Quick fingers

[Miroslav1806]

What is a good exercise for making your fingers faster / more stable?

 

[Tom]

Post in thread 'Arpeggio Practice'

https://www.accordionists.info/threads/arpeggio-practice.8567/post-89871

Pretty much everything you need to know is right here, organized.

 

[JeffJetton]

What is a good exercise for making your fingers faster / more stable?

Practicing more slowly will make them more stable. From there you can speed up, gradually. If you start with speed first, it's difficult to ever achieve stability.

Scales, arpeggios, and Hanon exercises are the time-honored ways to build dexterity and strengthen the weaker fingers that can slow down the entire hand.

A great trick for mastering an extended run (for example, a passage of many even eighth or sixteenth notes in a row) is to temporarily alter the rhythmic values of the notes so that you play the first note very long, the second note very short, and continue to alternate in that long/short pattern. Really exaggerate the difference--the long notes should be quite long and short notes very snappy. Do this several times and then flip it around so the first note is short, the second long, and so on. Practice that several times. Continue to switch between rounds of long/short and short/long.

When you then go back to playing it the normal, even way, you'll be surprised at how much easier, faster, and more accurate it is.

 

[Pipemajor]

Practicing more slowly will make them more stable. From there you can speed up, gradually. If you start with speed first, it's difficult to ever achieve stability.

Scales, arpeggios, and Hanon exercises are the time-honored ways to build dexterity and strengthen the weaker fingers that can slow down the entire hand.

A great trick for mastering an extended run (for example, a passage of many even eighth or sixteenth notes in a row) is to temporarily alter the rhythmic values of the notes so that you play the first note very long, the second note very short, and continue to alternate in that long/short pattern. Really exaggerate the difference--the long notes should be quite long and short notes very snappy. Do this several times and then flip it around so the first note is short, the second long, and so on. Practice that several times. Continue to switch between rounds of long/short and short/long.

When you then go back to playing it the normal, even way, you'll be surprised at how much easier, faster, and more accurate it is.

Before you know it, your playing Scottish Country Dance music

 

[Jim2010]

In addition to practicing slowly, play relaxed. Try to eliminate any tension. Slow, relaxed, patient practice will pay big dividends over time. The old joke is that playing "fast" is just playing "slowly" fast.

 

[JerryPH]

This is one of those questions that really only has ONE answer... grim determination (lol).
Fingers are like any body part.

Want to run fast?
Run a lot and gradually build up your speed with TONS of time. Run over straights and hills, constantly push your limits..

Want fast pushups
Do a lot of pushups and gradually build up your speed with TONS of time. Do many different kinds of pushups, constantly push your limits.

Want fast fingers?
Do tons of speed exercises and gradually build up your speed with TONS of time. Do many different kinds of excersies, constantly push your limits.

One of my favourites for building stable speed are the Hanon exercises. Start slow, build speed. It takes months... YEARS... to build true speed, this is not something that comes overnight. The older you are, the slower the progress... embrace it, accept it... it is what it is. Anything under 40 and you have the possibility to attain some very fast fingers... IF YOU COMMIT. Constant dedicated practice, and practice until the forearm muscles burn, thats a good indicator. At the upper echelon the phrase "no pain, no gain" is very true.

Your level will rise to your level of commitment, you decide how far you want/need to go.

 

[NigelB]

You don’t need to use much more pressure than drumming your fingers on the desk.

 

[EMan]

Practice, Practice, Practice ! Do exercises like Hannon 1 and 2, (in all 12 keys), Pietro Diero's school of Velocity. Whatever you're unable to do at an acceptable speed, do at a slower speed until you CAN do it at the acceptable speed....and then do it faster. In addition there are many other books of technique published, for example Czerny wrote one like Diero's School of Velocity. There are many, not important which one you choose. And don't forget your bass fingers. Do whatever you can find to train your left hand. You don't need "free bass", Stradella is what most accordionists are presented with when the start and on into the years.