Club System Layout

In this section we discuss the Club System key layout.

Yes, they are buttons but they are called "keys" since they are keying the valves inside the instrument, which don't know or care the shape of the key, whether it's a piano key or a button.

We are focussing on the right-side melody keys and only consider the bass keys on the left of the instrument at the very end of the chapter.

Where the bass keys aren't specifically mentioned, assume we're not considering them.

The Club System layout can be expressed in absolute pitch, or relative to the home key of the instrument.

Note: In all diagrams, we express octave changes by switching between UPPERCASE - lowercase - UPPERCASE - lowercase at each octave change based on the home key of the instrument.

Structure of the Layout

The Club System layout consists of three rows:

The home row
- The home row is the longest row.
- It is the row furthest from the bellows and at the bottom of our diagrams.
The companion row
- The companion row is pitched a scale fourth up from the home row
- It is the middle row.
The helper row
- The helper row consists of useful accidentals and scale steps.
- It is the row closest to the bellows and is at the top of our diagrams.
- The helper row is of varying length on particular models of the instrument.
- Club System accordions also exist which totally omit the helper row.

Diagrams of the Layout

In the following diagram, we express the paradigmatic 33 key layout relative to the home key of any Club System instrument. That is, for a C/F instrument:

I is C
VIIb is Bb (or A#)
IV# is F# (or Gb)

and for a Bb/Eb instrument:

I is Bb
VIIb is Ab (or G#)
IV# is E# (or F)

		`IV#/V#`		`ii/iiib`		`iiib/i#`		`viib/iv#`		`iv#/vib`		`IIIb/I#`		`II/IIIb`		`IV#/VIb`		`iiib/i#`		`ii/iiib`
	`IV/VIIb`		`VI/i`		`i/iii`		`iv/v`		`vi/viib`		`I/I`		`IV/III`		`VI/V`		`i/VIIb`		`iv/ii`		`vi/iii`
`I/II`		`III/V`		`V/VII`		`i/ii`		`iii/iv`		`v/vi`		`I/vii`		`III/II`		`V/IV`		`i/VI`		`iii/VII`		`v/I`

In the following charts, we express the layout of four different C/F instruments in absolute pitch.

33 key Club System layout, 10 helpers	30 key Club System layout, 7 helpers
Please click theimage for a larger view.	Please click theimage for a larger view.
Please click theimage for a larger view.	Please click theimage for a larger view.
27 key Club System layout, 4 helpers	25 key Club System layout, 4 helpers

As you can see, the layouts are all based on the 33 key system.
The 25 key system is simply a truncated 33 key system.
The 30 key system makes up for one of the missing helper keys by sacrificing the first key on the home row to be a helper.
There is also a 31 key layout analogous to the above with the low d/eb key added to the 30 key layout.

Bb/Eb instrument

By popular request, here is the 33-key layout for the Bb/Eb instrument. If you are playing a smaller instrument, e.g., a 30-key instrument, please note that the first button on the home row is E/Gb on that size instrument.

Bb/Eb instrument 33 key Club System Layout
Please click the image for a larger view.

The Layout in Music Notation

Here we show Club System fingering in music notation based on the C/F instrument. Transpose appropriately for G/C, Bb/Eb etc. instrument. Click on the image to show the music larger.

Please click the image for a larger (more detailed) view.

The Club System Compromise

The Club System is a compromise between the regularity of International System layout and the need for more versatility. Let's examine that compromise that compromise octave by octave. (For a detailed examination of the International System, please see the companion volume A Muscian's Guide to Tex-Mex Accordion ). Our examination will refer to the full 33 key system and we will speak in terms of a C/F instrument, but the principles hold the same for any version of the instrument, once one transposes to the proper key.

