VTPete wrote:
It was almost two years ago now that I bought my first accordion. My bass control is much improved; big jumps no longer scare me and my chord combining continues to add great depth to my developing skills.
1) Believe it or not, I have a hard time reaching my diminished chords! Progressions such as Cmaj7 to C#dim7 still make me stumble, despite my using the A counter bass's C# as a root, combined with a Gdim to create a 'close enough' effect.
-Pete
For 2 years' work, I think you are doing great! Chord combining - fantastic! It takes years to develop the muscle memory for "big jumps", and you are smart to find an easier substitute. Cmaj7 to C#dim7??? Good grief, think you are Superman? I can barely find B7 (sometimes). I don't know why you particularly find Dims hard to find: they are not buried among other keys, which might be a handy tactile clue. Perhaps it is because they are used less than the other chords, so you practice them less. Try going for C#7 if you can reach it reliably, but think "reach for one more row/button" - or whatever is meaningful to you. I am beginning to find that visualizing the bass and little mind tricks help me find what I once thought was impossible.
Others, more experienced than I, say that big jumps are all about Practice, Practice, Practice. It will come in time. What are you using for a reference button (if any) and with which finger, when you "go for it"?
Some use a passing note or chord as a step to the target. I don't know passing chord technique and theory, or its application on accordion, and in spite of extensive internet reading on accordion, have found nothing. So you provoked me to just Google "Passing Chord", and the first few hits are quite interesting, if you understand a little chord theory (even if you don't, the accordion's prefab chords let you "just do it").
Probably you will get a dozen more ideas how to pull off that kind of stretch from others.
Please post your impression of the thumb gliss, after trying it again. Can you slide your thumb (without the rest of the chord), in the manner indicated? Does your accordion need more key depression to sound than the one shown (probably can adjust that)? On a well-adjusted instrument, all the keys sound at the same point in the key travel. Many players mash the keys all the way down (maybe because most actions are not this well adjusted), but it appears to me that during the gliss, the keys are barely depressed by this player. This may be the clue! Good luck!
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