left hand bass information

[accordian]

hello so I was practising today and
started wondering as when I was playing
it would feel like sometimes the buttons were in
a different spot and think I have the answer : my hand
is moving up a bit. and so I kept practising. I was just
wondering about more hand movement to take into
consideration when practising in terms of what to avoid and
what to try and use.

I'd just like to ask anyone or any tips or what they do or just information
in general.

eg. get your left hand and hold it vertically and pretend you are holding the bass.
now rotate at the wrist downwards.so now you have more of a reach and combined with
rotating left or right then that adds to it. (I know this has nothing to do with muscle memory
as that is keep trying to get better and you will get better or practice makes perfect and
don't worry that's not where im going with this post)

this might sound like a bit of a vague post but yeah im just looking for any information
which may be "handy" lol

thanks guys

 

[Anyanka]

I don't think I rotate my hand at all - it's added strain on the wrist - best to move up and down rather than rotate.

 

[jozz]

depends on the music, tempo and your comfort level?

sliding or rotating is not really a choice, you probably end up doing combinations of both

just aim for continuity in your posture, hands, fingering etc. for each piece of music you practice, once you start to master it, it will matter less and less

 

[accordian]

I dont think I rotate my hand at all - its added strain on the wrist - best to move up and down rather than rotate.

if you dont mind me asking could you
record yourself playing as Ive not heard of
this.

thanks

 

[accordian]

depends on the music, tempo and your comfort level?

sliding or rotating is not really a choice, you probably end up doing combinations of both

just aim for continuity in your posture, hands, fingering etc. for each piece of music you practice, once you start to master it, it will matter less and less

when you say continuity do you mean
trying to keep getting what im trying to play
correct and through doing this I will start to master
it and then the information im looking for will
matter less.

thanks sry for making you
have to say that again for
some reason it seems to tough
for my brain to get lol
(not surprising; thanks)

 

[jozz]

when you say continuity do you mean
trying to keep getting what im trying to play
correct and through doing this I will start to master
it and then the information im looking for will
matter less.

that also

but mainly keeping your hand in the same positions when practicing on the same music pieces

 

[accordian]

when you say continuity do you mean
trying to keep getting what im trying to play
correct and through doing this I will start to master
it and then the information im looking for will
matter less.

that also

but mainly keeping your hand in the same positions when practicing on the same music pieces

Ah I see.

Any tips for this? Is this where the buttons with the grooves
Come into play? I thought those were just for navigating for
The correct starting button.

I’ve. Been trying to contact macs accordions as I hear he teaches
But so far no luck at the moment I’m in dire need of a teacher. At
The moment it seems really difficult. I will admit that I still don’t have
Hugh Palmer books but I have been following Jeffs advice on practicing
2 button jumps and I can now play road to lisdoonvarna to a decent level
(In my opinion anyway) and I tried what shall we do with a drunken sailor
But upon first try it was pretty rubbish I will admit.

Anyone subscribed to Moshe zutcher? I’m considering it but not sure yet
I know that’s what the trial is for but for some reason it won’t let me register for it.

Thanks guys keep the tips going. Thanks

 

[jozz]

Any tips for this? Is this where the buttons with the grooves
Come into play? I thought those were just for navigating for
The correct starting button.

Im not a teacher but I would describe it as follows:

Every root note has a certain circle around it that you can reach comfortably (depending on the size of your fingers). Lets say we play Drunken Sailor. For me, Dm is in my comfort-circle from C. So I will keep steady at C, as reaching Dm is upwards (easier) and Ill have to hit F later on. So with this song I wont slide my hand, Ill just keep it at C (ring finger). Starting out the song from Dm position would be a mistake, because then Id have to jump down right away.

Suppose it was a reach to Am, which is a stretch for me, and then Id have to slide a bit. But I wont slide completely over to A because Id have F later. Id slide my hand up to the G position (ring finger) and then A falls in my comfort circle again. G is still close enough to F

These personal distance rules come with practice, but it is important to plan ahead. So dont do this just randomly, but try to follow your personal circles.

 

[accordian]

Any tips for this? Is this where the buttons with the grooves
Come into play? I thought those were just for navigating for
The correct starting button.

Im not a teacher but I would describe it as follows:

Every root note has a certain circle around it that you can reach comfortably (depending on the size of your fingers). Lets say we play Drunken Sailor. For me, Dm is in my comfort-circle from C. So I will keep steady at C, as reaching Dm is upwards (easier) and Ill have to hit F later on. So with this song I wont slide my hand, Ill just keep it at C (ring finger). Starting out the song from Dm position would be a mistake, because then Id have to jump down right away.

Suppose it was a reach to Am, which is a stretch for me, and then Id have to slide a bit. But I wont slide completely over to A because Id have F later. Id slide my hand up to the G position (ring finger) and then A falls in my comfort circle again. G is still close enough to F

These personal distance rules come with practice, but it is important to plan ahead. So dont do this just randomly, but try to follow your personal circles.

hello jozz. I tried something like this when
I first started but in a bit of an awkward way
I used the navigation buttons eg. c , e etc.
with a 4 button radius so id start at c and just say id need
b I would try to go to e and then use that to get to b
but this sounds much better. looking forward to trying
this.

 

[accordian]

thanks for all you
guys help so far

 

[Anyanka]

I dont think I rotate my hand at all - its added strain on the wrist - best to move up and down rather than rotate.

if you dont mind me asking could you record yourself playing as Ive not heard of this.

thanks

Ive got two videos of our former ceilidh band line-up with accordion... the first one is closer-up, but the second one has more movement in the left hand. It looks like there is some bending of the wrist, but mostly I slide my hand up and down. Sound qualitys not the best! Hope its useful in some way

 

[accordian]

I dont think I rotate my hand at all - its added strain on the wrist - best to move up and down rather than rotate.

if you dont mind me asking could you record yourself playing as Ive not heard of this.

thanks

Ive got two videos of our former ceilidh band line-up with accordion... the first one is closer-up, but the second one has more movement in the left hand. It looks like there is some bending of the wrist, but mostly I slide my hand up and down. Sound qualitys not the best! Hope its useful in some way

thanks its really appreciated

 

[george garside]

one of the main problems that newcomers to the accordion have is not having the left arm sufficiently through the bass strap. I recommend having the bass strap roughly where a watch strap would be if you were wearing one. ( put watch on right arm when playing!)

with the arm in this position quite a small articulation of the wrist will enable you to reach several diagonal rows of bass buttons , with further movement if required being by sliding the arm inside the bass strap. Where the arm is first positioned depends obviously on the key(s) that a tune is to be played in and a change of key mid tune or between a set of tunes may require movement of the arm to a new positon under the bass strap.

With experience this will become totally automatic.

george

 

[debra]

one of the main problems that newcomers to the accordion have is not having the left arm sufficiently through the bass strap. I recommend having the bass strap roughly where a watch strap would be if you were wearing one. ( put watch on right arm when playing!)
...

Very good point! I learned from the start to put the left arm far enough through the strap for easier reach. A side effect of it was that when playing the piano my left wrist started being raised up more than the right wrist (which is almost straight when you play the accordion correctly) so piano teachers could tell that I was also an accordion player without ever having heard me play the accordion. Always putting the arm far enough through the strap also helped to feel comfortable with the MIII melody bass many years later.