Alfred's Teach Yourself to Play Accordion: Everything You Need to Know to Start Playing Now!, Book & CD (Teach Yourself Series) Paperback – December 1, 2005

This is an okay book and video. The instructions are very clear and the drills are basic. I think of it as a primer on music theory with a little of accordion songs thrown in. Students of classical music instruction will recognize the approach. I felt that there is too little emphasis on making music and too much on music theory. For adult learners with a good foundation on music theory it is very slow. For me, a better approach is "music first, theory second". While I cant deny the value of reading music, it is PLAYING MUSIC that we are after. I rather have a "see and play" approach that rewards quickly. I still can recommend this however because the pace of instruction is accessible for everyone.

Great for total beginners, but much music theory and keyboard technique is wasted on people who can play piano. The LEFT HAND is, as ever in all books I've seen thus far, just something YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO FIGURE OUT BY YOUR LITTLE OWN SELF! NO information about how to think of hand position in relation to the ONE BUTTON "C". Yet, since you can't see your hands, what a nightmare this can be! I found some relief using a mirror, and thereby remembered how to move my fingers for the easy moves, but at the moment, as a learner, but quite a decent piano player, I am at a loss as to how to I shall memorize the further moves from some base place. Yet perhaps I should assume that IT WILL BECOME CLEAR, but it seems impossible at the moment. But any book cannot replace your own sensibility of touching the keys and INTUITING THE KEYS NEARBY by yourself, and that seems to be the secret of accordion playing, as difficult to win as it is. OVERALL, THE BOOK TRIES TO DO TOO MUCH. NO beginner will have the patience to just follow this method ALONE. Of course you should try other ideas, books, but there comes a point when too much information is presented to those who grasp little. Your job, as a student, is to recognize what sounds like hokum before you buy it. Thus, I say, if you can play piano, great for the right hand. The left hand is STILL A MYSTERY. I guess you actually have to take lessons, which ain't such a bad thing, mate, but to this long-winded reviewer, and LOVER of accordion newly, it seems a quite a pain.

Although I play a variety of musical instruments, including the piano keyboard, the accordion can be challenging, given as many as 120 base notes & chord buttons, & simply knowing how to operate the instrument as a whole; thankfully, the book starts out with the very basics, including simple music theory; also, if you are determined enough to fully learn how to play from start to finish, there are interactive media available on-line via a code provided to purchasers of the book, so that an instructor can guide you through it all, step by step, or you can skip around at any time if you wish to explore the lessons on your own.

perfect teacher for the price

I'm just returning to the accordion after many years and needed a good intro book. Very good information and pacing. It would help if you know a little about how to read music - but not necessary.

My mother gave me, of all things, accordion lessons when I was young. Hard to be hip on the accordion, although Weird Al did pretty well. I picked it up again to play Happy Birthday to her at her 80th. She enjoyed it immensely. My next project is doing the Tarantella at my daughter's wedding. The principals in this book have helped me immensely.

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I don't have an accordion or play an accordion. I bought this for a friend who is getting back into playing his accordion. I did peruse the the material and as any Alford product it looks very easy to learn or brush up on what you remember.

I bought this in 2014 but have only just started to learn the accordian (thanks to lockdown) and I have some music knowledge so have got on ok so far without the CD which unfortunatey I have lost. I find this book very good to follow, very clear but not easy if you don't have the CD so I'm now stuck because I don't know if I'm playing it right - any chance of getting another CD or a MP3 download? I've got onto the alternating bass patterns and trying to play Ode to Joy with alternate bass patterns. But stuck. It's a joyous book and I'm really enjoying learning. So, no fault of the author who is incredible. It's my own fault but I can't find anywhere to buy the CD on it's own. Don't really want to have to buy another book :). Any advice greatly received . To conclude, apart from losing the cd, the book is brilliant.

It was ok didn’t tell you the button chords which was disappointing, the DVD was quite useful but you can’t watch and play because you couldn’t see which buttons were being pressed. More for intermediate level than beginners.

This is one of the best Accordion tutor books I have found. It explains the basics of music well.It has a useful CD to go with each lesson in the book. there is only one section where I am not sure which fingering method should be used

This was brought as a gift for a novice. Easy to follow

The book is everything a beginner could wish for everything in simple language and the cd helping to make sure it is understood. Thanks.