Tension In The Left Hand Strap

[StargazerTony]

In another thread, Stephen mentioned tension in the left hand strap. That started me wondering. I frequently develop sweaty palms and my teacher suggested getting a pair of cheap white gloves, cut out the fingers, and wear those to help my hand slide up and down the bass side easier. That works wonderfully, although looks a bit strange. Does anyone else do this? If so, will you recommend something other fraying, easily soiled, white gloves ?

 

[JeffJetton]

I dont wear em myself (I find I tend to pivot my palm more than have any need to slide the whole hand... except when things get really leapy)

But what about those cheap brown cloth work gloves that you see for sale for a buck each (or less)?

https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/59....jpeg?odnHeight=450&odnWidth=450&odnBg=FFFFFF>

Another trick that I used to do back in the 80s (when fingerless gloves were a legit fashion statement!) was hit up the formalwear stores when they were having their yearly clearance sales of old rental clothes. You could get the sort of gloves youd wear with a tux for super-cheap. Mostly white, but I think they had grey too. Not sure if thats still a thing though?

You could also get some cycling gloves, which are typically already sans-fingers. Might be too much padding though.

 

[JerryPH]

My palms dont sweat much, but the forearm does, so my solution was a bit different:

http://syner-g.no-ip.biz/mymusic/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/20161207_205518.jpg>

A bit of a custom glove made by my mother using one of my old Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu rash guards, it is the perfect material... thin, very stretchy and wicks perspiration away from the skin. I have 2 black ones, one that I practice with and one that is in the Roland case side pocket as a spare.

 

[Stephen Hawkins]

I have hairy wrists.

 

[StargazerTony]

Excellent and interesting suggestions. Think I will try to grow some additional hair

 

[Stephen Hawkins]

Hi Tony,

Hairy wrists are definitely the answer to your problem, though other suggestions do have merit.

Perhaps I am a descendent of "Olaf the Hairy", which is quite handy during the Winter months.

Kind Regards,

Stephen the Hairy.

 

[TomBR]

Nice one!

Don't forget old Ragnar Hairy Breeches - wearing something over your arm would appear to be a legitimate Viking solution! (According to some accounts he used the breeches when fighting a poison serpent. Maybe Gary Chainsaw Trousers is a modern equivalent.)

Going Back to AccordIan's question - are you sliding for all your bass jumps? If you can reach what you need with your wrist in one place that's often a good deal more secure.

 

[rancoman]

What a sweaty lot you are! :b

Being serious for a moment, I'm not troubled by sweaty wrists, but when I played regularly, the hair on the back of my left wrist was always worn away for the width of the strap.

Also, the wrist bone on my left wrist is FAR larger than the one on my right wrist - my GP says that's the body's way of adapting to use, after (mumble mumble) years of hard playing, like callouses on the hands of someone who uses tools a lot.

The bone I mean is really the end of the long bone coming down from my elbow in line with my little finger - the one you can feel sticking up a little. Or a lot, in the case of my left one!

 

[JerryPH]

What a sweaty lot you are! :b

Being serious for a moment, Im not troubled by sweaty wrists, but when I played regularly, the hair on the back of my left wrist was always worn away for the width of the strap.

During my teens and well in to my 20s I had no hair on the bottom half of my left forearm and the same thing on my left thigh. The hair on my forearm came back about a year after I stopped playing but even today it is easy to see that there is much more hair on the top of my right thigh compared to the left.

The scars of our musical war... lol

 

[george garside]

to help my hand slide up and down the bass side easier.

If the wrist is sufficiently far through the strap you should not need to slide the arm up and down within the strap for most playing. I , with relatively small hands can reach 9 or 10 diagonal rows of bass just by pivoting the wrist, so positioning the arm to suit the key you are playing in will put bass for most purposed inbass reach.

The bass strap should be roughly where a watch would be worn so the wrist joint is well through the strap.

george

 

[StargazerTony]

Hi Tony,

Hairy wrists are definitely the answer to your problem, though other suggestions do have merit.

Kind Regards,

Stephen the Hairy.

Hi Stephen the Hairy. I have purchased a tube of Rogaine and am now applying it to my wrists. Hopefully, hair wont grow on my fingers too.

 

[StargazerTony]

to help my hand slide up and down the bass side easier.

If the wrist is sufficiently far through the strap you should not need to slide the arm up and down within the strap for most playing. I , with relatively small hands can reach 9 or 10 diagonal rows of bass just by pivoting the wrist, so positioning the arm to suit the key you are playing in will put bass for most purposed inbass reach.

The bass strap should be roughly where a watch would be worn so the wrist joint is well through the strap.

george

Hi George. My wrist is apparently not as flexible as yours. I can reach only, for example, from C to A or Eb before things start to bind and Im pushing two buttons. So thats 3 buttons for me vs 9 or 10 for you, unless you mean total reach which would mean 6 for me. A huge difference in either case. In order for me to reach E or Ab from C I must slide. I have worked to curl my fingers correctly above the buttons allowing my wrist to fall under the strap where it wants. Not optimal but something I have worked on with my instructor. In fact, hes given me a song that has several Abm to Gm to F jumps.

Its just one of the physical limitations, we all have, that must be addressed, like not having hairy wrists like Stephen the Hairy does.

 

[Stephen Hawkins]

Tony,

Yes, you must watch out for hairy fingers. Mine, as you might guess, are quite hairy, though I have not found this to be a disadvantage when playing my accordions.

