Learning to read accordion sheet music is a really useful skill to master when you are learning how to play accordion.
Why? Because in a few lines of written music you get instructions that would otherwise take pages of written instructions. This is true for many other things – think of the difference between reading a whole list of instructions for driving from one town to another. Now compare that with reading a map and SEEING the route.
For most people, diagrams and pictures are instantly recognisable and easier to digest than reams of long winded written explanations.
So start learning how to read music and give yourself a huge advantage.
Accordion sheet music uses exactly the same lines and symbols as music written for piano, keyboard or any other instrument.
The musical notes are symbolised by marks made on a series of horizontal lines.
There are two clefs.
- The treble clef for the treble notes which are the higher notes and usually the melody lines. These are played with the right hand on the keyboard.
- The bass clef for bass notes and chords of the accompaniment. These are played with the left hand on the buttons.
The symbols for each note are placed in positions on or between the lines. Each line and each space between lines on a clef corresponds to a specific note. Note symbols have variations in their form that signify the length of time they should be played.
For accordion players, there are specific symbols that refer to bellows movement, and many pieces of accordion music have chord names written in, as well as the music notation for notes and chords.
For more detailed explanation of how to read musical notation, you can look it up on Google or find an inexpensive book. Many accordion tutor books devote their first few chapters to basic skills, and include information with diagrams and clear steps that show you how to read music. The advantage to buying an acordion tutor book is that it takes you through the stages of learning musical notatation in the context of playing specific exercises and simple tunes on your accordion.
This makes a lot of sense, as you are learning from the accordion sheet music while playing your instrument – the best way!