Bandoneon Lesson: Hand Posture and Hand Support

A Fundamental Bandoneon Lesson for Beginners

Welcome to this new post dedicated to a very important bandoneon lesson. I’ll discuss about the fundamental technical aspect of the correct hand posture on the bandoneon and how to support it with the hand.

Ths post is a natural continuation to the previous one about posture and bellows control, and I recommend you to read it if you haven’t already.

Having the correct hand posture allows you to play relaxed, avoiding unnecessary tension that can lead to injuries. So this bandoneon lesson is fundamental to prevent damages from wrong practice.

Support, on the other hand, refers to how we hold the instrument, directly affecting bellows control and sound quality.

These are two fundamental aspects as they help develop proper technique, that’s like building a solid foundation for a house: with good foundations, we can build a castle; with poor ones, even pitching a simple camping tent becomes difficult.

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Fundamental Bandoneon Lesson: Hand Posture

Let’s discuss hand posture in the bandoneon. The hand inside the strap has a fixed point, which serves as the pivot for any hand movement on the keyboard. From this position, which should never be abandoned, you measure angles and distances on the keyboard.

Your hand should be free to rotate and to reach any part of the keyboard. In any case, your hand never leaves its anchor point on the strap, or you lose your reference on the keyboard.

The only function of the thumb is to operate the valve lever, so keep it relaxed and extended, ready to act only when necessary. Avoid gripping the wood with your thumb, as this creates unnecessary tension in the hand and restricts movement.

Support

Now let’s talk about support.

The ideal situation is in the case the instrument can move freely in the air, but this is just an ideal case, as we need to sustain the instrument because of its weight and we have two constraints which are the hands in the straps.

The correct support is the one that minimizes the constraints of the instrument and allows its movement in the air with maximum freedom possible.

To feel the correct support, try the following little experiment.

Start from the extreme situation where the instrument is floating in the air: in this case, the support is 100%, and the instrument moves in the air without the constraints of the legs, but it’s pretty impossible to play the instrument in this way.

Now, move to the other extreme, completely abandoning the instrument on your lap under its weight. In this case, the support is zero, and bellows control is minimal because the bandoneon is dead on your legs, resulting in weak and poor sound.

Here’s how to perceive the sensation of correct support: starting from the extreme situation of the instrument floating in the air, lower it onto your lap. Just before completely abandoning the instrument on your lap, there’s still some support. It’s minimal, but that’s the sensation we’re aiming for. That’s the support to maintain during play.

So, don’t completely let the instrument fall under its own weight; you need to maintain a minimal support that allows for better control during play.

Conclusions

That’s it for now. I hope you enjoyed this post and, most importantly, found it helpful for your musical studies. Remember to subscribe to the channel and share the video if you found it useful, and to subscribe to the newsletter (you’ll find the form at the bottom of this page.

Best wishes, and a estudiar y a tocar!