The first thing I've played that I'm a little proud of.

[midairmatthew]

Hey Accordionists. First of all, thank you for creating such a great forum. I havent posted much here, but Ive read a ton of things that Ive found very educational.

At my grandpas funeral last summer, one of his best friends played a couple of my grandpas favorite accordion songs (polkas of course, as my grandpa came from a Polish/American farming family), and I immediately knew that I had to learn accordion. Since then, Ive been teaching myself for the past 10 months or so with the Palmer-Hughes books, and playing various other things Ive found online to kind of supplement it.

I ordered a foot tambourine a couple of weeks ago, and its been equally fun and frustrating to mess around with. Yesterday I recorded a short little song with it, and Im starting to feel like I might actually be making some accordion progress.

Anyway, heres me, with a Hohner Tango VM (gifted to me by my future brother-in-law!), and a foot tambourine:

I was hoping that some of you very skilled and experienced players could maybe give me some criticism. I havent taken any formal lessons yet, so if you see anything Im doing terribly wrong, Id love to know about it.

Cheers!
Matthew

 

[TomBR]

Well played! Nice steady rhythm and clear speed changes. It's enjoyable and it's danceable!
Cheers,
Tom

 

[JerryPH]

Definitely something to be proud of!

If I was to nit-pick a little, get that right elbow up. Your right wrist should not be bent at all while playing. It constricts free movement and is a sign of bad technique. At first this feels awkward and may cause minor shoulder muscle pain, but this disappears fast as the muscle adapts and your lack of future carpal tunnel issues will be the reward as well as having the ability to play at faster speeds easier.

BTW, I found your bellows control above average for someone practicing for only 10 months.

Keep motivated, you are doing very well. I enjoyed it enough to want to watch the video twice!

 

[Panya37]

Great stuff! You kept my attention to the last note.

 

[acordiansam]

Yes, very good! My tip is to relax and have fun.

The lazy wrist thing will help in a the long run. I still do it especially after a couple sets.

 

[midairmatthew]

Thanks, everyone.

I just played around with my accordion for a bit, trying really hard to keep my elbow up. I've definitely developed a terrible habit, because doing it the correct way (elbow up!) feels unnatural and occupies my mind, making it harder to play. I guess this gives me an excuse to play easy songs for a couple weeks

Thanks again.

 

[EMan]

Great Job Matthew - keep up the good work and keep practicing. I agree about the wrist. I get real picky about the wrist issue with my students. I think there will also be less fatigue in your arm/wrist by positioning it properly.

Ed

 

[Glenn]

Hi Matthew. Good first posting and a dynamic tune in which you injected your own expression.
One tip would be to face the accordion more squarely to the microphone (wherever it was).
I had the distinct impression that the treble was a bit drowned out by the bass.

 

[hais1273]

Good first video. I think you should be proud of this clip, it takes a bit of confidence and courage to post clips, especially when/if you are aware of any blemishes (real or imagined) in your playing. I know you were changing the speed, but at one point the speed would have spot on for dancing a scottishe! keep going. The foot tambourine adds a little something as well.

 

[Matt Butcher]

I'm late to the party as usual but you should be a lot proud of this after ten months, you put the tune across with great drive and it's very effective. If I was going to make any comment on playing - glass houses, stones etc - relaxation was mentioned above...but great job and after not long at all. I would like to hear more.