La Marianne

This is the video lesson for the French tune 'La Marianne'.

The Music

The first score shows the notes in standard notation with the button numbers above. Pay careful attention to the phrases where you are crossing rows whist keeping the bellows direction constant. There are no mid-bar bellows direction changes which means it is possible to keep the tune sounding very smooth.

 The chords for the tune are shown here, above the stave. Notice that it requires both an Am and Bm chord. These are not available from the 'normal' button combinations and must be formed by playing 'cross chords'

Am is formed from playing the A pull bass note and the C pull chord simultaneously.

Bm is formed from playing the B push bass note and the D push chord simultaneously.

These are both indicated in the video below.

Valse Olive

So, here is the first lesson! Valse Olive by Oliver Gautier. The video shows the parts broken down into the A and B sections and the respective bass parts for each one. I have prepared this for a specific pupil and as such it is not a 'from scratch' tutorial (but some of those to come!)

This is a French tune, and because of this, it is played across the rows of the Melodeon. This leads to smoother basses and a more interesting harmony.

Now, I'm not a 'French' player, but I do like the French style tunes. I have played this on a DG Melodeon in the key of G, but the original is played in C on a GC, as many French tunes are.

Playing on a DG compared to a GC means that it is better to play in the lower octave as opposed to the higher octave on a  GC where Mr Gautier plays it. Here is the original.