Ed S
Member
I'm looking for feedback on whether this seems correct.
I had a great deal of trouble figuring out how to keep my left hand from sliding up the case, so that I could reliably push the right buttons.
One thing I did wrong was to rotate and tense the wrist so that the pinky side is pushed against the strap and the thumb side is pushed against the case, thus locking the hand in place. This works for a while, but after a while the static tension impedes speed and causes cramping at the base of the thumb and other tension maladies.
I learned from various sources that I need to keep the left elbow in close to the body, and let the bellows fall downward. This got me on the right track.
Rule: Move the bellows in and out so that there is NO force sliding your hand up or down the case. In other words, from a closed position, start by pulling horizontally, but as the bellows opens keep pulling more and more downward, so that your hand naturally stays in the same spot on the case and strap, until the case is more or less flat on the hand. Of course, do the opposite when pushing. In other words, let your left arm be lazy, not holding the accordion up at all - just opening and closing the bellows the easiest way possible.
Most vertical motion on the keyboard can be achieved by pivoting on the base of the hand. But when you need to leap, break the rule: change the direction in which you are pulling or pushing the bellows slightly.
To move your hand higher on the keyboard, push/pull more horizontally, so that the weight of the accordion pulls it down from your hand.
To move your hand lower, push/pull more vertically, so that the stiffness of the bellows wants to keep it up higher. This may not work when the bellows is wide open; plan your bellows motion so that you don't need to move your hand downward with the bellows wide.
If you have trouble with too much friction keeping your hand from moving, try loosening the strap. If that doesn't work, try using a fingerless spandex glove, easily found on Amazon and elsewhere.
I had a great deal of trouble figuring out how to keep my left hand from sliding up the case, so that I could reliably push the right buttons.
One thing I did wrong was to rotate and tense the wrist so that the pinky side is pushed against the strap and the thumb side is pushed against the case, thus locking the hand in place. This works for a while, but after a while the static tension impedes speed and causes cramping at the base of the thumb and other tension maladies.
I learned from various sources that I need to keep the left elbow in close to the body, and let the bellows fall downward. This got me on the right track.
Rule: Move the bellows in and out so that there is NO force sliding your hand up or down the case. In other words, from a closed position, start by pulling horizontally, but as the bellows opens keep pulling more and more downward, so that your hand naturally stays in the same spot on the case and strap, until the case is more or less flat on the hand. Of course, do the opposite when pushing. In other words, let your left arm be lazy, not holding the accordion up at all - just opening and closing the bellows the easiest way possible.
Most vertical motion on the keyboard can be achieved by pivoting on the base of the hand. But when you need to leap, break the rule: change the direction in which you are pulling or pushing the bellows slightly.
To move your hand higher on the keyboard, push/pull more horizontally, so that the weight of the accordion pulls it down from your hand.
To move your hand lower, push/pull more vertically, so that the stiffness of the bellows wants to keep it up higher. This may not work when the bellows is wide open; plan your bellows motion so that you don't need to move your hand downward with the bellows wide.
If you have trouble with too much friction keeping your hand from moving, try loosening the strap. If that doesn't work, try using a fingerless spandex glove, easily found on Amazon and elsewhere.
