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.

The Sloe

Here is the sheet music and video tutorial for the English Country Dance tune 'The Sloe'.

The Muisc

The tune is in the key of D and most of it is played on the D row. The only exception is the 'B' note which occurs on the first beat of bars 3 and 7. This should be played as a push on the G row. The reason for this is that the tune needs a G chord at this point, and the only way to play the chord on a standard 8 bass DG melodeon is by using the G push chord.

Buttons are notated as 'D5' meaning button 5 on the D row, 'D6'" meaning D row button 6, on the pull, and G4 meaning G row button 4 on the push etc.

The Chords

To start with playing chords along to the tune a simple 'Um-Pah' will do where you are pressing the bass note button followed by the chord button.

Unfortunately I didn't have and 8 bass melodeon to hand when I recorded the video, so it is best to ignore the extra 4 buttons at the top (closest to your chin)!

For playing in the key of D I am using the outside row of buttons, playing on buttons 3&4 (counting away from your little finger, which can hover over button 1). It is just a case of alternating playing the bass button (3) and the chord button (4). The way the melodeon is designed then means that the chord changes with the bellows direction to fit the melody notes.

When you get to bar 3 it is then necessary to change to playing the outside row bass buttons 1&2 as an um-pah to provide the correct chord for the melody.

The Video

John Ryans Polka

Here is a lesson on playing the Irish tune John Ryan's Polka.

The Key of D Major

The tune is played in the key of D major which is given below. Practice going up and down the scale slowly to get a feel of the different spacings for your fingers on each string. The tune never uses any frets outside of this shape so it is worthwhile getting to know it fluently as it will aid playing the piece.

 

The Tune

The tab below shows which frets on which strings to place your fingers.  

In general:

Finger 1 will always play fret 2 of every string

Finger 2 will play fret 3 or 4

Finger 3 will play fret 5 or 6 

Try to keep each finger held down after it has been played where ever possible. The video below should show where this is possible and should also give the rhythm.

John Playford Set - Chords

Here are the chords to the Playford set posted earlier. The chords and the style played are in no way traditional or historically accurate, but I think they go well with the tune!



Chord shapes used:

Dm - 2 0 0 1
F - 5 3 3 5
Gm - 0 0 1 3
G - 0 0 2 3
A - 2 2 4 5
Am - 2 2 3 5
C - 5 2 3 0
Bb - 3 3 5 6

 

 

G Major Scale, D, & G Chords for the Mandolin

This is a very basic mandolin lesson designed to cover the G major scale and two chords.

The G Major Scale

It is very important to have a firm knowledge of the various scale shapes used to play the Mandolin as forms the foundation of almost all the pieces you will play. Try playing up and down the scale slowly and smoothly, insuring all the notes come out sounding nice. Avoid making any buzzing noises by pressing too lightly, or fretting the notes too heavily causing them to go out of tune and making your hand seize up!

The diagram below shows the scale shape in what is called tab. Each line represents a pair of strings from low G, through D, then A up and to the high E. The number on each line indicates the frets to be pressed to give the complete ascending scale. 

For every fret 2 note use finger one

For every fret 3 or 4 note use finger two

For every fret 5 note use finger three

Start by playing the open G with a down stroke with your pick. The second note should be played as an up stroke, and the rest played following this picking pattern of alternating your down and up strokes.

The Chords

The G major chord is played using finger one on the 2nd fret of the A string and finger two on the 3rd fret of the E string. This can be written as 0 0 2 3 (open string, open string, 2nd fret, 3rd fret). Hit all the strings together to produce the chord.

The D major chord is played using finger one on the 2nd fret of the low G and finger two on fret 2 of the high E string. This can be written as 2 0 0 2 (2nd fret, open, open, 2nd). Again, hit all the strings together to form the chord.

Practice strumming the chords by holding the shapes down and moving the pick alternately up and down across all the strings. Insure all the notes are being fretted properly by playing the chords one string at a time.

The Video

Hopefully the video will make the concepts described above clear!

G Major Melodeon Fingering and Eh Cumpari Video

Here is the video to go with the G major scale lesson and tune Eh Cumpari.

Notice the scale is firstly played using only one finger at a time to provide a clear sight of the buttons. The second time through the correct hand position is shown with the fingers hovering over the buttons.

When playing Eh Cumpari I have again tried to move my fingers out the way quickly to show which button/fingers are being pressed.

The tune is then played at full speed with some ornamentation and variation on the melody to indicate how it will eventually sound.

The G Major Scale

 

G major is a very easy key to play on a melodeon which has a G row! All that is required is learning the push/pull pattern which gives the notes in the right order.

The scale will start on button 3 of the G row. 

To play the scale you must play: 

Button 3 on the push (G3)

Button 3 on the pull (G3')

Button 4 on the push (G4)

Button 4 on the pull (G4')

Button 5 the push (G5)

Button 5 on the pull (G5')

Button 6 on the pull (G6')

Button 6 on the push (G6)

Notice that the push/pull pattern reverses for the last two buttons!

Once you can do this pattern ascending, try it in reverse.