How to Play the Bass Part of "Jambalaya" on the Accordion

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Part of the video series: How to Play the Accordion

Summary: On the accordion, learn how to play the bass part to the Cajun song Jambalaya in this free online video music lesson for beginners.

Views: 8,545 | Tags: beginner, instrument, play, accordion, musical, accordions


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Brett Larsen Brett Larsen earned a B.A. in music composition from UCSB in 1992 and currently works as a middle school music teacher offering classes in Band, Mariachi Stri... read more

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I have never seen or heard instructions so clear and easy to understand as this, This is my favorite web site, keep it up.

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Video Transcript

How to Play the Bass Part of "Jambalaya" on the Accordion

Now you have been practicing Jambalaya on the treble side of the accordion here on the keyboard, we are going to add the bass side, which should be really easy because you have already learned it. It is exactly the same as Mary Had a Little Lamb, just C and G. So again find the C button, that button with the rhinestone, with your fourth finger and then find the C chord with your middle finger and index finger on the G so that we can do that oompah style bass. Now we are going to add the treble, the right hand melody of Jambalaya, to the bass, and the bass I mentioned is the same as Mary Had a Little Lamb. With one exception, the exception being that we don’t start the melody and the bass together. We start with the melody first, and the bass comes in on the third note. That is when you hit the bass C button. It should sound like this. If you know the tune, the first words are Goodbye Joe, and on Joe that is where we hit the bass button. Change to G, change to C, and that is how you put Jambalaya together, and with a little practice, you can speed it up and give it a more authentic Cajun sound by holding some of the buttons down just a little longer. If you think of Louisiana draw or accent, southern style accent, which is how you want your accordion to sound.

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