DURING THE YEARS that I have officiated as an Adjudicator in various accordion contests I became more and more aware that a good number of students do not realize the importance of developing the ability to read music in a completely accurate manner.  This seemed more apparent in the intermediate-to-advanced grades rather than in the elementary grades.

What I would say to all students (beginner or advanced) is as follows:

"Here is a white page with a lot of black on it.  Look at every bit of black on that white page - and do not miss anything.  If you see something you do not understand, then ask your teacher."

There are those who say "Why worry about details at first?  Let them play and enjoy themselves and then their enthusiasm will grow." I agree with "letting them enjoy themselves." But, along with this, I cannot see why, with all the quantity of extremely elementary accordion music available, the beginner student cannot be expected to play any lesson assignment accurately in all details before it is checked off as okay.

I would like to bring forth my thoughts on what should be the logical priorities in developing the beginner's ability to play music accurately.  Consequently, in regards to the four faculties involved in reading and playing, I have coined the following sentence:

"THE EYES SHOULD SEE--WHAT THE MIND SHOULD UNDERSTAND: THUS, THE FINGERS MAY PERFORM CORRECTLY --- AND THE EAR CAN LISTEN ACCURATELY."

Therefore, what are my priorities? #1 - the eyes; #2 -the mind; #3 - the fingers; #4 - the ears.

The very first faculty the student must use on playing the music is to look with his EYES!  The second faculty he must use is to think with his MIND! If the EYES and MIND are functioning properly, then the FINGERS have the best chance to perform correctly and, finally, the EAR has the best chance to be educated accurately by listening to the right notes! Bear in mind that the accordion produces exactly pitched tones on all notes (unlike certain other instruments) and the beginner on the accordion gets the benefit of this!

As the student continues to take lessons regularly the music involved becomes gradually not only more difficult in technical requirements for the fingers and the bellows but also more complex in its ideas for the eyes to see and the mind to comprehend.

How frustrating it is then to make corrections after having played certain passages incorrectly for months and months with the student unaware of it 
due to certain details being misunderstood or overlooked from the outset!

Of course, we are not speaking of the student who accidentally plays a wrong note or omits one due to lack of more practice time and technical development.  If the student knows what his mistakes are he will surely want to play more accurately the next time.

With careful and concentrated studying, the student will arrive at the point wherein there will be no priorities at all, i.e. all faculties will perform simultaneously and accurately.

FINAL THOUGHT: While all that has been said so far refers to private lessons it is still my belief that the same lines of guidance should apply to class lessons when everyone is given the same assignment.

However, a more relaxed attitude can be taken at first in Ensemble participation where different parts are played.  In this circumstance the ear plays an important part in keeping time since they should listen to the other parts while playing their own part.  The spirit of "letting them enjoy themselves" can then be of more importance.

Advice to Students on Keeping Good Time

All the beats in a measure should be recognized in one glance.  Remember ---------- a beat will sometimes fall on a rest!

The trained musician is always conscious of the next note-value larger and the next note-value smaller than the beat-note in every measure of a selection that he plays.  When notes of smaller value than a beat are included, subdivide the entire measure according to that smallest value (like 16ths, etc.). In fact, it is even necessary to anticipate in the previous measure that smallest value in order to maintain a consistent tempo leading into and following it.

The trained musician is always conscious of the scheme and the number of strong and weak beats in any time signature and in every measure of a selection he is playing.  This helps him to avoid skipping a beat or playing too many beats in a measure (very important in measures of rests).

It is a mistake to be in the wrong measure although in the right beat.  This means that a measure has been skipped or an extra measure has been added.  However, the unity of a group will probably not be disrupted.

BUT --- it is a more serious mistake to be in the wrong beat even though in the right measure.  This means that the student or player has not instinctively grasped the scheme of the strong and weak beats of the time signature he is playing.  This will most always disrupt the unity of a group.