Left Hand Position

[Quin Is In]

Hello and Happy Holidays!
I got my first accordion on November 24. Thanks everyone for you advice!

In preparation for the holidays I have gotten eight Christmas tunes and two Klezmer tunes down on the right hand as long as I have the sheet music in front of me. What I can't figure out is exactly how to place my left hand under the strap. The chart I have shows that pinky or 5th finger is used for the F button. The way I have my hand under the strap this is impossible. I little finger is too weak and too little for this. (I've never noticed anything wrong with it before) I think I have my hand in the wrong place. Where under the strap do you keep your hand? Is it across the hand or across the wrist or something else? I can't quite figure it out from the book and videos I see. The little wheels to adjust the straps are a little weird to me too. I don't see much difference when I adjust them with them.

But the most important thing is my wish for everyone to have a great holiday season.

 

[Tom]

Happy Holidays to you Quin! Strap goes over the back of your hand. With your ring finger on the C, if the strap impedes your pinky on the F, the strap is too tight. Your hand needs to be able to slide freely, but snugly up and down the baseboard. If the wheel adjustment isn’t working, maybe some repair is needed? More info needed.

 

[Dingo40]

Where under the strap do you keep your hand? Is it across the hand or across the wrist or something else?

Hi QII,
If you Google "left hand position for accordion video ", you should get several hits .
Here's one:

As you can see, the bass strap sits across the back of her forearm, above the wrist joint.
I find it's better to have the strap slightly loose than too tight.
As Tom says, your hand should be able to glide freely up and down the base board.
You should be able to get the final tightness by arching your wrist as needed.
If too much arching is required, tighten the strap some more using the adjusting "wheel".
Here's another video showing Moshe using his pinky on the Bflat bass button ( though you need to be quick to see it!)

Note, again, the strap goes across the back of his forearm, just above his wrist joint.
The pinky is a relatively weak finger and may need some gradual (=gentle) acclimatisation to get the job done!
Sitting in front of your wife's dressing table mirror (or similar) so you can clearly see what's happening can be very helpful in the early stages.

 

[Quin Is In]

This helps a lot. I loosened the strap quite a bit and it made a world of difference. Thank you for your help.