Place the strap of the accordion over the back of your neck and maintain good posture, standing or sitting. Locate the thumb strap (if there is one) and hand straps on the sides of the accordion, and insert your thumbs and/or hands into the straps.
Put the accordion on your left knee. Pull and push the accordion back and forth with your left hand a few times to get the feel of the instrument. Notice the sound differences when pushed fast, short, slow and long.
Try a few notes on the keyboard with your right hand. Locate a C note--to the left of a set of two black keys (see Resources). The C note repeats every eight notes.
Play a C scale--C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C--by starting at the C key and playing only the white keys up to the next C note. For every note during the scale, push and close the bellows to create the sound.
Look at the keyboard side of the accordion. These keys play the melody, while the buttons on the other side play bass notes. Experiment with several styles to learn your way around an accordion.