Melodeon.net Forums
Discussions => Teaching and Learning => Topic started by: arty on August 09, 2013, 09:23:41 PM
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Can anyone please suggest something to help me? I am getting so frustrated about a problem, which I can't seem to resolve.
I have been playing now for a year and I am loving it and making good progress I think. But as I am able to play faster and more complicated pieces and rhythms I find that my melodeon moves around a lot, particularly in fast passages which require reversing the bellows speedily. Sometimes it moves backwards and forwards so much that it is out of control! It is worse when I am playing fast. At the moment I am practicing Schottische a Bethanie and The Plane Tree.
I am using the air button quite well I think and I am not opening the bellows more than is usually necessary (generally, say 12 " max). I have tried using 2 straps holding the instrument tight to my body, 2 straps adjusted long so that the instrument sits on my lap, 1 strap with it on my left thigh and tipped forward with the finger board against my right, slightly raised leg, (this I find most comfortable). But I STILL have the problem of the instrument moving around a lot! So FRUSTRATING!!!
What am I doing wrong? Can anyone help....it's so annoying, especially when I study good players on You Tube, whose instruments seem steady as a rock! I don't know what to do.
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Can you make a video of your playing as it will help the diagnosis?
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Can you make a video of your playing as it will help the diagnosis?
Thanks Lester - yes I can and I will but not until next week as I am working all weekend.
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I think it's a case of trying to form a triangular brace. Personally I use a single strap and the pressure on the right hand thumb , or crook of thumb should be very firm. Having formed this brace you'll find that the treble keyboard won't move in the slightest. However after a few hours of playing, your right shoulder can become quite sore from the pressure from the strap so maybe a padded one is better.
Never try this using a piece of string as I did once, you'll never recover!
Hope this might be the answer. :||:
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Other opinions may vary, but 12" seems an awful lot of bellows extension to me; I always aim for no more than about 4" except in exceptional circumstances and try to stay below 3" as much as I can. I have to admit that armfuls of bellows are among my pet peeves, and though some players seem to be able to manage a recalcitrant serpent, for me the minimum bellows movement you can get away with and still get the results you want is the way to go. (I don't know whether your 12" is in addition to or including the normal width of the closed bellows; either way it seems a lot to me).
Cheers
Graham
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Could be you are trying to play with too much pressure on the bellows (ie too loud!) That would explain the difficulty in keeping the box still and the somewhat larger than desirable bellows opening.
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Can you make a video of your playing as it will help the diagnosis?
What he said! ;)
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Thank you all for your interest. But I think I have discovered the problem by chance.
I was practicing yesterday, with the box bouncing about like usual(!), when a friend walked in and asked me a question. I answered him but carried on playing at the same time. Then I realised that during the time that I had been talking, my box had stopped bouncing around. I was quite surprised as I was playing The Plane Tree (a new piece for me) at the time, with lots of 'inning and outing' and at a fair speed.
So my thought is, that I have just been trying too hard and yes Theo, probably playing too loud as well. Also, I think I have been trying to play too fast before I am ready. I am aware that I have been pushing myself, over enthusiasm really, which I now think is the source of my problem. I shall relax more and take it a little less seriously, which will probably be more fun and less frustrating as well. I will make a video soon, hopefully without the 'bounce'!
And thanks also to GPS for your comment about the bellows opening too far. I shall work on that too, which I guess means more work with the air button.
Living in a small place as I do, with no melodeon teachers to help, melodeon.net is invaluable in the self-learning process. It's a brilliant site, so thank you very much.
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Thank you all for your interest. But I think I have discovered the problem by chance.
I was practicing yesterday, with the box bouncing about like usual(!), when a friend walked in and asked me a question. I answered him but carried on playing at the same time. Then I realised that during the time that I had been talking, my box had stopped bouncing around. I was quite surprised as I was playing The Plane Tree (a new piece for me) at the time, with lots of 'inning and outing' and at a fair speed.
So my thought is, that I have just been trying too hard and yes Theo, probably playing too loud as well. Also, I think I have been trying to play too fast before I am ready. I am aware that I have been pushing myself, over enthusiasm really, which I now think is the source of my problem. I shall relax more and take it a little less seriously, which will probably be more fun and less frustrating as well. I will make a video soon, hopefully without the 'bounce'!
And thanks also to GPS for your comment about the bellows opening too far. I shall work on that too, which I guess means more work with the air button.
Living in a small place as I do, with no melodeon teachers to help, melodeon.net is invaluable in the self-learning process. It's a brilliant site, so thank you very much.
:D
Good news!