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Catalog > Books > Squeezebox updated October 2, 2009

Please note: We only carry books, not individual sheet music. There are many sources on the internet for accordion sheet music. We suggest you begin your search at www.accordions.com

  • Instructional Material: Basic
  • Advanced Instruction: Style & Technique
  • Left Hand Instruction (basses & chords)
  • Repertoire: Song and Tune Collections
  • General accordion books (repairs, history)

    • Piano Accordion Instruction

    How to Play Accordion Method and Songbook (Santorella) -- $14.95
    Clear, logical lessons for beginners, with helpful diagrams and photos. Easy arrangement of 20 tunes. 31 pages, plus CD.

    Buttons & Keys by DJ MacKenzie -- $12.95
    Scottish piano accordion tutor by DJ MacKenzie, 36 pp. Elementary instruction for children or beginning adults. Simple tunes, fingering exercises, bellows control, basic music instruction. Bass button chart, keyboard chart.

    Deluxe Accordion Method by Frank Zucco -- $12.95
    100 pages. Based on 50 years of teaching and performing on the accordion, Mr. Zucco has provided us with a complete and thorough accordion method for children. In this single volume, three levels of clear, easy-to-understand instruction teach music reading and playing from the very beginning, supplemented by original solos and arrangements. Students learn to play by feel and touch rather than depending on sight. Helpful illustrations and photographs are also provided. This method mentions the 120-bass accordion, but focuses on the 12-bass instrument. One of the finest accordion methods available. Optional DVD package.
    Palmer Hughes Piano Accordion Course -- Books 1 through 9 -- $7.95 each / Book 10 -- $8.95
    The celebrated series of 10 instruction manuals takes you all the way from can't-play-diddly-squat through professional level. Still the best available! Teach yourself or use as an adjunct to lessons. If you're just beginning, start with books 1 through 3.
    Complete Set of All 10 Palmer-Hughes books (a $80.50 value) -- $77.95
    Palmer-Hughes Recital Books 1 through 5 -- $7.95 Specify volume:
    Companion repertoire books for the instructional series, consisting of additional material at the same level. Designed so that each new tune in the repertoire book can be played as a medley with another tune from the method book. Provides the student with new and interesting pieces to avoid becoming bored with the limited pieces mastered at a given level. For individual or class instruction. Large, easy to read 2 staff accordion notation.
    Complete Set of All 5 Palmer-Hughes Recital Books (a $39.75 value) -- $38.00

    Santorellas Accordion Method with CD -- Fun beginning instruction in piano accordion for all ages. Large, easy to read 2 staff accordion notation, fingering details, chord symbols.
    Volumes 1A and 1B: $12.95
    Volumes 2 and 3: $14.95
    Specify volume:

    You Can Teach Yourself Accordion -- $19.95 Click here for description and to order

    Style and Technique Books for Piano Accordion

    Accordion Styles and Techniques DVD by Joey Miskulin -- $29.95
    Gives intermediate players a close-up look at the skills that have made Joey Miskulin a successful and highly sought-after studio musician, recording artist and concert performer. Shows how to play everything from polkas to Cajun, Tex-Mex, cowboy, country and rock music. Breaks down important techniques such as breathing, phrasing, bellows shakes and vibrato, and provides left and right hand exercises that will enable you to play rhythms, fills, and leads for any song or instrumental.

    The Art of Bayan Playing by Friedrich Lips -- $28.95
    Technique, Interpretation and Performance of Playing the Accordion Artistically -- for all chromatic and piano accordions.

    The long-awaited English translation of the book "Die Kunst des Bajanspiels" by the world famous Russian virtuoso and professor at the Gnesin Music Academy in Moscow. Published in 2000 in Germany, 212 pages, over 100 sketches, diagrams, musical notations. 6.5" x 9.5" format. Bayan is the Russian word for "accordion" and is usually applied to the 5-row Russian chromatic button accordion, but this book is also a valuable resource for piano accordionists. In an easy-to-understand presentation, the author leads the reader step by step through the concept of tone creation: keystrokes, bellows control, vibrato, and articulation. He goes into detail about playing technique: composure, notation, fingering, and exercises. He encourages students working on technique to simultaneously consider aspects of interpretation: analyzing the content as well as applying rules for tempo, rhythm, and rubato.

    Basic Latin American Beats for Accordion by Angelo DiPippo -- $6.95

    Chord Melody Method for Accordion by Gary Dahl -- $19.95
    56 page book with CD. A breakthrough course that will teach you to quickly learn all of the chords used in today's music and to apply their harmonic applications professionally to any lead sheet. Imagine possessing the ability to develop and compose a professional-sounding arrangement on the spot while improvising confidently as needed! The average dedicated student will become proficient in 6 to 12 months and will experience a dramatic improvement in all areas of musicianship.

