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Author Topic: proper technique for using air button.  (Read 14557 times)

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Theo

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Re: proper technique for using air button.
« Reply #40 on: September 21, 2009, 02:06:30 PM »


The division of labour (left hand) is wrist for bellows movement,

Do you really mean that flexing the wrist  is all you need to move the bellows George?   I can't see how that would work, especially when the strap is in the 'wristwatch' position.  I have to move my whole forearm, and a bit of movement in the upper arm too to work the bellows.
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jb

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Re: proper technique for using air button.
« Reply #41 on: September 21, 2009, 02:18:30 PM »

I find that hard to visualise...any chance of a photo demonstrating?

Here's a Tony Hall clip that is familiar to melnetters and which shows nicely the hand shape I was trying to describe in my earlier post. You can see it is a lot flatter and further back in the strap than your own. I guess his hands are larger than yours, but even so I think this is the kind of position you should be aiming for.
« Last Edit: September 21, 2009, 04:53:54 PM by jb »
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Lester

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Re: proper technique for using air button.
« Reply #42 on: September 21, 2009, 02:29:36 PM »

Here's a Tony Hall clip that is familiar to melnetters and which shows nicely the kind of hand shape I was trying to describe in my earlier post. You can see it is a lot flatter and further back in the strap than your own. I guess his hands are larger than yours but even so I think this is the kind of position you should be aiming for.

This very much as I hold my bass end. But it brings to mind another variable we have yet to throw into the mix; Tony, like myself, only uses one strap which places the bass end further from the body and changes the angle of attack of the left hand/arm and thus makes, in my opinion, handling of the bass end easier as it is less cramped. YMMV

Larry Anthony

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Re: proper technique for using air button.
« Reply #43 on: September 21, 2009, 03:44:12 PM »

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Andy Simpson

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Re: proper technique for using air button.
« Reply #44 on: September 21, 2009, 05:18:09 PM »

I think hand position depends a lot on the size of the box and the location and type of air button. I had to adapt my hand position when I bought my Excelsior with a push-in button after playing an Erica with the push-down Hohner type button but with both the strap was about level with the base of my thumb as JB describes. When I got my Jorgina, a much larger 12 bass box with a push-down air button with much longer travel than a Hohner, it required a more dramatic shift to be able to operate the air button and reach the C basses, (4 fingers), and I found the "wristwatch" position the best.

Basically, boxes and people are different and wherever your hand is positioned and how many fingers you use, as long as you can use the basses and the air button satisfactorily then it's the right way.
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ladydetemps

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Re: proper technique for using air button.
« Reply #45 on: September 21, 2009, 08:32:25 PM »

I think im going to have to give up on basses nearest the bellows. I have done exactly as instructed Diane good news no shoulder ache but i can feel the muscles in my wrist and top of my arm near wrist really tensing. Is this normal?

Lester

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Re: proper technique for using air button.
« Reply #46 on: September 21, 2009, 08:54:33 PM »

I think im going to have to give up on basses nearest the bellows.

LDT

It may well be a good idea for now to "give up on the basses nearest the bellows" but only to get you to a place where you can relax with the outer basses and the dreaded air button. Once you are in that happy place it is but a small step to use the other bass buttons, without which the whole repertoire of Emin tunes (some of the best melodeon tunes) will bereft of basses.

Just go with the flow girl, plenty of advice available but not all will fit (including the above).

I wish I had had half your tenacity in my early career - 2 years without basses and a further 2 to get 6/8 and waltz working reliably. 

ladydetemps

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Re: proper technique for using air button.
« Reply #47 on: September 21, 2009, 09:14:57 PM »


I wish I had had half your tenacity in my early career - 2 years without basses and a further 2 to get 6/8 and waltz working reliably. 
I hope to do all that in a year...maybe 2...but setting the bar high. My whole drive is I want to join in and I can't do that until i can keep up with everyone else. So i feel like i'm always playing catch up.
« Last Edit: September 22, 2009, 09:00:34 AM by ladydetemps »
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Theo

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Re: proper technique for using air button.
« Reply #48 on: September 22, 2009, 10:11:14 AM »

Something else that might help...

When learning there is a natural tendency to want to look at where your right hand fingers are on the buttons.  This is very bad for your body position as it makes you lean your upper body forward, and tilt the top of the box back so that you can see.  These two movements both make it much harder to get the left hand where it needs to be. 

Practice finding the buttons you need by feel.  Some find a tactile marker useful, but it may be enough to caress the buttons with your index finger, starting from the one nearest your chin till you find the one you want - its usually the third one, then your four fingers are in position to play the first octave on the row.

Once you can find the buttons by feel, then you can sit up and allow the top of the box to tilt slightly away from you, resulting in a better angle for your left forearm/wrist going into the LH strap.
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Theo Gibb - Gateshead UK

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ladydetemps

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Re: proper technique for using air button.
« Reply #49 on: September 22, 2009, 10:17:21 AM »


When learning there is a natural tendency to want to look at where your right hand fingers are on the buttons.  This is very bad for your body position as it makes you lean your upper body forward, and tilt the top of the box back so that you can see.  These two movements both make it much harder to get the left hand where it needs to be.  <snip>

Once you can find the buttons by feel, then you can sit up and allow the top of the box to tilt slightly away from you, resulting in a better angle for your left forearm/wrist going into the LH strap.
I only have a little look to make sure my fingers are in right position before I start.....after that I don't look at the buttons as I can't look at the music at the same time. ;)

melod-ian

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Re: proper technique for using air button.
« Reply #50 on: September 29, 2009, 02:38:48 PM »

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