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Author Topic: Bad habits for beginners?  (Read 20512 times)

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Lester

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Re: Bad habits for beginners?
« Reply #20 on: June 20, 2008, 10:57:35 AM »

I found finger strength to be directly proportional to speed/accuracy so use one of these to exercise:

Gripmaster

I use it when driving on the motorways back and forth to work. Available in good guitar shops. Don't be macho (like I was) buy the "Light Grip" variety as they appear to be designed for gorillas.

Theo

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Re: Bad habits for beginners?
« Reply #21 on: June 20, 2008, 11:43:27 AM »

Actually I think we have all been missing the point. 

The really bad habits you must avoid at all costs are:

Staying out late playing music
going to pubs
drinking beer
having too much fun

 :D :D
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george garside

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Re: Bad habits for beginners?
« Reply #22 on: June 20, 2008, 12:59:43 PM »

[quote author=theo link= .  Keep the peg in a pocket and you can exercise your finger on the bus, 


but you may get arrested for so doing! :o
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joe

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Re: Bad habits for beginners?
« Reply #23 on: June 23, 2008, 12:59:15 PM »

I think I have developed all of the bad habits at one time or another - and managed to get rid of some of them. I find it difficult to structure any sort of practise - I tend to just play what I feel like playing.

With regard to keeping rhythm the bass is very important, I find once you can play the melody well enough, if you then concentrate on keeping the bass right, the melody will look after itself. (important for tunes with odd rhythms etc) I find if, when playing in a session / for morris, my right hand goes into 'automatic', then the whole tune can easily fall apart.

I'm also a sucker for the playing tunes too fast / avoiding the complicated bits and for a long time this made my playing suffer.
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Robin Harrison

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Re: Bad habits for beginners?
« Reply #24 on: June 23, 2008, 11:20:25 PM »

Two things stagger to mind........................
           1..........I try never to play a tune on an instrument until I can hear it in my head ( or hum or whistle it). If I do, it seems to end up sounding different (less good)that I had anticipated. If I wait until I've worked it out in my mind and am busting to play it, I'm usually happier with the end result. You have then to work out the fingering,basses,phrasing etc but at least you know what you are aiming for. I think for those who are advanced players, this proabaly does not apply.
       ........It also requires self disipline......................much like these but easier.
           
Quote
Staying out late playing music
            going to pubs
            drinking beer
            having too much fun
[/quote]


         2.........know when to put the damn thing down.I have had a passion for the melodeon for decades and still get antsy when people continue to play past all reason.I think another way to state this is to say,practise at home and when you play with anyone else present,play your best and stop.
                The melodeon can be the sublime or the ridiculous ;)
            Robin
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Peter G

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Re: Bad habits for beginners?
« Reply #25 on: July 22, 2008, 10:51:44 PM »

Hi everyone
I've just started to learn the D/G melodeon having splashed out on a Hohner at Priddy folk festival Love the instrument but not sure if I'm doing it right!
Mally's book doesn't tell me: if I play notes on the same button consecutively - draw - press do I push the button twice or just hold it down and rely on the change of direction to play the notes? This seems like it might be a bad habit for a beginner?!
Help please from all you experienced players!
Thanks
Peter :)
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Lester

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Re: Bad habits for beginners?
« Reply #26 on: July 23, 2008, 11:42:03 AM »

This seems like it might be a bad habit for a beginner?!

one bad habit is asking the same question in two threads   ;D

Peter G

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Re: Bad habits for beginners?
« Reply #27 on: July 23, 2008, 02:59:55 PM »

All about learning from mistakes!!
 :-[ (this icon is apparently 'embarrassed!)
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Nick Hudis

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Re: Bad habits for beginners?
« Reply #28 on: July 25, 2008, 12:53:15 PM »

Probably a bit late to add to this thread, but in the seven months I've been learning the following bits of advice have really struck home.

Learn to play quietly (from George)
Its all in the bellows (from George)
Try to integrate left and right hands from the beginning(unattributed)
Its the tune that counts (from Rees)
Little and often is good (Maggie Moore)
Get the basic melodeon scale hardwired, its the basis of everything (Maggie again)
Listen to other players as much as you can (Theo)

The forum has been a great support.
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Nick

TooManyButtons

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Re: Bad habits for beginners?
« Reply #29 on: August 20, 2008, 11:36:44 AM »

Even later additions:
         1.The whole 2/3/4 finger bass debate - if you ever move from 8 to 12 basses, the commonest arrangement really needs you to play with all four to start with. There are some other bass arrangements where the additional chords are *below* the regular set (LeTron is one I think..) and these would suit a 2/3 finger initial style.
         2. Not exercising the upper octave of the treble end - Try playing pretty much any Irish tune in D (on a d/g) and work out why you fall off the bottom end of the buttons!
         3. Trying to customise the box too soon, and buying a less-than common layout 2.5 row, then getting stuck having to buy custom boxes forever ;-)
         4. Playing every tune in the world with only two chords (*winks in the direction of the one row players* :-)
         5. Bendy bellows - you'll never get a tune out with any rhythm if you don't get the squeeze/pull business sorted so it doesn't look like you're wrestling an uncooperative snake and/or one makes noises like a someone running a stick down a fence.
         6. Playing something heavier than a pokerwork one-strapped with no footrest. You *will* stuff your back and shoulders, and probably wrist(s), irreparably.
         7. Not playing the bass end at all because it "doesn't work" with the treble.
         8. Playing a Piano Accordion ;-)

I've found 1 and 2 out by making the mistakes myself, and dodged the remainder (so far)  through good advice from various people like the denizens of this board!
Cheers everyone!
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Ptarmigan

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Re: Bad habits for beginners?
« Reply #30 on: August 20, 2008, 11:48:14 AM »

Thanks for the tips TooManyButtons.

But one thing puzzles me?

........ how do you manage to play your melodeon, seated, ...... while hanging from the ceiling? {your avatar!}  ;)
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TooManyButtons

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Re: Bad habits for beginners?
« Reply #31 on: August 20, 2008, 12:26:52 PM »

...Don't know what you could mean  ;D
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Ptarmigan

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Re: Bad habits for beginners?
« Reply #32 on: August 20, 2008, 12:53:42 PM »

PHEW! ~ the right way up again ..... thank goodness for that.  8)

I must admit, I was having a terrible time, trying to play upside down!  :D


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ladydetemps

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Re: Bad habits for beginners?
« Reply #33 on: April 20, 2009, 04:05:51 PM »

Ignoring pains in the back, shoulders, arms, wrists or hands.
Ah...I had a practice binge over the weekend..4 hours on saturday and 2 on sunday...my shoulders feel like they are gonna drop off.  :o
I think I might have over done it.  :-[

Any tips for 'warm up' exercises to avoid straining muscles?

(trying to type without moving my arms too much..ouch....ouch...ouch... :-\  :-X)
« Last Edit: April 20, 2009, 04:23:53 PM by ladydetemps »
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Owen Woods

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Re: Bad habits for beginners?
« Reply #34 on: April 20, 2009, 05:06:05 PM »

Woah, old thread. However, since it's been resurected I might as well add my thoughts.

1) Neglecting the upper octave on the D row
This is what I did for the first 4 years of playing box. Almost all of the tunes I would play didn't go up that far. It took me a long time to get to grips with it after ignoring it for so long.

2) Playing bass with only 2 fingers
I avoided this one after being pulled up about it just after starting. Cross basses are immesurably easier if you keep your hand steady. It also means that you can tighten up the strap and add stability to the instrument with your left hand fixed in position

3) Neglecting little finger on treble side
Makes playing a lot of tunes a lot easier if you use all four fingers. Never had a problem with this, being a piano player

4) Forgetting about bass
It's easy to say to yourself "this is a tricky tune, I'll leave the bass out". I've done that for the last 6 months, due to playing lots of fast difficult irish and scottish stuff and it is horrifyingly difficult to get back into the mindset of thinking about fingering to make sure that not only the box won't run out of air but that the bass will fit. Slippery slope, the bass is (for quint boxes playing english at least) imo the most important part of the box.

5) Not practising
Keep your box out and play it whenever you can. I've gone about 8 months without playing it, which is why I am still not a very good player, although I've played for 6 years. I've started getting into it again recently and I've been playing almost every day, which is unprecedented. It's jaw-dropping how quickly you progress if you only practice

6) Variety
Don't just play tunes you like over and over. Learn stuff from CDs, get tune books from somewhere or use the session. I'd get a copy of the black book as there are some lovely tunes in there. I have a copy that has them all transposed into D or G, which my grandfather made himself when he realised that Lionel was going to put them in keys the existence of which he refused to acknowledge

7) Support
Play with 2 straps. It makes a big difference

8) Playing alone
Find every chance that you get to play with other people. Go to local sessions, join your local folk club, go to folk festivals. Apart from anything you can pick up tips and it'll give you something to aim for.
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Re: Bad habits for beginners?
« Reply #35 on: April 20, 2009, 09:48:37 PM »

Something I have never done until very recently is practiced with a metronome. It's very easy when you are learning tunes and playing on your own to concentrate so much on hitting the notes that the rhythm goes out the window. When you get to difficult bits you tend to speed up (or slow down) and this gets to be a habit, and you learn the tune with the speeded up/slowed down bits embedded in it forever more. It's also tempting, when you are struggling with the basses and the air button, to either hang on to notes too long or to cut them short just because it makes it easier, and you don't usually notice you are doing it.
Metronomes may be nasty, soulless things (like drum machines) but they will keep you on the straight and narrow when you are learning.

Pauline
 
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Re: Bad habits for beginners?
« Reply #36 on: April 20, 2009, 09:54:31 PM »

Something I have never done until very recently is practiced with a metronome.  <snip>
I do that too, and yes it is very "disturbing" when you realize how uneven your playing speed might be and how difficult it is to follow the metronome beats! But at the end it makes your tunes sound much better, and when playing for dancers it makes everybody's life easier.
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Owen Woods

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Re: Bad habits for beginners?
« Reply #37 on: April 20, 2009, 10:37:26 PM »

Something I have never done until very recently is practiced with a metronome. It's very easy when you are learning tunes and playing on your own to concentrate so much on hitting the notes that the rhythm goes out the window. When you get to difficult bits you tend to speed up (or slow down) and this gets to be a habit, and you learn the tune with the speeded up/slowed down bits embedded in it forever more. It's also tempting, when you are struggling with the basses and the air button, to either hang on to notes too long or to cut them short just because it makes it easier, and you don't usually notice you are doing it.
Metronomes may be nasty, soulless things (like drum machines) but they will keep you on the straight and narrow when you are learning.

Pauline
 

I agree, which is why I am taking my metronome to college this term :P
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Re: Bad habits for beginners?
« Reply #38 on: April 21, 2009, 03:07:07 PM »

my worst habit is playing piano acccordion  >:(

1) while it is important to learn to play quiet, learn to play loud also. It  took me 2 months before i really knew how to crank the bellows, and i was playing quiet all the time.

2) dont learn too much from music.

3) learn how to hold the thing correctly right off the bat, becuase its difficult to relearn.

im stilll a beginner recovering from countless habits  :||: 



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Owen Woods

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Re: Bad habits for beginners?
« Reply #39 on: April 21, 2009, 03:10:56 PM »

im stilll a beginner recovering from countless habits  :||: 

Aren't we all? :P
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