This is a collection of exercises for my accordion course for beginners. In each lesson of the course, there are exercises for practice which I have all listed here. I will choose some of them as in-class exercises, and others left for homework. There are usually tons of exercises offered to you in each practice theme, but you don’t have to do all of them. You can choose the exercises that you like or that you think are helpful for you.

I arrange the exercises in each practice theme in the lessons with the order of difficulty. Some of the exercises are directly from society textbook: “少儿手风琴集体课教程”, 李聪编著, 上海音乐出版社 (“Children’s Accordion Group Class Tutorial,” compiled by Li Cong, Shanghai Music Publishing House). Others are mostly songs transcribed by me for practice purposes.

Lesson 1: Introduction to Accordion

Tip

If you don’t know how to read sheet music, don’t worry, I have explained each of the exercises in detail for lesson 1. You will begin to learn how to read sheet music in lesson 2.

Bellow Practice (with only C notes)

Exercise 1

Adapted from society textbook p.5 五.2-3

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Instructions

Close the bellow.
Play:
- The first row of the sheet: C note on your right hand keyboard (the left white note of the group of two black keys) with your thumb
- Or the second row of the sheet: C root note on your left hand (the button marked with a pit) with your middle finger
- Or both together

Pull the bellow (first bar of the sheet):
- For a duration of 4 slow counts (exercise 1)
- Or for a duration of 2 slow counts, repeat it twice (exercise 2)
- Or for a duration of 1 slow count, repeat it 4 times (exercise 3)
Then do it in the same way but push the bellow (second bar of the sheet). Try to close the bellow exactly.

Lesson 2: Basic Notes

C-G Notes on Right Hand

Exercise 1

Society textbook p.8 四.1

Exercise 2

Society textbook p.8 四.2

Exercise 3

Society textbook p.9 四.3

Exercise 4

Society textbook p.9 四.4

Exercise 5

Society textbook p.9 四.5

Exercise 6

Society textbook p.10 三.1

Exercise 7

Society textbook p.11 三.2

Exercise 8

Society textbook p.11 三.3

Tip

For more exercises, please practice the right hand part in Section 2.3 and Section 2.4.

C, F, G Root Notes on Left Hand

Exercise 1

Society textbook p.7 三.1

Exercise 2

Society textbook p.7 三.2

Exercise 3

Society textbook p.7 三.3

Exercise 4

Society textbook p.10 二.1

Exercise 5

Society textbook p.10 二.2

Exercise 6

Society textbook p.8 三.4

Tip

For more exercises, please practice the left hand part in Section 2.3 and Section 2.4.

C-G Melody Accompanied by C, F, G Root Notes

Exercise 1

Society textbook p.11 四.1

Exercise 2

Society textbook p.12 四.2

Exercise 3

Society textbook p.12 四.3

Exercise 4

Society textbook p.12 五.1

Exercise 5

Exercise 6

Society textbook p.12 五.2

Exercise 7

C-A Melody Accompanied by C, F, G Root Notes

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Lessons 3: Scales and Melody

Right-Hand Scales

Exercise 1 (C Natural Major Scale)

Society textbook p.36 一

Technique

When playing with the 3rd finger followed by the 1st finger, apply the “thumb under” technique. Slide your thumb under the 3rd finger and use the thumb to play the next note.

Technique

When playing with the 1rd finger followed by the 3st finger, apply the “finger over” technique. Bring your 3rd finger over the thumb and use the 3rd finger to play the next note.

Exercise 2 (A Natural Minor Scale)

Society textbook p.70 二

Exercise 3 (A Harmonic Minor Scale)

Society textbook p.70 二

Left-Hand Scales

Exercise 1 (C Natural Major Scale)

Instructions

Here is the position of the notes in the C natural major scale on the accordion left-hand Stradella system button keyboard.

Figure 1: C natural major scale (in red circle) on the accordion left-hand Stradella system button keyboard. Source: Wikipedia

Note: fingering numbers that are underlined (e.g. 2̲) indicate that the note is played on the counterbass row, while normal (non-underlined) fingering numbers refer to notes played on the root bass row.

Right-Hand Melody Solo In C major or A minor

Exercises: Society textbook pages 36, 70.

Exercise 1

Society textbook p.32 二

Exercise 2

Society textbook p.32 三. 扩指

Technique

This exercise require applying the “finger extension” technique. You’ll need to stretch your fingers beyond the standard five-note hand position (like 1st finger for C, 2nd for D, …, 5th finger for G) to reach certain notes.

Exercise 3

Society textbook p.33 三. 缩指

Technique

This exercise require applying the “finger contraction” technique. You’ll need to compressing your finger spacing from the standard five-note hand position (like 1st finger for C, 2nd for D, …, 5th finger for G).

