Strange (to me anyway) Bass Method

[knobby]

A new tutor book arrived today; "Play Accordion Volume 1" by Peter M. Haas. I started to read through it and at the section talking about where to position your fingers on the bass section I was a little confused. When I had lessons years ago I was taught 4th finger on bass note & 3rd finger on major chord. I know other people play with 3rd & 2nd finger instead, but I haven't come across anything quite like what is shown in this book (sorry it's a little blurry).

It seems like the book advocates using different finger combinations for different notes; 3 & 2 for G, 4 & 3 for C, 5 & 4 for F. I haven't read much past this yet, so don't know how they cope when you've run out of finger combinations!

Has anyone come across this before? Are there any advantages to using this method?

 

[debra]

People come up with the strangest ideas. Doesn't look like there is an extensive explanation included with this method to explain why it would be a good idea, and even a better idea than the common 4-3 scheme (common in most of Europe) or 3-2 scheme (used in Russia and also with the Belgian bass system).

 

[Glenn]

The Peter Haas book was one of the first I bought (in German).
I ditched the fingering after 10 minutes.
As I’m a good music reader I was more interested in the graded practice pieces.
If I remember well they were rather nice, tuneful exercises but in my opinion the level of skill needed to play them went up far to fast.

 

[Glug]

I thought one of the principles of Stradella was you can change key by moving up/down and the fingering remains the same (until you go off the end).

 

[embers]

I would like to learn more from Mr. Haas to understand what "advantages" this method provides. In an editorial review of this book, Mr. Haas stated: "For the new edition I have changed one thing in particular: the fingerings for the left hand have been altered to conform with current pedagogical standards."

If the current pedagogical standards were presented for comparison, the purpose behind this fingering method might be clearer. The 4-3 and 3-2 fingering options have been well-established and well-used for a long time. If this is now taught more to new students, it would also be good pedagogical practice to evaluate outcomes/effectiveness. Anyway, mixing methodology seems odd to me as well.

 

[Tom]

I suppose it makes sense if you have to play a lot of I-IV-V major chords rapidly, maybe this occurs in classical or some other music. It's similar to guitar pedagogy where your hand gets used to the relative positions of similar patterns of notes. In some situations it could be easier than always moving your hand to get to 4-3 or 3-2. I think lots of people use 4-3 on I and 3-2 on (major) V. I play mostly folk and popular styles and usually use V7 so it doesn't help much.

 

[Eddy Yates]

If there was an accordion teacher in Montana I probably would understand why you would even consider using just one or the other. As it is, my piano training tells me that the less you have to move your hand, the easier it is, so I see nothing but advantage in being flexible with fingering. This also comes from being influenced by jazz players, who don’t always play “correctly”, but are ready for whatever direction presents itself.

 

[knobby]

Maybe I'm shouting before I'm hurt!

I've been pointed to this article on Peter Haas website:

Fingersatz für die Bassknöpfe beim Akkordeon | Peter M. Haas

Für die Bassknöpfe am Akkordeon gibt es zwei grundlegende Fingerhaltungen ★ Hier erfährst du, warum das so ist, und wie du Akkorde und Bässe richtig greifst

www.petermhaas.de

I've translated the text with Google Translate which is below:-

Accordion Bass: This is how the fingering works

Some beginners are confused about the bass button fingerings they are supposed to learn. “My boyfriend learned it very differently,” they say. Here I explain what basic finger positions there are for the bass buttons on the accordion!

What fingering for the bass buttons on the left?

There are two basic finger positions - diagonal and vertical.

Depending on the situation, we hold our fingers in two different basic positions (which of course flow into one another in practice):

• Either we put our fingers at an angle in the diagonal row of the applicable chord (1).

• Or we place our fingers vertically on neighboring basic bass notes (2).

1. Accordion bass fingering diagonally for bass note / chord

Fig. 1: Fingering on the accordion bass with diagonal fingers
Here we put our fingers diagonally and play bass notes and chord notes alternately.

