Small Hands

[LDT]

So what is the optimum hand size/finger length for playing the anglo concertina? I thin my hands are pretty small I'm keeping my little fingers nail long so I can reach with it...I hope.

[Dave Rogers]

So what is the optimum hand size/finger length for playing the anglo concertina?

 

If you can reach all the notes that you need to play all the tunes that you want without straining or dislocating anything, you've got it.

[drbones]

This is something I received on another thread. Adjustable. Now that's the cat's meow!

[Guest HallelujahAl!]

A quite simple solution for someone like me, with quite small hands, was to switch the straps over on the anglo. This enables me to get my hands further and closer to the buttons, and because I have a small thumb, allows my thumb to hover over the air button on the right hand side. A simple solution - but one that works for me. Having said that I have absolutely no such problems playing my EC.

AL

[JimLucas]

So what is the optimum hand size/finger length for playing the anglo concertina? I thin my hands are pretty small I'm keeping my little fingers nail long so I can reach with it...I hope.

Hands aren't all identical except in size.

E.g., look up an earlier thread and poll on the length of the little finger relative to the other fingers.

 

In my own case, my hands are wide, but my fingers aren't long in proportion. I've seen others with narrow hands, but long fingers.

 

Flexibility can also be a concern, though probably not for you. That's more folks with large hands/long fingers, who may need to flex their fingers and hands to avoid reaching too far.

[Alan Day]

I always thought this was a problem until I saw a little girl playing wonderful ITM on an Anglo

Al

[Leo]

I always thought this was a problem until I saw a little girl playing wonderful ITM on an Anglo

Al

Hi Alan

 

Not being an anglo player, I thought so too. Until I found these:

Eloy

 

Ciaran FitzGerald on Concertina ComhaltasLive #283-3

 

Concertina Aine FitzGerald

 

The Rowsome sisters on the Late Late Toy Show 2008

(fast forward to 2:45)

 

Twinkle Twinkle Concertina

 

Una Concertina;-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FkREv9wgOQ&fmt=18

 

Darlin Clementine

 

Rochdale Coconut Dance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quUBK-N998E&fmt=18

 

Now I believe the problem lies elsewhere

 

Thanks

Leo

Edited July 5, 2010 by Leo

[Alan Day]

Thanks Leo little Ainie Fitzgerald was the little girl I was referring to.

I get quite emotional watching these little tots.

On a more serious note their little hands cannot reach the air button and are holding the concertina up with that thumb. This is where the problem lies. It seems to be overcome by the arrangement that does not require air button use.

Al

[Rod]

Thanks Leo little Ainie Fitzgerald was the little girl I was referring to.

I get quite emotional watching these little tots.

On a more serious note their little hands cannot reach the air button and are holding the concertina up with that thumb. This is where the problem lies. It seems to be overcome by the arrangement that does not require air button use.

Al

 

I reckon that Ciaran Fitzgerald is the one showing the the most exceptional talent in Leo's excellent selection of young squeezers.

[Leo]

Thanks Leo little Ainie Fitzgerald was the little girl I was referring to.

I get quite emotional watching these little tots.

On a more serious note their little hands cannot reach the air button and are holding the concertina up with that thumb. This is where the problem lies. It seems to be overcome by the arrangement that does not require air button use.

Al

I reckon that Ciaran Fitzgerald is the one showing the the most exceptional talent in Leo's excellent selection of young squeezers.

Alan and Rod

 

I'm a fan of kids, and they never cease to amaze me. Without getting into the quagmire of favorites, I can say the ones that I scratch my head over in wonder are the Twinkle and the Clementine clips. Let's see; without more than a glance at the buttons, and it looks like fumbling through a tutorial book, or reading the tune, to me are quite intriguing. There is hardly a way to tell how long she's been playing. It's the same child. She probably has some help too, but even so...

 

Kids are cool! Until they get older.

