Importance of hand strap fitting

[Boley45]

How important is it to have snug fitting hand straps on an anglo concertina? Sometimes my straps feel perfect and sometimes they feel too loose and sometimes too tight. I assume my hands must swell a little at times. I find it hard to play if they're even a bit loose. I have a Jeffries and the adjustment on it is a pain and requires the use of a screwdriver.

Is this a rookie thing that will be less important as I become more experienced or is it important that they always fit snugly?

[Bill N]

I would say that it's important that they aren't too snug.  I remember wanting them tight when I started playing, as my fingers didn't know their way around the buttons very well, and it felt good to have the security of at least one "fixed point" in the whole system.  But as I started to use the whole key board and develop good muscle memory I found it was important to be able to easily pivot the hands in the straps without constraint.  I set my straps so that I can make an arch, with the sides of my palm touching the hand bar, and the high part of the palm arch maybe 1/ 2 inch/12 mm from the bar.  I keep things secure by arching my palm while I play and/or squeezing the strap between the thumb and the fleshy part at the base of the forefinger.  I can't give you specifics on how much arching/squeezing to do, or when- it depends on where your fingers are headed, and after a while it becomes second nature.

Edited May 24, 2022 by Bill N
typo and clarity

[Steve Schulteis]

I would echo what Bill said. Here's a video that shows what I do:

 

 

Like Bill said, at some point it's second nature and you don't really think about what you're doing. For example, I sometimes press my pinky against the end of the concertina to get better anchoring, but I didn't even realize I was doing that until I looked at video of myself.

 

I don't find myself adjusting my hand straps at all. I set them when I first got the instrument, and I've left them alone ever since.

[Boley45]

Thanks so much for your answers. They are really helpful. It seems I need to loosen my straps rather than tighten them. Delighted to have something to work on. 

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

It's personal choice, I think as to how loose or tight your straps should be; how it feels most comfortable to allow you to play..

I have had comments, for example, about the way I play my own anglo concertina; because I put my whole hands through, and is extremely loose fitting.. barely gripped at all.. it works for me personally.. but would not suit everyone!

[Steve Schulteis]

2 minutes ago, SIMON GABRIELOW said:

It's personal choice, I think as to how loose or tight your straps should be; how it feels most comfortable to allow you to play..

I have had comments, for example, about the way I play my own anglo concertina; because I put my whole hands through, and is extremely loose fitting.. barely gripped at all.. it works for me personally.. but would not suit everyone!

 

Simon, the main issue I have with your approach, and the reason I would not recommend it to others, is that it seems to hinder your ability to access the air button while also playing a note. I rely heavily on this technique in my own playing so that I am not forced to pause for a potentially distracting gulp of air.

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

2 hours ago, Steve Schulteis said:

 

Simon, the main issue I have with your approach, and the reason I would not recommend it to others, is that it seems to hinder your ability to access the air button while also playing a note. I rely heavily on this technique in my own playing so that I am not forced to pause for a potentially distracting gulp of air.

 

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

Yes, admittedly it is an alternative way to air valve control, but it's a unique techniques which I have lovingly, and carefully cultivated over many years of contemplation, and creative endeavour.

                   😃😃😃😃😃

[Martin Essery]

As a relative beginner, at first I wanted to tighten the straps for better bellows control, as they were stiff on a new instrument, and was okay when playing horizontally, but then I found that restricted how much the hand could twist sideways when playing across, so I loosened them again. So, for instance, RH playing B, C#, D becomes constrained with a tight strap. Assuming we are talking Anglo here.

[Richard Mellish]

Some experienced players have the straps fairly tight, others fairly slack. You need to see what suits you, and not necessarily then keep it the same for evermore.

[Richard Mellish]

One more thought: what works best when you're sitting down and resting the instrument on your thigh may not be so good when you're standing up.

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

It's different for every individual player, as to the approach of ' hand strap' use.

Be brave, and do it your own way; that's my view!

As I have, admittedly, a different way of holding my concertina, which has raised comments.

