worth-the operative word being "challenge." As to the free bass issue, I can say this (since it's something I'm interested in as well). Because I have the Roland (plus a FR-3x, piano accordion), I've done some experimenting with the left hand side of the instrument, sometimes using the "quint system" free bass and sometimes the "mirror-image-of-right-hand C-system." One thing to consider if choosing the l.h. C-system is that it can (should?) have an influence on what fingering system you choose for the r.h.: if you play *without* the r.h. thumb, then you can largely use the same fingering for the same pitches on both sides of the instrument; but if you play *with* the r.h. thumb, you're going to have to use different fingerings in each hand for the same pitches. (This could be tried out on something such as a C-Major scale-or A-, Eb-, or F#-Major scales-played in octaves.) With the "quint system" free bass, the pitch layout of the two sides is completely different, so there's no influence of the left hand on your choice of w/thumb vs. w/out thumb for the right hand. Finally, with regard to the l.h. note-indicators for free bass, I can only say that Roland provides extra indented (i.e., marked) l.h. buttons that can be used on the bass side if the player decides to play free bass rather than Stradella bass. As far as the l.h. button marking on acoustic CBA, I've no experience with them & cannot be of help. (Just to be clear, I have no connection with Roland other than owning the two instruments mentioned above. In other words, I'm *not* trying to "sell" you on their instruments-instruments that have some features that I like very much yet some that I don't like at all.) Well, I hope this lengthy response has been at least somewhat helpful to you. Best wishes!

+Neil T One last thing, Neil. Leon wrote you a message but sent it as a reply to my original posting. So you might want to look above *your* posting to see his reply in case he doesn't repost it in reply to you. Also, I'll add that there *is* a book that deals with C-system free bass fingering; one caveat, though, is that it's only in German. The title is "Das Knopfaffordeon C-Griff," and it's by Elsbeth Moser. There are also a few helpful books in English for the "quint system"; these are part of the Palmer-Hughes series. These are "Palmer-Hughes Instruction Book for Converter Accordion"; and "Palmer-Hughes Selections for Free Bass Accordion," books 1 & 2. I got all four of these guides from www.bussomusic.com/catalog/advanced_search_result.php?search_in_description=1&osCsid=7020ba0b72658a0e00c095561e606aa5&keywords=free+bass&Submit=+GO+ They don't seem to have the Moser book is stock as I write this but perhaps could order it for you. (Again, for the record, I have no connection with this company except that I have been a customer of theirs.) And yet again, I hope this has been helpful to you.

+Neil T Hello Neil. I accidentally posted this response earlier to the wrong person. thorn324 was kind enough to let me know. Thanks for the positive review. I agree that information on the CBA is scarce, even if you buy a book. Everything I have seen starts off teaching how to play the instrument. But what about people who are still trying to decide which instrument to buy? It’s taken me years to figure out on my own simple concepts that I wish I had known when I first started. Hopefully my experience will help ease the pain for others. I don’t intend in this series of videos to talk about freebass. Currently I do not understand it. But it is something to keep in mind. Leon

+thorn324 Thank you very much for this excellent response. Very informative. Leon