We place the ring finger (4) on the basic bass (here C) so that the middle finger (3) can play the major chord and the index finger (2) lies on the minor or seventh chord.

This is the normal case with accompaniment (bass chord). The fingers wander from one diagonal to the next when changing chords.

Many players can't grab any other way. But this convenience has its price: Those who have not known anything else very often get used to a stiff, crooked hand position. Above all, the little finger, which has never learned to cooperate, is sprained or curled up ... That is why it has proven useful to vary this finger position from the very beginning (and of course again and again if necessary): in a flexible combination of diagonal and vertical Attitude.

2. Accordion bass fingering vertical for bass runs

Fig. 2: Fingering on the accordion bass with the fingers held vertically
In the scale game, the diagonal is of no use to us. Here we place our fingers vertically so that the fingers are on neighboring bass notes: about 5th finger on basic bass F, finger 4 on basic bass C, finger 3 on basic bass G, finger 2 on basic bass D.

In this way we can play the whole scale in the interplay of the basic and third basses without having to change position (each finger can stay in its row). The little finger is also challenged here.

(EXERCISES ON THIS: in the book SpielAkkordeon , page 15, and page 127 ff)

3. Combination of diagonal and vertical posture

Image 3: Mixed vertical and diagonal fingering
To help the beginner to use all fingers equally, many teachers recommend the vertical finger position for the first accompaniments (with C major, F major, G major):

Finger 4 is on basic bass C, finger 5 on basic bass F, finger 3 is on basic bass G.

The neighboring finger plays the associated major chord.

C major is contested by the pair of fingers 4-3, G major by the pair of fingers 3-2, and F major by the pair of fingers 5-4.

Personal experience in teaching

In my class I tried this fingering (skeptically at first) and was enthusiastic about the effect. My students get used to better equality of fingers and a calmer hand position from the outset. As a result, in 2007 I also revised my book SpielAkkordeon in such a way that this finger position is required for the first C major pieces.

This finger position is only used for the first few exercises in order to also train the little finger that is used less. “Playing the accordion” leads seamlessly in chapter 2 to the “usual” diagonal finger position.

In every special case, it later turns out to be an advantage that one has “emancipated” all fingers early on, - on the keys the little finger is also there from the beginning; and on the keys, too, we use neighboring fingers for neighboring tones instead of stiffly pushing a schematic handle back and forth.

Therefore my recommendation: If you have not used anything other than the oblique diagonal position of the fingers, you should definitely catch up on some exercise pieces with the beginner's fingerings in the vertical finger position as a relaxation exercise, so that fingers and hand become more flexible.

(EXERCISES FOR THIS: see playing accordion from page 16; all piece accompaniments in chapter 1 and beginning of chapter 2)

 

[Zevy]

I think lots of people use 4-3 on I and 2-1 on (major) V.

Tom - I assume you meant 3-2 on (major) V.

 

[Dingo40]

Knobby,
Interesting, thanks!

 

[Tom]

Tom - I assume you meant 3-2 on (major) V.

Yes, thanks Zevy!

 

[Tom]

Makes a lot of sense with this explanation, thanks Knobby!

 

[JeffJetton]

This finger position is only used for the first few exercises in order to also train the little finger that is used less. “Playing the accordion” leads seamlessly in chapter 2 to the “usual” diagonal finger position.

Ahhhh, well that actually makes more sense.

Seems weird (and maybe a bit cruel) to train a new student one way and then pull the rug out from under them like that. "Just kidding! Here's how you really play chord patterns!" But it seems to have some proven benefit? (And I wonder if it better helps the student build a mental "map" of the LH buttons when they start out like that?)

In any case, I do like the idea of bringing in exercises using all the fingers somewhat early on. Note that the Palmer-Hughes method sort of does this in Book 1 with its arrangement of "All Through the Night", which uses a similar vertical finger positioning.