 

Thanks

Leo

[Larry Stout]

I have very large hands. This doesn't cause problems for me when playing EC: I arch my hands (rather like holding a tennis ball) and can reach any of the keys with the finger tips while handling the bellows with my thumbs and little fingers (no other part of my hand touches the ends of the instrument). But when I play my Crane I find that with the straps as loose as possible I still feel cramped too close to the ends of the instrument. I notice in videos of good anglo players that the hand is often fairly flat with the fingers fairly straight and the keys played with the pads rather than the tips of the fingers. I suspect that technique on the Crane is rather like that on the anglo, though I've never gotten any instruction on either.

 

How do anglo and Crane players with large hands manage the ergonomics of the instrument?

Edited July 7, 2010 by Larry Stout

[JimLucas]

How do anglo and Crane players with large hands manage the ergonomics of the instrument?

Wasn't there a Topic once about the rails (hand bars) on duets and anglos not all being the same distance from the nearest (or farthest) buttons, nor the same height, and maybe even not the same width? Might be worth trying to find that.

[fernando]

Lovely those videos with children playing!

 

I will tell you something that happened to me that relates to this matter:

 

I'm the only adult in my class with Noel Hill in Galway City. One day it took my eye that one child, one of the smallest, and one of the best players as well, was playing the air button with the index finger!

 

He was always doing that. I thought: Why does Noel allow this? this is clearly a bad habit.

 

I didn't know if I should bring out the matter... I was a bit afraid... maybe he would take offense...

 

But one day I did it! and it was like this:

 

- Me: Noel, have you noticed that this child is using the index finger for the air button?

 

- Noel: ah, that's right Fernando! I've seen that many times, they cannot reach it with the thumb. But they will eventually, when the hand grows. They will change the fingering and they will be sorted, there is no problem.

 

- Other girl: yes, I remember when I used to play that button with the index finger, but now I can use my thumb because it it big enough.

 

Incredible!

Edited July 14, 2010 by fernando

[Anglo-Irishman]

I notice in videos of good anglo players that the hand is often fairly flat with the fingers fairly straight and the keys played with the pads rather than the tips of the fingers. I suspect that technique on the Crane is rather like that on the anglo, though I've never gotten any instruction on either.

 

How do anglo and Crane players with large hands manage the ergonomics of the instrument?

 

Larry,

On my Anglo (Stagi) and Crane (Lachenal) the inner rows are the same distance from the handrests. That is, equally cramped for my long fingers.

With shorter fingers, playing with the pads might work on the Anglo, but its rows are farther apart than thse on the Crane. (Stands to reason: the Anglo only has to have 3 rows in the reachable range, whereas the 48-b Crane has 4 on the HL and 6 on the RH.) So if I played my Crane with the pads of the fingers, I'd press two buttons at once. This is useful sometimes, but mostly it's not!

 

How I handle this? I've made a principle of reviewing the tightness of my handstraps from time to time, especially on the (for me) newer Crane. Beginners tend to set the straps too tight (says my Crane Tutor) because it makes them feel more secure. With some pracitce, you can loosen them a bit. With a lot pf practice, perhaps even a bit more. The farther your knuckles are from the end of the instrument, the less you have to cramp your fingers for the inner row, but at some point, you lose control. You have to optimise for your current learning stage!

 

Cheers,

John

[Larry Stout]

Right now I have the straps on my Crane as loose as they can go (last hole on the straps) and I'm still a little cramped.

 

Which tutor are you using for the Crane? I have a copy of the Bulstrode tutor and I don't remember comments on the straps. Is there another?

[JimLucas]

Right now I have the straps on my Crane as loose as they can go (last hole on the straps) and I'm still a little cramped.

I'd suggest you punch another hole.

I've had to do that on a few instruments, and it's worth the trouble... and the expense of buying the tool. A few days ago I picked a new rotating punch (like a pliers with dies for several sizes of hole) at a home-tools store in Sweden for the equivalent of about US $3.50.

 

And if the straps aren't long enough to accommodate a new hole, probably new straps are in order. (Concertina Spares, do it yourself, or whatever.)