WELCOME from the kids in the Tameside Junior Accordion Band
We hope that you enjoy our site and set up a new group for Kids like ourselves so that more can learn to play an Accordion. Without the Band none of us would be playing today. Many of us have gone on to study Solo Accordion playing, passing exams, winning championships, visiting Music Festivals etc Some of our founder members are now teaching, running a band and earning money by playing. We have lots of fun in the Band and its all thanks to Betty starting us off in one of the groups and to our Parents who work so hard fund raising so that we can go to the many Music Festivals we support.
Your target is to teach children to play together in an Accordion ensemble by reading and playing right hand only. . (You are not teaching solo accordion playing.)
You will need someone on Bass - they will only be playing a C chord chord preparatory level so they do not have to be an advanced player
Give the children small rewards for each achievement, it might be a shiny new pencil one week, a wobbly eyed sticker the next etc Award a certificate for each scale learned. You will be amazed how quickly scales are mastered.
Fun is a KEY word. Band nights must be FUN nights. You do not want to create a school environment. This must be something the children want to do NOT have to do. It must never become a chore for either the children or yourself. If it does you have failed.
To help you get started I am going to give guide lines to follow for the first few meetings. I have structured it from what we do at Tameside which has proved to be so successful and will include models of teaching aids, music and documents which you can download and alter to suit your group.
Over this period you will see the children beginning to bond, you will have had lots of laughs together and you will have your first playing group. Good Luck
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TAMESIDE JUNIOR
ACCORDION BAND
email for samples
FIRST MEETING
Get to know the children. Ask who can count to 4 and who knows the alphabet from A to G. Pretend to be quite relieved that they know this and tell them very convincingly that they WILL be able to play music. This acts as a little ice breaker and moves you on nicely to hand position and counting the note values of a semibreve, minim and crotchet. (Music sample)
Name the first 5 notes C D E F G by putting small stickers on the keys.
Draw around the their right hand on an A4 piece of paper and write in the finger numbers and note names. See who can hold each note down for a count of 4 AND use the correct fingers.
Give each member a new file and remember to have a 10 minute break during the session. A parent can run a little tuck shop here with profits going to Band Funds plus the children love this break.
End the session by thanking them and remind them of the two main rules.
1. Practice a little each day
2. Always to ring you with the reason if they can't come to Band
