Has anyone else tried this?

I was playing my Maccann last night, and for no reason at all, a trick Nick Oliver suggested to me a while ago popped into my head - that of turning a one-row melodeon round and playing it left-handed.

Then it occurred to me that the layout of the Maccann keyboard allows you invert the machine, so that your left hand is playing the right hand keyboard and vice-versa - with a couple of adjustments for hand position, of course - and play it the "wrong way round" without really having to alter any fingerings at all. Pitch wise, it's a bit disorientating...

Mind you, there's not really a practical use for this, apart from using it to raise a few eyebrows

Richard Harrison was always the master at playing things wrong way round. How can you play anglo or accordion basses upside down?

Every now and then I pick up my Hayden and inadvertently play it reversed. It's pretty easy to do and very disorienting!

Actually - once it came in quite handy as I was trying to play a baritone part, but it was written in concertina (in treble clef which would make it come out an octave lower if played on an English baritone). But for some reason I have a hard time reading treble clef for fingering the bass side of my Hayden (I'm used to reading bass cleff to finger that side), so I flipped the box around, read treble and played the part with my right hand. Came out just right!

Sometimes, when I'm feeling mischievous, I slide my index fingers into the thumbstraps to play. I couldn't say it actually achieved anything constructive but the sense of sheer naughtiness is just hugely refreshing. Back to front is good too. But then it's good for many things!

Jill

Ah! So that's what happened last morris practice.

Chris

I once lent a two row melodeon to a friend and didn't give him any instructions............he learnt some tune with the box "wrong way round" and seemed to do fine !!
BTW,Geoff,Richard Harrison is both my father and my sons name....who is your Richard H. ?

As Rich M said, on a Hayden it's a no-brainer. Just inverts the octaves (although you will find the slant of the rows of buttons on the wrong diagonal). I do it frequently, usually if I want to play an elaborate bass line either by itself or with unimportant tinkling above it.

I did hear a story once about a guy out in the southwest who received an Anglo and had nobody around to show him how to play it so he just put it on (backwrds, of course) and taught himself. It was years before he encountered another player and realized what he was doing.

I met a hammered dulcimer player who had never seen one before he got his by mail. He played it upside down. Also, he thought it was tuned by the maker and that was that. Tuned for life.

Helen

I've also seen two people play a hammer dulcimer at the same time, one playing at the top side and so, playing the instrument upside down. It was quite a crowd pleaser.

I have learned to play the harmony part to "Golden Slippers" upside down on the Hammered Dulcimer just for such occasions.

Lots ' Fun.

You remind me of this painting of an Irish accordion player (below) for sale on eBay at the moment. The artist told me he had inadvertently reversed the photographic image he was working from.
Mind you, I have come across players in Ireland who do play that way . . .

But the "S" in the sign in the window behind him is not backwards...

In a previous life (when I used to play guitar), I remember reading somewhere that Elizabeth Cotten (of "Freight Train" fame") taught herself guitar and played it left-handed and upside down.

Edited to fix typo.

I noticed that, I guess it bothered the artist more than a back-to-front button box !

Below is the email I sent to him and his reply :

"Hi, there is something strange about this picture, in that the player appears to be holding the instrument "back to front", unless he is left handed (but it would still be pretty unusual to play the accordion this way). Regards, Stephen"

Thanks Stephen. You're right. I didn't think of it, but I flopped the photo I worked from which is what caused this to happen. You've got a great eye for detail. Thanks! Don

If you were to flip the picture horizontally the two rows would still be staggered the wrong way compared to my Hohner Erica. If different brands of box are consistent in the way they stagger the rows, it could be he is doing a Jimi Hendrix.

At first I thought, that must be strange, or hard to play, but after thinking about it for a while I can't think of a reason why it would make any difference at all, if that was the only way you knew.

Chris

Or maybe that's a "2."


I think there's artistic license at work. On a standard 21- or 23-button two-row box, the outer row of buttons extends beyond the inner row on both ends, and the rows are offset -- i.e., buttons on the inner row are half-way between the buttons on the outer row. Here, the buttons closest to his knee are nearly aligned.


Indeed, I've heard of people who play this way. It does place the air button in an awkward position -- so that it's operated by the fifth finger instead of the thumb -- but I guess that's something one can get used to.

I've heard of custom "lefty" boxes, but I think they're quite rare.

There are some straight lines in the character - it could be a reversed 'Z'

- john

Oh goody,

Now I have printed both pictures and side by side, they look like twins playing together.

Yes, I know, I should get more sleep.

Helen

Yes, the technique has become known as "Cotten Picking." I saw her play once toward the end of her life. Bill Staines, the folk singer-songwriter also plays that way. I tried to learn to do it by listening to his albums many years ago, but never got anywhere with it.

Chris,

And you have even more of an eye for detail !

It looks like the accordion is almost certainly an early 1960's Paolo Soprani, in which case what you have spotted must indeed be "artistic license", though I did once have a late 1920's Paolo, with about 25 buttons, that did have the inside row longer than the outside. More recently I have seen some C#/D accordions made that way (makes sense !).


You could always try the "Ask seller a question" function on eBay, but you had better hurry, there are less than 11 hours to go !

It's interesting to hear that Maccanns and Haydens can be played upside down. It works with Crane duets, too. I've picked up my Crane the wrong way a few times and surprised myself with music in the "wrong" octaves.