This article summarises voicing of all chords and its fingering in accordion. We only talk about the left-hand button keyboard with Stradella bass system. As for right hand, it is the same as piano keyboard which I will probably cover in another article about chord voicing on piano.

Figure 1: Stradella bass system of accordion left hand. Source: Wikipedia

The Stradella system contains two columns of bass note buttons and four columns of chord buttons. If you are not familiar with the Stradella system, please refer to my post about accordion keyboard layout.

Chord Notes Layout in Stradella System

I’ve created a book of all chord notes layout in accordion left-hand Stradella system. It contains all types of chords with in-chord notes highlighted. This helps organise the voicing of chords in left hand.

Notes layout of all chords in accordion left-hand Stradella system.

Block Chords

Block chords are the simplest form of chord voicing. They are played by simply pressing chord buttons. We usually press the root note button with the chord button to make the chord sound more grounded.

K:C clef=bass %%staves {RB CB} V:RB clef=bass V:CB clef=bass [V:RB]"C" "_4,3/3,2"">M"[C,C]4 | "Cm" "_4,2/3,2"">m"[C,C]4 | "Caug" z4 | "Cdim" "_4,2̲"[C,^F,]4 |] [V:CB]z4 | z4 | "_4̲,3" [C,^G,]4 | "_4̲,2" ">dim"[C,_E]4 |]

K:C clef=bass %%staves {RB CB} V:RB clef=bass V:CB clef=bass [V:RB] "C7" "_4,2/3,2"">7"[C,C]4 "_3,4,2"">M"[C,_B,C]4 | "Cmaj7" "_5,2"">M"[C,E]4 | "Cm7" "_3,4,2"">m"[C,_B,C]4 | "Cø7" z4 | "Cdim7" "_4̲,2"">dim"[C,C]4 | "Cminmaj7" "_3,2,4̲" ">m"[C,B,C]4 | "Caugmaj7" "_5,2"">M" [C,E]4 |] [V:CB] "_4̲,2"[C,_B,]4 z4 | z4 | "_4̲,2/3̲,2"">M"[C,_E]4 | "_4̲,2/3̲,2"">m"[C,_E]4 | z4 | z4 | z4|]

Alternating Bass and Chords

This is a common technique in accordion playing. It involves playing the bass notes and chord alternately. The bass notes are those in the chord, typically including root, 3rd, 5th, 7th, etc.

Root Bass Only

Alternating only root bass and chord.

K:C clef=bass %%staves {RB CB} V:RB clef=bass V:CB clef=bass [V:RB]"C" "_4;3"C,2 "_3;2"">M"C2 | "Cm" "_4;3"C,2 "_2;2"">m"C2 | "Caug" z4 | "Cdim" z4 |] [V:CB]z4 | z4 | z4 | "_4̲"C,2 "_2"">dim"_E2 |]

K:C clef=bass %%staves {RB CB} V:RB clef=bass V:CB clef=bass [V:RB] "C7" "_4;3"C,2"_2;2"">7"C2 | "Cmaj7" "_5"C,2"_2"">M"E2 | "Cm7" z4 | "Cø7" z4 | "Cdim7" "_4"C,2"_2"">dim"C2 | "Cminmaj7" z4 | "Caugmaj7" "_5"C,2 "_2"">M"E2 |] [V:CB] z4 | z4 | "_4̲;3̲"C,2"_2;2"">M"_E2 | "_4̲;3̲"C,2"_2;2"">m"_E2 | z4 | z4 | z4|]

Root and 5th Bass

Alternating root bass and 5th bass with the chord.

K:C clef=bass %%staves {RB CB} V:RB clef=bass V:CB clef=bass [V:RB]"C" "_4;3"C,2 "_3;2"">M"C2 "_2;3"G,,2 "_3;2"">M"C2 | "Cm" "_4;3"C,2 "_2;2"">m"C2 "_3;3"G,,2"_2;2"">m"C2 | "Caug" z8 | "Cdim" z8 |] [V:CB]z8 | z8 | z8 | "_4̲"C,2 "_2"">dim"_E2 "_5"_G,,2 "_2"">dim"_E2 |]

