Getting from one end to the other

[ladydetemps]

Getting from one end to the other

Ok so what's the trick? How do you get from one end of the keyboard to the other and back again without tying your fingers in knots?

Especially intrested how to get from button 6 to button 3 and 4 then down to 6,7,8 and 9.

[LJC]

To me, it depends on the piece, the tempo, the style (you might be able to cross for some buttons to save on fingers), the length of your fingers, etc.

I've yet to find a tune which involves playing all the way up the scale, so I wouldn't worry about trying to do this all in one. The best I can think of off the top of my head is the Stoney Steps which goes from button 3 to button 8 in the first part of the B.

Button 6-3 (playing an octave) is easy by using fingers 1 and 4. If it then involved a lot of playing in the second octave I would probably then play button 4 with my 2nd finger and then switch my whole hand up to the second octave position to use finger 1 for button 6. Give us what your working on and it should be easier to suggest a fingering relative to this.

[xgx]

easy....

close eyes, jump....... 50/50 chance, mostly

you could try tiny piece of sticking plaster as a register/locator on a suitable button... if there's abetter way I'd luv to know too S  

[LJC]

I never put tape on buttons for students (or for violin 'frets'). I think it just creates a dependence on looking/feeling and not developing the sense of where your fingers are based on the sound that is coming out the instrument. It's really not that hard to feel up the buttons and count if necessary. You learn the stretch/movement in your muscle memory that way.

[george garside]

there are man;y different ways of moving up & down the keyboard, & as otheres have said, the method used can vary  according to the needs of the particular bit of a particular tune.  Many tunes can be plaayed using 4,5 or 6 buttons  & can be dealt with by just sliding the hand up or down by one button i.e fingers on 3456 then on 4567  then back to where they started etc etc .the 3 to 6 i.e. jumping up an octaave as for the B part of soldiers joy can be done by either a swift slide up so 1st finger lands on 6 (ok when you get used to it) or more accurately by playing 6 with little finger & swwapping ist finger for little finger whilst still playing the note. 

its really a question of becoming very familier with the keyboard & practicing untill the manual dexterity that will enable movement up & down to develop.
Then just like on any other istrument   you know where you need to go & how to get there!  There are no short cuts  try aas many different ways as you can, & athen decide which work best for you & under what circumstances a particular technique fits best.

It does get much easier with time!
george

[Chris Ryall]

Use the Force. With practice that jump up say 5 buttons will become automatic and you will hit it with the accuracy of a Zen or Jedi master. I understand even Yoda could do this and his fingers ain't big!  Don't use tape or markers. It is critical that your fingers learn to do it themselves (in practice the movement pattern gets wired into your cerebellum). It's actualy rather like touch typing.

If you want to arpeginate a chord up along than 4 buttons there is a real crossed finger issue - especially if that chord is all along one row. I tend to move my hand along and tap in the buttons as I pass them. No one seems to notice that I'm not actually holding them pressed down.

[ladydetemps]

To me, it depends on the piece, the tempo, the style (you might be able to cross for some buttons to save on fingers), the length of your fingers, etc.

Morpeth Rant. At moment (well not this very moment...I'm at work) resting first finger on button 5 and then stretching up with that first finger to 3 & 4 while keeping other fingers where they are. Wondered if there was an easier way.

[Ellie]

I've found that you start to learn what the gaps feel like in terms of stretch. When that happens, you no longer *need* to keep one finger on a specific button so you know where it is. But I don't know what you should be practising to get that. Although tunes that have odd jumps and stretches I guess help it to become second nature. And switching of fingers on a button whilst continuing to play a note is very useful - I don't even notice myself doing it anymore unless I concentrate... (which is, of course, when it all goes wrong  )

I guess there just really isn't any substitute for lots of playing. Did anyone else find Mally's descriptions of the different methods very confusing? That was the point at which I gave up for a while and just played things instead 

[ladydetemps]

I guess there just really isn't any substitute for lots of playing. Did anyone else find Mally's descriptions of the different methods very confusing? That was the point at which I gave up for a while and just played things instead 

phew! so I'm not the only one who couldn't make head nor tail of it. lol!

[Theo]

switching of fingers on a button whilst continuing to play a note is very useful - I don't even notice myself doing it anymore unless I concentrate... (which is, of course, when it all goes wrong  )

Yes an essential part of the technique.