First of all, note that the home row of the Club system from the third key the left to the next-to-last key on the right replicates the same range of the home row of the International system. But whereas the three rows of an International System accordion are identical in relative layout, the companion (middle) row of the Club System twice has (on the C/F instrument) a C note where the International System would have a D . (Of course the notes to which we refer would be Bb in place of C on a Bb/Eb Club System instrument, or a G in place of A on the G/C version, etc.) This incidentally renders the center key (sometimes called a "gleichton" key from the German for "same note") of the Club System companion row unisonoric. Ignoring the helper row for a moment and considering the instrument as a classic two-row button accordion (effectively the two rows closest to the bellows of a three-row International System instrument), there are two advantages to this modification and one disadvantage. The advantages are:

Melodic, in that the home key of the instrument can be played entirely on the draw on the home row and the companion row.
- This actually was the original Club System insight, thus two-row Club System instruments omitting the helper row do exist, though they are not common.
Harmonic, in that the companion row on the draw now produces the home key major chord plus a flatted seventh.

The disadvantage is that the companion row can no longer play its own major scale without a jump to the home row for the D note. This is a very small disadvantage, especially when we note that the presence of draw C (missing on a two-row button accordion and obtainable only on the outer diatonic row of the International System, a row which is missing on the Club System instrument) in conjunction with the helper row is the final note rendering the Club System fully chromatic on the draw within the range of the helper accidentals.

Topmost octave of the companion row

Striving for versatility above regularity, the Club System companion row has the classic E - G - Bb - d on the draw of the topmost octave, the treble octave least suited to harmony and most suited to melody. This allows the player to play in more classic button accordion style, including double stops, in the highest melody octave of the two diatonic rows.

Low end of the home row

The low end of the home row also is modified in the interest of versatility. To be consistent, the lowest two keys of the home row on the 33 key instrument would be C / F and E / A, but the actual C / D and E / G are more useful harmonically. Also, on the 31 key instrument, the lowest key is a helper key and not in the diatonic system, in order to maintain chromaticity, albeit not purely draw.

The Helper Row

The Club System helper row , the innermost row to the bellows, contains an interesting assortment of cleverly arranged note assignments.

Preliminary observations on the helper row

Here are some observations about that arrangement as represented by a C/F instrument with the full 10-helper system:

The helper row renders the instrument:
- Fully chromatic from the lowest F to the highest F,
  - a distance of three octaves.
- Fully chromatic entirely on the draw between the lowest Bb to the third F,
  - a distance of a twelfth,
    - e.g., the range of a clarinet in one register before pressing the shift key.
Two notes of the home key and one of the companion row's key are missing on the press, the II, VII and VIIb of the home key (DB and Bb respectively).
- Two of these press notes, the II and VIIb (D and Bb )are found on the helper row.
The helper notes are arranged for convenience in chording rather than entirely in chromatic order.
The selection is not perfectly fair, but it is practical and useful.
- Examples of "unfairness":
  - No draw IV# (F#) in upper octave
  - No press VIb (Ab) anywhere
  - No press VII (B) anywhere

Remember that some of these observations may apply in a limited sense or not at all the models with shorter helper rows.

Helper row rationale

It is an interesting and useful exercise to determine the reasoning behind the particular placement of the notes in the helper row. We will start at the low end of the helper row and work upwards in pitch. The author's observation here are plausible but not exhaustive. The layout of the helper row is arbitrary but clever. Feel free to draw your own conclusions as to the usefulness of each note.

As usual, when the discussion devolves to absolute rather than relative pitch, we refer to the C/F instrument for convenience and clarity.

IV#/V#
- This key (present only on the 10-helper variant) extends the chromatic range down to the low F without stealing the lowest button on the home row (which is how the 7-helper variant handles the matter).
ii/iiib
- This key (present only on the 10-helper and 8-helper variants) adds a press d and a draw eb .
- The press note is useful, in fact, sorely missed on the 7-helper variant, since it is the second of the home row and the sixth of the companion row.
- The draw iiib note is also located very conveniently for
  - being a flatted seventh for the companion row, and
  - being a flatted third for the home row.
iiib/i#
- The press note allows an easy C minor and F7 and Eb major.
- The draw note is unique and conveniently located near its corresponding natural.
viib/iv#
- The press note being the flat seventh of the home key allows an easy C7 chord.
- The draw note allows a D major chord fingered on the draw spatially close to the D minor chord found on three adjacent buttons of the home row on the draw.
iv#/vib
- The press note allows some nice chromatic action on the press.
- The draw note is unique and makes for an easy Ab chord.
  - It's conveniently located near its corresponding natural.
  - This allows, for example, an easy draw F minor.
IIIb/I# and II/IIIb
- The observations above regarding iiib /i# and ii/iiib apply here.
- However, it is interesting that the order of these two keys are reversed from their position of appearance in the previous octave.
  - This is apparently because it's more important that the iiib/i# be present than the other key on the smaller helper rows.
IV#/VIb
- The observations above regarding iv#/vib apply here.
iiib/i# and ii/iiib
- The observations regarding these two keys in the previous octave apply here.

