B/C Button Accordion Basics Overview

  • 18 lessons teaching how to play 16 very popular Irish tunes.
  • Progress at your own pace, pause & repeat videos.
  • Access on all your devices.
  • PDF sheet music & mp3’s to download & keep for each tune.
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  • Access to 14 instruments, 40+ courses, 700+ tutorials

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BONUS:
  • Access our Entire Course Catalogue for Every Instrument.
  • Library of over 150 popular Irish tunes to practice along with.
  • Virtual Reality Sessions for the unique Irish Pub Session experience – a real treat for the Irish music lover.
  • Community Forum of students and teachers, all friends with a love of Irish music.

B/C Accordion Basics is suitable for the absolute beginner and also more advanced learners who wish to add popular Irish tunes to their repertoire.

By the end of this B/C Accordion Basics course you will have a wonderful repertoire of 16 Irish traditional tunes and also knowledge of some of the most common ornamentation techniques used in Irish accordion playing such as cuts, triplets and rolls.  The course has 18 lessons, broken into 3 to 4 tutorials each, where tunes are taught phrase by phrase.

Course Structure

The course begins with the basics of the instrument and then moves onto teaching tunes and ornamentation. In each lesson the tutor plays the tune at two different tempos: slowly for the beginners and at a faster pace for the more advanced learners. Many of the tunes taught are rooted in the Sliabh Luachra area of Munster, these tunes include slides and polkas, as well as jigs, reels and hornpipes. 

The tunes taught in this course are:

Báidín Fheidhlimí
Dad’s Polka
The Brosnan Slide
The Rolling Wave
Downey’s
The Cuil Aodha
The Cliffs Of Moher
An Púca
Murphy’s Hornpipe
The Mist Covered Mountain
Touch Me If You Dare
Gan Ainm
The Drunken Tinker
Dennis Murphy’s Slide
New Custom House
If There Weren’t Any Women In The World

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Sheet Music and Mp3s available to Download for each Tune

Sample Sheet Music

Download Báidín Fheidhlimí ABC Sheet Music.
Download Báidín Fheidhlimí Standard Notation Sheet Music.

Sample mp3 of Báidín Fheidhlimí

Download Báidín Fheidhlimí mp3.

Recommended B/C Accordion for Beginners

You will need a B/C Button Accordion for these lessons. Check out the Hohner range on ebay, they come in at around $500.

Advice Starting Out with the B/C Accordion

Enjoy the journey. Each lesson builds on the previous one, so don’t skip any. It is highly recommended to be familiar with any tune you are learning before learning how to play it, so download the mp3 file and listen to it frequently first before picking up your instrument.

Your Tutor
derek hickey online button accordion lessonsDerek Hickey hails from Adare, Co. Limerick. He started playing accordion at a young age. By the age of 18 he joined the band Arcady and then at 21 was invited by Frankie Gavin to join De Dannan. He recorded two albums with the band during the time he spent with them. Derek Hickey is a regular tutor at The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University Limerick. In his rich and varied performing experiences, he has shared the stage with some of world’s greatest talents including Stephan Grappelli and The Rolling Stones. Read more.

Detailed questions and discussion on the course can be found in the Community Forum, available to paying members only.

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B/C Accordion Basics Lessons

Level

The Scale of D Major

BC Accordion Basics Lesson 1

  • D Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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The Scale of D Major

Focus on Technique

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Báidín Fheidhlimí

BC Accordion Basics Lesson 2

  • D Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Exercises on the Scale of D Major

Waltz

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The Scale of G Major

BC Accordion Basics Lesson 3

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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The Scale of G Major

Focus on Technique

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Dad’s Polka

BC Accordion Basics Lesson 4

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Exercises on the Scale of G Major

Polka

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The Brosnan Slide

BC Accordion Basics Lesson 5

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Exercises on the Scale of G Major

Slide

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The Rolling Wave

BC Accordion Basics Lesson 6

  • D Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Exercise on the Scale of D Major

Jig

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Downey’s

BC Accordion Basics Lesson 7

  • E Minor
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Rhythm in Polka Playing / Introduction to Cuts

Polka

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The Cuil Aodha

BC Accordion Basics Lesson 8

  • D Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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The Triplet

Slide

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The Cliffs of Moher

BC Accordion Basics Lesson 9

  • E Minor
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Triplets

Jig

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An Púca

BC Accordion Basics Lesson 10

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Melodic Triplets

Jig

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Murphy’s Hornpipe

BC Accordion Basics Lesson 11

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Ascending and Descending Triplets

Hornpipe

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The Mist Covered Mountain

B\C Accordion Basics Lesson 12

  • A Minor
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Derek introduces the ornament ‘The Roll’ in this lesson. He teaches the Jig ‘The Mist Cov…

Jig

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Touch me if you Dare

BC Accordion Basics Lesson 13

  • G Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Triplets

Reel

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Gan Ainm

BC Accordion Basics Lesson 14

  • D Major
  • Level 1
  • Melody
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Cuts

Polka

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The Drunken Tinker

BC Accordion Basics Lesson 15

  • A Minor
  • Level 2
  • Melody
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Rolls and Triplets

Reel

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Dennis Murphy’s Slide

BC Accordion Basics Lesson 16

  • D Major
  • Level 2
  • Melody
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Cuts

Slide

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New Custom House

BC Accordion Basics Lesson 17

  • D Major
  • Level 2
  • Melody
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Rolls

Reel

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If There Weren’t Any Women In The World

BC Accordion Basics Lesson 18

  • G Major
  • Level 2
  • Melody
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Chords

Polka

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