However, it works solely for me, and could be termed "air grabbing", as it appears if observed. But as awkward as it may appear to see, it does not affect the flow of sound, as I do try to find that moment to let that air in or out. It is very much like ( Anglo particularly).. a woodwind player, or say flautist, finding where to breathe in phrasing; it can be challenging, particularly if playing none traditional music, but you get there eventually.

[Clive Thorne]

I used to have my straps quite snug, originally on the basis it kept the instrument body under control, and never really questioned it. However I have been having lessons from John Kirkpatrick for over a year now and one of the the first things he suggested was that I loosen my straps a bit, and wow, what a difference in being able to reach the buttons, especially for chords on the left hand and the outliers on the right hand (36 Key) (it takes a bit of getting used to, but over the last year I have progressively loosened my straps and the left hand one is now at its maximum.

 

One downside, or rather something that takes some getting used to, is that the concertina will sit slightly differently according to it's attitude. I often practise lying flat on my back, with my forearms vertical. When I stand up (with the forearms horizontal) the concertina wants to tip forward, and so its relative position to the hands changes slightly.

Playing standing with the forearms vertically up does not have this problem.

 

I hardly ever play ith in on my knee, so can't comment on that.

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

2 hours ago, Clive Thorne said:

I often practise lying flat on my back, with my forearms vertical. When I stand up (with the forearms horizontal) the concertina wants to tip forward, and so its relative position to the hands changes slightly.

Playing standing with the forearms vertically up does not have this problem.

 

I hardly ever play ith in on my knee, so can't comment on that.

Oh that's very unusual exercise; I never considered that - 'lying on the back with arms  vertical'..

Maybe you could start a Concertina Aerobics class; the room filled with two dozen others all on their backs exercising, on their backs [playing at same time]?😁  [suggest Eaton boating song!]..

[Clive Thorne]

9 hours ago, SIMON GABRIELOW said:

Oh that's very unusual exercise; I never considered that - 'lying on the back with arms  vertical'..

Maybe you could start a Concertina Aerobics class; the room filled with two dozen others all on their backs exercising, on their backs [playing at same time]?😁  [suggest Eaton boating song!]..

I don't do it for exercise!! good greif no. I do it because it's comfortable.  It has been known fro my wife to find me asleep still strapped in, so so speak.

[Anglo-Irishman]

I've heard it said, and my own experience bears it out, that beginners on the Anglo feel "safer" with tight straps, whereas experienced players opt for the "freedom" offered by looser straps, and that as you become more proficient you'll tend to loosen the straps bit by bit. With playing experience, the arching of the hand takes up the slack, so to speak, and has the advantage that it can be varied according to the playing situation, which a strap cannot.

 

I have also found it equally important - on both Anglo and Duet - to have straps of thick, stiff leather. With pliable straps, the instrument tends to flop about, even when you arch your hand, and thin straps tend to cut into your skin.

I have occasionally thought of installing straps made of two layers of thin, comfortably soft leather with a layer of tinplate in between. This way, the the weight of the concertina would be supported directly on the knuckles of the index fingers, rather than "hanging down" between them.

 

Cheers,

John

[Eric Lerner]

I’ve stumbled on a different approach.  Early in covid times, I broke a strap on a favorite anglo.  All the local leather shops were closed for covid.  So while I arranged a replacement strap from the Button Box, I improvised using a Velcro-closed webbing strap, lined with a bit of sticky moleskin against my hand.  I liked playing with it so much that when the replacement leather strap arrived, I never installed it.  Two years and hundreds of hours of playing later, the strap is still holding up nicely, and I’m still happy with how it plays.  And I did the same with another broken strap on a different instrument.  The advantages – 1) I can tighten the strap in tiny increments, not just the spaces between holes in a leather buckle.  2) The nylon strap is a bit more flexible than leather, and it needs no breaking in.  3) The nylon strap is just a tiny bit stretchier than leather.  I can reach far away buttons a critical bit more smoothly.  The downside – it’s dead ugly and inauthentic.  I have a proper leather strap in my case for the day I want it.