Bulgarian Accordion Tutorial 2018 - Practice Page for Lesson 1

This page presents drills to master techniques described in Lesson 1. Points to note are bulleted. For general practice advice, see Good Practice Habits.

• These drills are about basic motions, so I have abstracted away all distracting melodic interest.
• Take these drills EXTREMELY SLOW at first, until the motions are natural. Then, step-by-step, gradually increase the tempo. (Never increase tempo during a single drill. Complete the drill at one tempo and then start it again at a slightly faster one.) Even once you can perform the drill easily at a faster tempo, go back and practice them extremely slow once in a while.

Contents:

• Tilt & Brush
• Finger Crossing

These drills facilitate practice of key depressions with the thumb (Tilt) and fingers 2-4 (Brush) as described in the lesson.

• When a Brush follows a Tilt the palm must return to its untilted, neutral position while when a Brush follows another Brush no such motion takes place.

Drill for fingers 12 & 21

Drill for fingers 123 & 321

Drill for fingers 1234 & 4321

Drill for fingers 1213 & 3231

• Tilts occur twice as frequenty in the upward drill than the downward one.

Drill for fingers 123232 & 323231

• Tilt alternates with long series of untilted Brushes

These drills facilitate practice of crossing over and under fingers 2 & 3 as described in the lesson.

Drill for fingers 12 & 21

Drill for fingers 123 & 321

Drill for fingers 1213 & 3121

• 1213 & 3121 are very useful patterns for ascending & descending passages.

Copyright 2018 Erik Butterworth. All rights reserved.