HiHo_Silver

Thanks for the book reference.

"The basic idea [of this book] is to play a bass accompaniment roughly in the same manner as playing guitar accompaniment" This is, of course, only one primitive method of extracting rhythm from the Stradella Bass setup. It aussumes that the load will be distributed over all the fingers equally - and for this style it works very well. It is similar to Piano keyboard usage theory (disribute the load equally over all the resources!). This system also is designed for 'Classical Accordion Music' style usage patterns. 'Lady of Spain' et al... ;-)

"Fingering usually starts with ring finger on the fundamental bass, the little finger is used for counter bass, the middle finger for major chord and the first finger handles minor 7th and Diminished." This is a thoroughly recommended method of starting on the full Stradella 6 x 20 120 bass system (making you use all your fingers - and train & strengthen them all equally!), but once again, is designed mainly for the 'boom ching' guitar accompaniment style, which can get very tedious to listen to, if that is the only style of Stradella usage in your playing. It is to be much preferred over the 'two finger' (M, I) style, which, unfortunately many beginners teach themselves, thinking it is easy. It is easy for a start, but very limited, and then you have to retrain yourself. Some Mudcatters have commented on their regret over starting this way. If you play on an instrument with no Dom or Dim rows (like a 4x12 48 Bass) then you may want to use a different finger pattern system.

If you are playing styles of Stradella usage that involve usage patterns that focus on areas of the full 6x20 120 bass system that are not distrbuted equally over the hand held in this suggested position, these then require a different finger pattern distribution, or else the hand will tire more rapidly than necessary. The Accordion Stradella Bass is used in many different areas of the world for many different styles of music - and not always on a full 6x20 120 bass layout.

It is impossible to use this suggested finger pattern usage to play some styles I play (at the speed I play them!) - the one I suggested in the Part Two of my above will perform much faster than this suggested one for that style of music. And it sounds VERY different from a 'Dum Ching' guitar style of accompaniment!

Robin