left hand accuracy

[fphlpsnrg]

The left hand, and most of the right should be played "blindly". That being said, on a middle to full sized accordion, the left hand should be played with the wrist flat against the side of the instrument. This orientation will focus the push-pull of the bellows on the major muscles of shoulder and upper arm. There should be little or no pressure on the wrist. The bass strap itself should be loose enough to access the full range of the keyboard. One thing rarely mentioned: visit either a motorcycle or winter sports shop and purchase a pair of inexpensive glove liners, and cut off the fingers of the left one. Wearing the glove liner will eliminate the friction of the palm and the heel of the hand against the side of the accordion and the back of the wrist against the strap.

Of course, accuracy in general comes with repetition, perfect practice, and time.

 

[Eddy Yates]

One thing rarely mentioned: visit either a motorcycle or winter sports shop and purchase a pair of inexpensive glove liners, and cut off the fingers of the left one. Wearing the glove liner will eliminate the friction of the palm and the heel of the hand against the side of the accordion and the back of the wrist against the strap.

There are a number of Etsy-type small companies who make custom fingerless gloves in different lengths. I got a pair that work great. Of course we only wear them on the left hand, so you have two.
This way you can get them in your favorite color, like Llama-saliva Yellow.

 

[dan]

Theres a Cathy Travers video that illustrates some of the good suggestions (hand position, glove) made in this thread