    Contemporary Accordion by Louis Giampetruzzi -- $17.95
    95 pages, 36 tunes from diverse traditions including: Irish, English, French Canadian, American, Cajun, and Tex-Mex. Tips on performance & style.
    Getting Into Accordion by Gary Dahl -- $17.95
    104 page book with CD. This book is designed for the person who is returning to the accordion after a few idle years and needs a "crash" review. Included with the book to facilitate the review process is an instructional recording by the author. This effective, exceptional teaching aid will motivate and guide the review process very quickly. The minimum size instrument for this breakthrough teaching book is an 80 bass piano accordion. No lyrics included. Intermediate-advanced level.

    Hanon for the Accordion, Book 1 edited by Sergei Rodionoff -- $6.95
    26 pages. 30 graded technical studies for the first year accordionist. The accordion version of the famous Hanon keyboard exercises for building muscles, speed, expression, and accuracy.

    Best of Hanon for the Accordion, Book 2 edited by Anthony Aretta -- $10.95
    80 pages. 60 graded technical studies for the intermediate to advanced accordionist. The accordion version of the famous Hanon keyboard exercises for building muscles, speed, expression, and accuracy.

    Jazz Ideas for the Dance Band Accordionist, Book 1 by Anthony Mecca. Intros, rhythmic & harmonic growth, minor intros, waltz intros, pickups, turnarounds, etc. 24 pages Click here to order

    Jazz Ideas for the Dance Band Accordionist, Book 2 by Anthony Mecca. Modulations, break style endings, cadences. Complete list of 7th chords & inversions. 24 pages Click here to order

    Master Accordion Scale Book with Jazz Scale Studies, by Gary Dahl -- $12.95
    80 pages, spiral bound. This book has been designed to develop the professional or recreational accordionist further toward advanced musicianship. Why do we practice scales? The great jazz accordionist, Art Van Damme, when asked what he practiced, replied, "Only the fundamentals!" The fundamental classical and jazz scales with explanations are presented here in a clear, concise format. For best results use this book with or after the Chord Melody Method for Accordion.

    Meccas Chord Course for Accordion by Anthony Mecca -- $9.95
    PA notation, complete chord spellings and instruction for right hand with harmony exercises.

    Modern Technique for the Accordion by Frank Gaviani -- $12.95
    60 pages. Scales, chords, studies, tunes, and exercises for building speed and accuracy on both hands.

    Scaling the Accordion: Major Scales, Book 1 by Valarie Morris -- $15.99
    44 pages, spiral bound. Anatomy of the major scale. 14 scales are covered (the normal 12, plus 2 enharmonic spellings: F#/Gb and C#/Db), each notated with its own fingering and accompanied by an exercise and an easy tune with registration for both hands.

    Scaling the Accordion: Minor Scales, Book 1 by Valarie Morris -- $15.99
    44 pages, spiral bound. Anatomy of the minor scale. 14 scales are covered (the normal 12, plus 2 enharmonic spellings: F#/Gb and C#/Db), each notated with its own fingering and accompanied by an exercise and an easy tune with registration for both hands.

    Scaling the Accordion: Major Scales, Book 2 by Valarie Morris -- $15.99
    44 pages, spiral bound. Scales written out for the full range of the accordion in both right and left hands. Fingerings are given. Each scale is harmonized for left hand as well. More advanced exercises and practice tunes, warmups and arpeggios. The basic scales and exercises from book 1 should be mastered first.

    Technique Builder for the Accordion by Gaviani/Mazza -- $15.95
    32 pages. Scales, studies, and exercises for building speed and accuracy on the right hand.

    Tops in Technique - Studies for the Accordion by Frank Gaviani -- $15.95
    37 pages. 20 technical pieces for the intermediate to advanced accordionist. For building both right and left hand technique.

    Piano Accordion Books for the Left Hand

    Bass Tek Arranged for the Accordion by Frank Gaviani -- $6.95
    28 pages. Scales & scale studies, articulation exercises, chord studies, bass solos. Most exercises include the right hand as well.

    Left Hand Technique (Gaviani Course) Book One -- $6.95
    16 pages. 59 simple melodic exercises for left hand bass notes only, no chords. All Book One exercises are in the key of C, in easy time signatures.
    Left Hand Technique (Gaviani Course) Book Two -- $6.95
    16 pages. 115 slightly more advanced melodic exercises for left hand bass notes only, no chords.
    Muscular Exercises for the Left Hand by Eugene Ettore -- $6.95
    26 pages. 99 musical exercises to strengthen and increase control and agility on the left hand. Studies for basses alone and for basses with chords, intermediate to advanced.
    Rhythmic Patterns for the Accordion by Fredric Tedesco -- $7.95
    32 pages. 30 popular and well-known folksongs, dances, and classical chestnuts arranged simply and in easy keys, showing how to count the rhythm as well as the precise correlation between the left and right hand rhythms. Very useful book for students having difficulty seeing how the two hands fit together.
    How to Play Free Bassetti System Accordion -- $7.95
    20 pages. Beginning instruction manual for the left hand free bass system of individual notes, as opposed to the Stradella bass/chord system usually found on piano accordions in the US. Keyboard diagrams, charts, scales & fingerings, arpeggios, chords & inversions, exercises. Includes 2 sample pieces for both hands with bassetti solo and unison playing. This book is written for the Western Bassetti system, not the Quint free bass or the Russian Bayan free bass system.