The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #167536   Message #4043384
Posted By: SqueezeMe
31-Mar-20 - 12:09 PM
Thread Name: Accordion left hand position
Subject: RE: Accordion left hand position
OK, now we know what you are playing... :-)

A few tips and ideas for beginners relevant to bass technique, as taught to me 50 odd years ago and have stood me in good stead:

There is often a temptation among beginners to not push the hand far enough through the wrist strap. The fingers should be curled rather than flat, the tips striking the buttons at close to a 180 degree angle. This will position the wrist to take the strain of pulling the bellows out, while the bass of the hand tends to be used to push the bellows in.

The tightness of the wrist strap is important. It should be sufficiently close to the wrist so that there is no appreciable pause when changing bellows direction, but loose enough to be able to move the hand to reach the buttons required. So a bit of a compromise situation.

A couple of other points, though not directly answering the OP's question, but may be useful:

Many beginners wear their accordion too far to their right, which can adversely affect their bass technique. I was always taught that the black notes of the treble keyboard should be more or less down the centre of the chest. so it tends to prevent dragging the bellows out too far.

Another tip is to try and play the bass as staccato as possible; treat the buttons as being red hot, especially for dance music. Many beginners tend to hold down bass buttons while they search for the next note, causing them to run out of air and also to make the music sound a bit stodgy (I can't think of a more descriptive word). And if the bellows do go out too far, then your hand/wrist position may slip as you try to recover.

The above ideas are those that have worked for me, and for those to whom I've previously passed them on. YMMD of course, but maybe they will be of use to the OP. If anyone has contrary views, please share; there are wonderful players out there who have their own way of doing things which work for them perfectly well.   

Good luck, Mo.