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How to Hold an Accordion

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Part of the video series: How to Play the Accordion

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Summary: An accordion expert shows you how to properly hold an accordion in this free online video music lesson for beginners.

Views: 9,236 | Tags: beginner, instrument, play, accordion, musical, accordions

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About the Expert
Contact: spencerthegardener.com

Brett Larsen Brett Larsen earned a B.A. in music composition from UCSB in 1992 and currently works as a middle school music teacher offering classes in Band, Mariachi Stri... read more

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Video Transcript

How to Hold an Accordion

Let’s start by putting on the accordion and showing you how to hold it. Lift the accordion usually with one hand under the keyboard on this side and your left hand holding the straps. You can hold it here, but it will be a little easier to pick it up by the straps and set it on your left thigh. You want the body of the accordion to be resting on your thigh with the billows hanging off the edge. You take the right strap, throw it over your right shoulder, left strap over your left shoulder, and if like my straps you have a back strap, you will want to fasten that. Not all accordions have a back strap. This accordion weighs about 26 pounds, so you need that extra support to hold it. The bottom edge of the keyboard will end up resting for extra support against the inside of your right thigh. On both the top and the bottom of the billows are things called billow straps. Sometimes they are made out of metal, sometimes leather, and they either have a snap or a hook, and this holds the billows in place when you are not playing. But to play you have to undo those. So you unsnap it, move it out of the way. Do the same with the bottom. Move it out of the way. Put your left hand under the bass strap. Right hand is ready to play and as long as the billows are hanging off and not sitting on your left thigh, you are ready to go. This gives you plenty of support. Make sure you are sitting on the edge of your chair. You can’t lean back because you won’t really have control of the billows. You want to be sitting as far forward as possible so you can control all this extra weight you are going to have to lift.

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