Absolute Beginner Button Accordion

Irish Button Accordion Basics with Alan Finn

Are you ready to begin your journey on one of the most iconic instruments in Irish traditional music? The B/C button accordion is renowned for its lively lift and driving rhythm, and in this course you’ll learn it the traditional way — phrase by phrase, by ear, with plenty of supports to ensure the music sticks.

Your tutor is Alan Finn, a highly respected multi-instrumentalist and leader of the triple All-Ireland winning Shandrum Céilí Band. With years of experience both performing and teaching, Alan has a gift for guiding beginners through the essentials while keeping the learning process enjoyable and inspiring.

The course is structured over 13 lessons. The first lesson is a feature-length deep dive, showing you how to hold the instrument, use the air button, and play your very first tune. The following lessons each introduce a new piece of music, with Alan reinforcing hand position, finger placement, rhythm, and technique at every step. Backing tracks at multiple speeds, notation, ABCs, and diagrams are all included to support your learning.

By the end of the course, you’ll have a repertoire of well-loved polkas, jigs, marches, hornpipes, reels, and a slip jig — all firmly under your fingers and ready to share at a session.

The tunes in this course include: