At my student Karen’s lesson today, we figured out something important.  Karen already knows that if she doesn’t want to play a song anymore, she doesn’t have to, whether she’s learned it perfectly or not. 

She also knows that she can practice whatever she wants during the week and choose not to play it at all at her lesson.  This lessens stress for her, and it means she’s playing for her and not for me.  And we use lessons to work on sight reading and various techniques and hints for her to be able to work on her own better.  

Today Karen was lamenting that she didn’t remember the songs she learned for very long—not as in memorizing, but as in when she went back to them later she felt like she had lost a bit.   So what we figured out is that she doesn’t have to ever go back and play the old songs unless she wants to, and that she totally has my permission on this.  I will never press her to develop a current repertoire.  She doesn’t need one if she doesn’t want it.  

Even better, it clarifies that what she loves is the process of practicing and learning new songs and techniques.  It doesn’t matter how much or how little she remembers of specific prior songs.  Inevitably she keeps getting better at playing and keeps bringing more to the process of learning and playing songs for herself.  It’s perfect process learning—she practices and learns because she wants to practice and learn, and in her practice she never has anything to worry about for lessons.

First things I tell my students about the left hand:

                If you haven’t played before, use your 4th finger on the fundamental bass row—the one with the indented or rhinestoned C bass button, and play bass-chord 4-3.  If you’ve already learned 3-2—as I did back in the dark ages—use those and you’ll be fine.  The 4-3 formation has the advantages of encouraging you to drop your wrist and of making alternating bass easier—4-3-2-3 or 4-3-3-2-3-3 etc.

                Adjust your bass strap so it’s loose enough to let your wrist slide, but keep it tight enough so your palm doesn’t lose contact with the box as you pull out.

                Drop your wrist toward the floor till your 4-3-2 fingers line up with the bass row you’re playing.

                Learn to keep your fingers quiet and on or close to the buttons.  Most of us can’t do this from the start, but you can learn it as you go along.  Then later it’ll be easier to hit bass jumps and to play fast.

                Arch your wrist so the last segment of your fingers comes straight down on the buttons.  This minimizes hitting multiple basses when you don’t want to.

                When it’s convenient, do your bass jumps up while pulling out; down while pulling in.  This idea comes from Charles Magnante’s first method book.

                As a default, keep basses and chords staccato.  But there are many times you’ll want them longer, especially when the left hand is providing harmony.  Staccato bass has the advantages of giving you a better metronome, making the bass side less overwhelming to the treble (right hand) side, and enabling you to play fast later. 

Ellen DeCarlo, flute; Joel Weber, accordion.  By Robbie Overson, based on Sharon Shannon's rendition on her album "Out the Gap." 

Hope Lutheran Church, El Sobrante, CA, March 2013  First heard this in New Orleans, 2012, performed by Meschiya Lake.  Based on the version in  Duke Ellington: 1936-40 Small Group Sessions.

So my student Leila just left for the East Coast--boo hoo!  But she had a great parting thought.  She basically said that the single most useful skill she got from her lessons related to pattern recognition--look at the music before you play; notice the phrases; notice when a phrase repeats note for note or nearly.  

This is like algorithms and language learning.  With playing music, people who read the music--as opposed to those who play by ear--start out reading note by note.  In complex long songs this becomes daunting.  But when you start reading and understanding phrase by phrase, section by section, it is much less daunting.  

Watching for patterns as you go along in your learning moves you forward really well.

Breathe!  Before you lift, play, or set down your
accordion.

Do not injure your back.  You only have one.  If you can store your
instrument at waist level it will make lifting and moving it easier.  
     
Plant your legs close to the accordion and lift with both
hands.  Have your knees behind or even with your toes, which means leaning your upper legs and butt back and bending forward some at the waist only. (And you won’t topple forward!)  Keep your head up, eyes forward not down, and your back straight. Move your core to follow your arms; don’t just rotate your arms.  

Setting it down uses the same rules. These are basic weightlifting rules and will serve you well.