Morpeth Rant is a hard tune on a melodeon.   I've just reminded my self of what I do:

1st 2 bars ok
bar 3 shift to G row to get G chord (essential for this tune IMHO)
then a tricky jump up to get C# on the D row - try and land on middle finger on C# (as Chris says use The Force)  if you can get this bit you will manage the rest ok.
 

[ukebert]

I generally land on the fourth finger on the C#, which is less efficient, but easier. Thankfully my finger agility is high enough so that I can just about get away with it.

[george garside]

. When that happens, you no longer *need* to keep one finger on a specific button so you know where it is. But I don't know what you should be practising to get that.  

a useful way of getting awy from the ' this finger  must play that button'  is to play whole tunes with just 1 finger. Do it first with 1st finger then repeat with 2nd finger, then 3rd fingr, then little finger. Then play tune  changing  to a different finger every few bars.

This practice also helps to develop the technique of playing right hand rhythm &/or chords with the fingers that are not being used at any given time for the 'tune'.

Start with something slow, either a waltz or slow air & progress up  do  march speed - above this you may need 2 fingers!

george

[Howard Jones]

With Morpeth Rant, I start with a pick-up bar A-B-C#, starting with the first finger on the pull A on the G row so it's all in one bellows direction. 

I was going to try to describe in words how I play it, but it's probably easier to look at the attached
very quick CADB tab I've done of the first few bars.  If you don't understand CADB look at Bernard Loffet's website where it's explained:

http://diato.org/exptab2.htm

This switches between the rows a bit but minimises bellows changes in those nice arpeggios.  Crossing to the G row for the pull A allows you to play an A chord.   There's just one place where I slide the first finger from the F# to the D (4th to 3rd button), which is then positioned nicely to play the next phrase D-F#-A using fingers 1-2-3.  There's also a place at the end of the 2nd/start of the 3rd bar where I go from the 4th finger on the 7th button to the 2nd finger on the 6th - down one button but two fingers.  This positions the hand for playing the next phrase which goes higher.

It's actually much more straightforward than it looks, and flows really well.

[Bill the Farmer]

A good tune with a jump at the beginning of the B part is The Spaniard. It also helps to pick up a note from the D row almost immediately after. As played with great glee when a certain Michael Portillo lost his seat.

I've just finished watching him in Great British Railway journeys. He makes a pretty good TV presenter.

[ladydetemps]

What about harvest home, that always seems to tie my fingers in knots?

[Ollie]

That's because it's a very difficult tune on the box. My advice........ learn the fiddle. 

[Steve Jones]

That's because it's a very difficult tune on the box. My advice........ learn the fiddle. 

Really? I'd be interested to know what bits you, and Sarah, find difficult. I was thinking of giving it to a class of not-very-advanced learners this session.

I thought it would present some useful techniques to master, but I wouldn't have thought it was especially complicated - at least, not to play on a D row, at a very relaxed kind of tempo. Please set me right if I'm wrong.

[ladydetemps]

I have to admit last time I tried harvest home I'd not been playing long. My problem; it goes from nice 3, 4 and 5's to 6, 7, 8's and vice versa on the fast bits. Even playing it at snails speed had to leave big gaps to think 'ooh where should my fingers be?

[Ellie]

That's because it's a very difficult tune on the box. My advice........ learn the fiddle. 

Really? I'd be interested to know what bits you, and Sarah, find difficult. I was thinking of giving it to a class of not-very-advanced learners this session.

I thought it would present some useful techniques to master, but I wouldn't have thought it was especially complicated - at least, not to play on a D row, at a very relaxed kind of tempo. Please set me right if I'm wrong.

I have to say I agree with Steve here - I don't find it that difficult. I mean the fingers and bellows have to be accurate, some nice little jumps, but the tune bobbles along nicely apart from the long scale down - that's the hardest bit for me! (perhaps I should try it again now cross-rowing?).

[LJC]

From teaching Harvest home to beginners before I've found that A bar 4 |(3efe (3dcB (3ABA (3GFE| is quite difficult (you want me to play 3 notes in the space of 2.... what?!?).

Regarding fingering for the tune - for A bar 1 |DAFA DAFA| I only use fingers one and two. Finger two plays the pedal A note and finger 1 changes between the D and F#. This means you can have a 'home' finger position one button higher than normal making the reach up for the higher notes easier to play with your third and fourth fingers.