Wearing thin shirts in the Summer can be a little problematic, as chest hair sometimes snags in/on the bellows. My Dad (Len the Hairy) was "the missing link" but, luckily for him, he didn't play the accordion.

Take Care, Old Chap,

Stephen.

 

[Mr Mark]

When I first started playing sweaty hand in the strap was the first problem I encountered. Immediately I wondered about the possibility of a sliding loop mechanism you could put your hand into that would slide up and down the bass section as needed - kind of on a roller assembly, as opposed to the traditional strap. If i had oodles of money and time I probably would have made this happen only to discover the strap still works better. But if someone from here decides to go ahead with this, at the very least send me a test copy, preferably though, a share in the profits would be great :lol: . Now that I see there are simpler solutions I will definitely go there...sometimes I overthink stuff.

As a side, I seriously had an issue with chest hair in the bellows until yesterday when I finally installed a back pad! Wow - now I no longer have to look like a hairy freak at the beach minus chest hair AND save my bellows from the roughly seven gallons of sweat I pour on it per practice session (it made more sense to practice without a shirt than toss a shirt in the laundry after every session).

As another side (maybe I eat too much) - I can only go about 5 rows (4 with competence) before I have to change positions...9 or 10 seems like it would be impossible. Also, I have short fat ******* fingers and have only been at it for two years.

Rogaine gloves are brilliant - this is why I come here.

 

[Stephen Hawkins]

Hi Mark,

Quite apart from chest hair being uncomfortably removed by bellows, I find that shirt buttons get badly chewed as well. Maybe I should have stuck with the Clarinet, as I never encountered any such problems with that instrument.

Kind Regards,

Stephen.

 

[george garside]

The well being ones shirt buttons or hair is far less important than is the well being of the bellows! Bellows protectors are readily available and deal with both problems1

george

 

[Soulsaver]

This has been raised before a couple of times.

Lets get specific: There are a couple of reasons to consider a glove:

a) The bass strap chaffs your left wrist/arm/hairs..

b) Your hand sweats a bit and doesnt slide/sticks on the bass board.

Solution for a is (possibly) only a glove type solution. The thick ones suggested above youll reject, wool gives too much slide and not enough feel.

An alternative I found was a bandage/gauze tube, which is soft stretchy & cheap, and goes the whole 10 to your elbow or whatever works for you - you cut it to whatever length you want. I found it in the Pound Shop, so cheap for a try.

b) After many trials the best solution Ive found (for me) so far is 75mm (3) wide claripore adhesive plastic medical tape. I originally used a 3M (Minesota Mining & Manuf) paper gauze medical tape which works equally well but this Claripore looks even better... its near clear, so doesnt stand out from your bass board... and last longer too.

You stick this low tack tape to your bass board. Its almost invisible but allows your hand to slide, as it has tiny dimples all over it.. and think it doesnt leave a residue.
You only need c 1 ft, but it come in 9M (30ft) lengths so will be good for several accordions and/or a couple of decades... you cant forget it/leave it at home and/or attract jokey attention like a nylon fishnet glove does... which actually works quite well, too..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161594914007? ... EBIDX%3AIT

If you cant get 3, or you want to spend less, a couple of strips of 1 or 2 will also do.

 

[JerryPH]

...and/or attract jokey attention like a nylon fishnet glove does... which actually works quite well, too..

Not saying your idea is wrong... but I doubt any one of these people attract any jokey attention because they wear a full gove:

<YOUTUBE id=oQ32uTyF-GM url=></YOUTUBE>
<YOUTUBE id=3GtCN7RXW0Q url=></YOUTUBE>
<YOUTUBE id=VLG_NQYopcA url=>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLG_NQYopcA</YOUTUBE>

Finally, how about gloves on both sides for camouflaging the concept... lol
<YOUTUBE id=XIJM2kZgYiI url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIJM2kZgYiI>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIJM2kZgYiI</YOUTUBE>

Anyways, in thinking about it, if I look at other videos on Youtube, I see mostly people that play Free Bass accordions that use the full glove, with only a few examples of Stradella players with it. Also, there are no rules that one has to make a full sized one, a simple wrist strap of 3-5 inches wide would do the same thing.

 

[JerryPH]

...and/or attract jokey attention like a nylon fishnet glove does... which actually works quite well, too..

Not saying your idea is wrong... but I doubt any one of these people attract any jokey attention because they wear a full gove:

<YOUTUBE id=oQ32uTyF-GM url=></YOUTUBE>
<YOUTUBE id=VLG_NQYopcA url=></YOUTUBE>
<YOUTUBE id=3GtCN7RXW0Q url=>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GtCN7RXW0Q</YOUTUBE>

Finally, how about gloves on both sides for camouflaging the concept... lol
<YOUTUBE id=XIJM2kZgYiI url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIJM2kZgYiI>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIJM2kZgYiI</YOUTUBE>

Anyways, in thinking about it, if I look at other videos on Youtube, I see mostly people that play Free Bass accordions that use the full glove, with only a few examples of Stradella players with it. Also, there are no rules that one has to make a full sized one, a simple wrist strap of 3-5 inches wide would do the same thing.

 

[Stephen Hawkins]

Well, I don't know! Whatever anyone says, I am not wearing nylon fishnets. I would not deride anyone who does, but it just isn't me.

Whatever next?

Kind Regards,

Stephen.