Playing Accordion: some tips for left arm / Bellows
a youTube community member asked me about some left-hand related things; I figured it's easiest to do a 'show & tell'. Forgot to say, in the vid: * when I first took up the accordion my left arm would tire very quickly, which surprised me, as I hadn't experienced such problems as a pianist. In hindsight, I think the muscles are used in a very different manner for each instrument; it's a matter of finding the most efficient method...this vid shows you what I've discovered. also... * it's good to do some exercises for your upper body: shoulders and arms. I did some daily exercises lifting and stretching my arms whilst holding small weights [actually hand-sized rocks...not very heavy, but enough to exercise the muscles without stressing them and damaging them]. *perhaps some other players can offer tips and suggestions too!! * THE GLOVE....I probably should have talked about that in a bit of detail! oops find a glove that is a comfortable fit - not tight thin fabric rather than thick knitted winter woolen glove best is something made for 'evening wear' as it'll be a fabric which will maintain its shape - rather than a cotton/t-shirt fabric which will stretch out-of-shape cut the fingers out yourself look for strong stitching so that when you cut the fingers it doesn't completely disintegrate