K:C clef=bass %%staves {RB CB} V:RB clef=bass V:CB clef=bass [V:RB] "C7" "_4;3"C,2"_2;2" ">7"C2 "_2;3"G,,2 "_3;2"">7"C2 | "Cmaj7" "_5"C,2"_2"">M"E2 "_4"G,,2 "_2"">M"E2 | "Cm7" z8 | "Cø7" z8 | [V:CB] z8 | z8 | "_4̲;3̲"C,2"_2;2"">M"_E2 "_3̲;3̲"G,,2"_2;2"">M"_E2 | "_4̲;3̲"C,2"_2;2"">m"_E2 "_5;4/5"_G,,2"_2;2"">m"_E2 | [V:RB] "Cdim7" "_4"C,2"_2"">dim"C2 "_3̲"_G,,2"_2"">dim"C2 | "Cminmaj7" z8 | "Caugmaj7" "_5"C,2 "_2"">M"E2 "_3"^G,,2 "_2"">M"E2 |] [V:CB] z8 | z8 | z8|]

Root, 3rd, 5th Bass

Alternating root bass and 3rd, 5th bass with the chord.

K:C clef=bass %%staves {RB CB} V:RB clef=bass V:CB clef=bass [V:RB]"C" "_4;3"C,2 "_3;2"">M"C2 "_4̲,4̲/3̲"E,,2 "_3;2"">M"C2 "_2;3"G,,2 "_3;2"">M"C2 | "Cm" "_4;3"C,2 "_2;2"">m"C2 "_5,4"_E,,2 "_2;2"">m"C2 "_3;3"G,,2"_2;2"">m"C2 | "Caug" z12 | "Cdim" z12 |] [V:CB]z12 | z12 | z12 | "_4̲"C,2 "_2"">dim"_E2 "_4"_E,,2 "_2"">dim"_E2 "_5"_G,,2 "_2"">dim"_E2 |]

K:C clef=bass %%staves {RB CB} V:RB clef=bass V:CB clef=bass [V:RB] "C7" "_4;3"C,2"_2;2"">7"C2 "_4̲,4̲/3̲"E,,2 "_2;2"">7"C2 "_2;3"G,,2 "_3;2"">7"C2 | "Cmaj7" "_5"C,2 "_2"">M"E2 "_3"E,,2 "_2"">M"E2 "_4"G,,2 "_2"">M"E2 | "Cm7" z12 | "Cø7" z12 | [V:CB] z12 | z12 | "_4̲;3̲"C,2 "_2;2"">M"_E2 "_3;3"_E,,2 "_2;2"">M"_E2 "_3̲;3̲"G,,2"_2;2"">M"_E2 | "_4̲;3̲"C,2 "_2;2"">m"_E2 "_3;3"_E,,2 "_2;2"">m"_E2 "_5;4"_G,,2"_2;2"">m"_E2 | [V:RB] "Cdim7" "_4"C,2"_2"">dim"C2 "_5"_E,,2 "_2"">dim"C2 "_3̲"_G,,2"_2"">dim"C2 | "Cminmaj7" z12 | "Caugmaj7" "_5"C,2 "_2"">M"E2 "_3̲"E,,2 "_2"">M"E2 "_3"^G,,2 "_2"">M"E2 |] [V:CB] z12 | z12 | z12|]

Passing Bass

In between chord changes, we can use passing bass notes to create a smoother transition. This is playing the bass notes that connect the root notes of two adjacent chords.

4-Note Passing Bass

When the root notes of chords are 4th or 5th apart, we can use the 4-note passing bass. Sometimes, this can be also used in between 2 chords that are not 4th or 5th apart.

The 4-note sequence is referred to as tetrachord. I’ve created a book of all tetrachords layout in accordion left-hand Stradella system. It contains all types of tetrachords with in-chord notes highlighted. This helps organise the voicing of tetrachords in left hand.

Notes layout of all tetrachords in accordion left-hand Stradella system.

5-Note Passing Bass

When the root notes of chords are 4th or 5th notes apart, we can also use the 5-note passing bass. Sometimes, this can be also used in between 2 chords that are not 4th or 5th notes apart.

The 4-note sequence is referred to as pentachord. I’ve created a book of all pentachords layout in accordion left-hand Stradella system. It contains all types of pentachords with in-chord notes highlighted. This helps organise the voicing of pentachords in left hand.

Notes layout of all pentachords in accordion left-hand Stradella system.

1-Note Passing Bass

When the root notes of chords are whole tone or 3rd apart, we can use the 1-note passing bass. It is a flashing bass note quickly played between two chords, adding a bit of transitional colour to the progression.

Arpeggio

We can also play arpeggios in accordion left hand, which are chord broken into single bass notes played in an order.