Left Hand Chromatics

Half Steps With The Left Hand

On the stradella layout, the chromatic scale is playable on the main bass row. Add on the Major Third counter-bass row and the playing of chromatic bass lines becomes a desired feature.

A tip for playing the Titano-Palmer converter quint system that duplicates the bass and counter-bass rows at higher octaves is to play mainly on the bass row and use the counter-bass row for chromatics. When playing on the counter-bass row, chromatics are played using the single row method.

Major Scale With Lower Chromatic Note--

Using the main bass row, play the C Major scale up and down. The pattern is two tetrachords.

        C, D, E, F (fingers 4, 3, 2, 5)

        G, A, B, C (fingers 4, 3, 2, 5)

Now add the lower chromatic note for each scale step by playing the lower chromatic note on the counter-bass row. The lower note button is just above scale note button. 

        C (B C), D (C# D), E (D# E), F (E F) 

        (fingers 4 (3 4), 3 (2 3), 2 (3 2), 5 (4 5))

        G (F# G), A (G# A), B (A# B), C (B C) 

        (fingers 4 (3 4), 3 (2 3), 2 (3 2), 5 (4 5))

Continue to move up two buttons and play that button's scale, until you reach the top of the keyboard.

Continue to down two buttons and play that button's scale, until you reach the bottom of the keyboard.

Chromatic Scale--

Beginning with the lowest note on the main bass row at the bottom the keyboard. Use finger 4 on the main bass row and finger 2 on the counter-bass row. Play the chromatic scale the length of the keyboard up and down.

Going up the keyboard, finger 2 reaches up two buttons to the higher chromatic note, then finger 4 follows and plays the next note on the main bass row, which is located just below finger two.

Then going down the keyboard from the top of the keyboard, finger 2 on the counter-bass row plays the lower chromatic note, then finger 4 reaches down two buttons on the main bass row to play the next lower chromatic note. Then finger 2 follows and plays the next lower chromatic note on the counter-bass row.

Chromatic Tag Ending--

Now play the tag ending for C Major.

        G, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C, G, C) 

        (fingers 5, 4, 5, 3, 4, 1, 2, 5, 4, 5)

Add the right hand and play the tag with both hands together.

Continue playing the tag in keys a step higher and in keys a step lower.

Chromatic Scale With Both Hands--

Play the chromatic scale from the lowest note to the highest note and back down with both hands together.

Use the First Two Bass Rows

Use the first row (the counterbass row) as well as the second row (the bass row) to play chromatic and major scales with the left hand.

On the Other Hand

Left Hand Equality

The left-hand side of the accordion with a stradella layout has the two rows closest to the bellows as single notes. The twelve notes of the chromatic scale in one octave is available. Sometimes there is a third row of single-note buttons.

With register switches, that becomes multiple octaves, often high, middle. and low. That is 36 notes, which is a pretty good match to the right hand keyboard.

The Titano-Palmer quint converter layout gives all three octaves across the keyboard. The two rows closest to the bellows being the low octave, and the two rows closest to outside edge being the high octave. 

Goal for the Exercises

The following exercises bring extension, flexibility, and strength to fingers 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the left hand. Consequently, the exercises can also enhance your ability to play other left-hand button layouts, such as a chromatic layout.

Play All Twelve Notes on One Row

While this develops your left hand ability, it also establishes your memory of the button layout, so you can quickly find a note when you need. The following exercises are done on a single vertical row of buttons.

Major Scale--

Beginning with the central "C" button, play the C Major scale up and down. The pattern is two tetrachords.

        C, D, E, F (fingers 4, 3, 2, 5)

        G, A, B, C (fingers 4, 3, 2, 5)

Then move up two buttons to "D" and play the D Major scale. Continue to move up two buttons and play the next scale, until you reach the top of the keyboard.

Then return to the C Major scale. Then continue to move down two buttons and play that button's scale, until you reach the bottom of the keyboard.

Demonstration of major scales played by the left hand--

Natural Minor Scale--

Beginning with the central "A" button, play the A Minor scale up and down. The pattern is two different tetrachords. The second tetrachord begins with a stretch up and down (E, F)

        A, B, C, D (fingers 3, 2, 5, 4)

        E, F, G, A  (fingers 2, 5, 4, 3)

Then move up two buttons to "B" and play the B Natural Minor scale. Continue to move up two buttons and play the next scale, until you reach the top of the keyboard.

Then return to the A Natural Minor scale. Then continue to move down two buttons and play that button's scale, until you reach the bottom of the keyboard.

Chromatic Scale Ascending--

Beginning with the central "C" button, play the C Chromatic scale up to the top of the keyboard using fingers 5 and 2. The pattern ascends by half-steps with finger 2 extending upward seven buttons, then finger 5 moves upward by two buttons.

Next, begin at the bottom of the keyboard on that row and play the ascending chromatic scale until you reach the top of the keyboard.

Chromatic Scale Descending--

Beginning with the central "C" button, play the C Chromatic scale down to the bottom of the keyboard using fingers 2 and 5. The pattern descends by half-steps with finger 5 extending downward seven buttons, then finger 5 moves downward by two buttons.

Next, begin at the top of the keyboard on that row and play the descending chromatic scale until you reach the bottom of the keyboard.

Demonstration of playing chromatic scale with the left hand--

Repeat--

Repeat the exercises on other single-note rows.

Tetrachord Teaser

Why a Tetrachord?

A tetrachord is four consecutive notes of a scale. In C Major that is C to F, D to G, E to A, and so on. Coincidentally, your hand has, excluding the thumb, four fingers. So, play an ascending tetrachord with fingers 2, 3, 4 and 5. Play a descending tetrachord with fingers 5, 4, 3 and 2.

Goal for the Exercise

With the notes so close together, you will quickly discover that flexibility of the hand is the key to this exercise. This practice is critical for the chromatic button accordion (CBA) because compared to the linear layout of the piano accordion the CBA requires the fingers to stumble over each other when playing tetrachords.

Play C Major Scale Tetrachords on Outside Three Rows

Play the first tetrachord, C to F, up and down using the fingers in order, 2 to 5 going up and 5 to 2 going down. Then go up a scale step and play the tetrachord D to G in the same manner. Continue on the next scale step, E to A.
Repeat the sequence going up the scale steps until you have done eight sequences and reached the octave. Then play eight more sequences descending step-wise from the octave until you are back at the starting point.

Extend the exercise by playing it in various keys and also the range of the exercise into upper and lower octaves.

Repeat Exercise Across the Outside Four Rows

Eventually, revise the exercise for four rows. This will change the fingering patterns.

Repeat Exercise Across the Outside Five Rows

Finally, revise the exercise for five rows. Again, this will change the fingering patterns.