Ease of Play Comparison

We compare the ease of playing the five "most-home" keys on the International System and the Club System in the following table , in which:

For International System
- G/C/F is used as the example instrument;
- accidental means a note pressed or drawn on the individual accidental keys at the low end of the three rows.
  - We mean the note itself; one accidental obtained on two different keys is still one accidental.
For Club System
- C/F is used as the example instrument;
- accidental means a note pressed or drawn on the helper row.
  - We mean the note itself; one accidental obtained on two different keys is still one accidental.

Again, we do not take the bass keys into account in this table.

**Comparison of various keys**
	(G/C/F) International (" Tex-Mex ")	(C/F) Club
Bb (VII)	Full scale draw lower octave draw with one press upper octave One accidental	Full scale primarily draw with one press in two octaves. One accidental
F (IV)	Full scale on draw No accidentals	Full scale draw No accidentals
C (I)	Full scale both press and draw No accidentals	Full scale draw no accidentals
G(V)	Full scale draw with no accidentals Full scale press in lower octave with one accidental	Full scale draw One accidental
D (II)	Full scale Press lower octave Draw upper octave One accidental	Full scale draw Two accidentals.

Overall, it's a little simpler and more balanced between press and draw (which we didn't examine in the chart) to play the outermost of the five "most-home" keys on the International system. However, outside the five "most-home" keys it's generally easier to play on the Club if you like draw. Very subjectively and based on his own repertoire of traditional, ethnic and jazz, the author feels it is marginally easier to play the International System but that one can achieve a broader artistic spectrum by playing the Club System. You might choose the rule of thumb that if it is "party time", grab the Tex-Mex (International System) box, but if it's "virtuoso time", reach for Club System. Your experience may vary from ours! Enjoy!

The Bass Buttons

As we mentioned previously , the Club system bass layout, like the bass layout for most diatonic button accordions, has not kept pace with the evolution of the right-hand melody side of the instruments. As a result, they are of very limited use, though we have not heard that the reeds are commonly removed by players as are the bass reeds of Tex-Mex International System instruments. However, in the interest of completeness, we will examine here the layout of the Club System bass.

There are at leas three bass layouts used in Club System instruments:

8-key
10-key
12-key

Although the 12-key bass layout is more interesting, both theoretically and practically, the 8-key bass layout is increasingly predominating, perhaps as a measure of the insignificance attributed to the bass layout by many players. One must purchase the top-of-the-line instrument from the manufacturer to receive the 12-key bass layout.

Each of the layouts possess four columns. The 8-key layout has two rows, the 12-key layout three rows. Both bass note and chord keys are bisonoric. The columns go bass note, chord, bass note, chord. In the diagrams below:

The reader is facing the bass side of the instrument laid on its back with the top of the instrument to the right.
The press note or chord is indicated to the left of the slash, the draw note or chord is to the right of the slash.
Individual bass notes are indicated by their name, chords by their full name.
The system shown is for the C/F pitched instrument, transpose for other pitches.

Here are the two bass layouts:

**8-key Club System Bass Layout**
Eb/Bb	Eb Major / Bb Major	A/D	A Major / D Minor
F/C	F Major / C Major	C/G	C Major / G Major

**10-key Club System Bass Layout**
Eb/Bb	Eb Major / Bb Major	A/D	A Major / D Minor
F/C	F Major / C Major	C/G	C Major / G Major
	F7 / C7	C/G	C7/ G7

**12-key Club System Bass Layout**
Eb/Bb	Eb Major / Bb Major	A/D	A Major / D Minor
F/C	F Major / C Major	C/G	C Major / G Major
C#/E	F Major / C Major	F#/B	C Major / G Major

<== Previous

[Return to Table of Contents]

Next ==>