Exercise 4

Society textbook p.33 三. 移位

Technique

This exercise require applying the “hand shift” technique. You’ll need to move the entire hand to a different position on the keyboard to reach certain notes.

Tip

For more exercises, please practice the right hand part in Section 3.4 and any other exercises (in the textbook or from future lessons) that have a right hand melody in C major or A minor.

Melody In C Major Accompanied by Bass Notes

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Exercise 4

Lesson 4: Accompany Using Major Triads

Major Triad Voicing on Left Hand

Exercise 1

Adapted from society textbook p.15 二.2

Repeat each pattern. Also practice at F, G.

Exercise 2

Adapted from society textbook p.15 二.3

Repeat each pattern. Also practice at F, G.

Chord Change Between C, F, G Chords

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Society textbook p.14 二.1

Exercise 4

Society textbook p.15 三.1

Melody In C Natural Major Accompanied by C, F, G Chords

Exercise from Society Textbook

All exercises in the society textbook from p.16 to p.40 that you can practice. Sorry that I don’t have that much time to write them all here.

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Exercise 4

Exercise 5

Lesson 5: Accompany Using Minor Triads

Minor Triad Voicing on Left Hand

Exercise 1

Repeat each pattern. Also practice at Dm, Em.

Exercise 2

Repeat each pattern. Also practice at Dm, Em.

Chord Change Between Am, Dm, Em Chords

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Chord Change Between Am, Dm, E Chords

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Melody In A Natural Minor Accompanied by Am, Dm, Em Chords

Melody in A Harmonic Minor Accompanied by Am, Dm, E Chords

Lesson 6: Accompany Using Dominant Seventh Chords

Dominant Seventh Chord Voicing on Left Hand

Exercise 1

Adapted from society textbook p.15 二.2

Repeat each pattern. Also practice at F7, G7, E7.

Exercise 2

Adapted from society textbook p.15 二.3

Repeat each pattern. Also practice at F7, G7, E7.

Chord Change Between C, F, G7 Chords

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Chord Change Between Am, Dm, E7 Chords

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Right-Hand Scales

Exercise 1 (C Major Pentatonic Scale)

Exercise 2 (C Minor Pentatonic Scale)

Exercise 3 (C Major Blues Scale)

Exercise 4 (C Minor Blues Scale)

Twelve-Bar Blues Progression

Exercise 1

Also practice quick to four (change second bar to F7) and turnaround (change last bar to G7).

Exercise 2

Melody In C Natural Major Accompanied by C, F, G7 Chords

Melody In A Harmonic Minor Accompanied by Am, Dm, E7 Chords

Blues Melody In Key of C Accompanied by Twelve-Bar Blues Progression

Lesson 7: More Chord Voicing

5th Bass Voicing (Triangle Bass)

Exercise 1

Also practice at other major triads, minor triads, and dominant seventh chords.

Exercise 2

Also practice at other major triads, minor triads, and dominant seventh chords.

3rd Bass Voicing

Exercise 1

Also practice at other major triads, minor triads, and dominant seventh chords.

Passing Bass in Chord Changes

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Twelve-Bar Blues Progression

Exercise 1

Also practice quick to four (change second bar to F7) and turnaround (change last bar to G7).

Exercise 2

(Suitable for slow tempo)

Also practice quick to four (change second bar to F7) and turnaround (change last bar to G7).

Exercise 3

Also practice quick to four (change second bar to F7) and turnaround (change last bar to G7).

Exercise 3

Also practice quick to four (change second bar to F7) and turnaround (change last bar to G7).

Practice Melody with 3rd and 5th Note Voicing

Practice Melody with Passing Notes in Chord Changes

Practice 50s’ Rock Melody In Key of C Accompanied by Twelve-Bar Blues Progression

Lesson8: Transposing

Lesson 9: Chord Progression in C

Practice Melody In C Major Accompanied by Chord Progressions In C

恰似你的温柔 (1625, 1645): Chords
温柔 (1645): Chords
真的爱你 (1564): C-G-Am-F
Let It Go (1564): Chords
Love Story (1564): Chords
Take Me Home, Country Roads (1564): Chords
平凡之路 (6415): Am-F-C-G
七里香 (6451): Am-F-G-C
孤勇者 (4566): Chords
Canon: C-G-Am-Em-F-C-Dm-G
稻香 (Canon): Chords
いつも何度でも (Canon): Chords
后来 (Canon): Chords
江南 (4566, Canon): Chords
Don’t Look Back In Anger: Chords
背对背拥抱 (Circle of Fifths): Chords
Never Gonna Give You Up (Circle of Fifths): Chords
贝加尔湖畔: Chords
Mojito: Chords
夜曲 (周杰伦): Chords
Hotel California: Chords