Livestream | Fundamental Ideas of Dynamics

Hi, I’m Dallas Vietty—accordion performer and educator based in Pennsylvania, USA. I’ve been helping accordionists develop expressive, creative, and dynamic musicianship for over a decade, and I’m excited to kick off a new month-long focus that’s all about one of the most powerful—and most overlooked—aspects of music: dynamics.

This livestream is called “Fundamental Ideas of Dynamics”, and it sets the stage for everything we’ll be exploring in the coming weeks. I’ll be introducing the concept of having a rich, flexible pallet of dynamics—a toolkit you can draw from to bring life, contrast, and emotion into your playing. We’ll talk about how dynamics can shape phrases, tell stories, and guide the listener through tension and release.

I’ll also share some of the deep insights I’ve learned from two brilliant French accordion pedagogues, Jacques Mornet and Nathalie Bouchiex, whose teachings center around emotional arc, breath, and the physicality of phrasing. Their approach helped me rethink how dynamic control connects directly to musical meaning.

Alongside those ideas, we’ll revisit two concepts we’ve discussed in past livestreams: Pablo Casals’ idea of “Rainbows,” where each note carries a spectrum of dynamic color within a phrase, and Rodolfo Mederos’ “Círculos,” a way of thinking about musical motion and breath as a continuous flow of energy and expression. These metaphors offer profound guidance for shaping lines that are alive and moving.

Finally, we’ll take a close look at why dynamics are so often overlooked in accordion playing—especially in early learning—and how we can change that starting now. If you’ve ever felt your playing was missing something, or you’re ready to deepen your expressiveness, this livestream is the perfect place to start.