Piano Accordion Progressions

Each lesson consists of 4 parts: LISTENING to the tune played by Marie, LEARNING the tune by ear, slowly phrase by phrase, FOCUSING on technique using the right hand, and ACCOMPANIMENT using the left hand.All the tunes Marie teaches in this course are featured in the ‘Play Along Backing Tracks’ section of the website, so you can specifically choose to practice your left hand accompaniment along with a talented solo melody player. Marie strongly encourages players to practice each hand on its own before putting them both together. You can also play the melody of the tune along with one of our fantastic guitar tutors Cillian O’Dálaigh.

As Marie is a highly experienced player AND teacher, she has the gift of clear and concise communication. This is most apparent when she demonstrates how to use the left hand bass notes, and imparts excellent advice on the role of accompaniment in Irish piano accordion music. As the bass lessons progress, the tutor introduces chord substitution and how to incorporate the counter bass. The patterns of rhythmic accompaniment she uses progress throughout this series of lessons.

This course has more than a hint of Donegal in it! Marie talks about the influence of the Donegal pipes and the fiddles on some of the ornamentation she uses and this influence is clearly apparent in her choice of tunes. The Donegal lilt of her accent is an added bonus. Nevertheless, Marie does depart from Donegal for a couple of tunes – down to Cork and Kerry for a slide and a polka to keep things varied.