The left hand will come in time with practice. It will take time and a lot of patience. You need to know the right hand side before you tackle the left. Learn the scales and the octave scale. Practice the bouncing techniques as you will use them a lot. When playing the scale, play the bass for one note then the chord for the next note and so on up and down the scale. Another useful exercise is to learn "Mary Had A Little Lamb". Learn the melody first then learn the bass. This sounds silly but it is very useful in learning the basses. Remember, this is not an easy instrument to play and it will take a major commitment on your part to learn. You have to build up the dexterity in your fingers, especially the pinkies. This takes time. Listen to lots of Cajun music. You will need to become very familiar with many of the standards as you will learn them by ear. I also highly recommend Big Nick's DVDs. I have used them and on Vol. 1 you will learn to use the basses. These are easy to follow and you will be playing in soon enough. Be patient. You are not going to learn this in a few days. Good luck and keep squeezin'.

I got the left hand down early in ther game by thinking of the two hands as a zipper. Ever piece fits in a certain place and no other. So from the beginning, practice slowly and learn where each left-hand note goes into the right-hand melody. Otherwise you will set yourself way back in the long run with bad habits acquired at the beginning...

It just takes time. When I started out, I found the bass side on waltzes to be easier than two steps for whatever reason. My first waltz that I really nailed the bass side down to was the Love Bridge Waltz. I think this is a good standard waltz that is easier than many others to get the bass side on. A song like "Les Flames D'Enfer" is a good two step to work on bass side timing. The best advice I ever had came from Steve Riley at some class he did years ago. I basically asked him the same question about the bass side and he told me don't worry about it, just keep playing it. So that's more or less what I did and over time it just kind of falls in place.

I'm working on a waltz right now I've been trying to learn the 99 year waltz. The title is so much more beautiful in French but alas I don't know French haha

Practicing daily, it was 4 months before my left hand epiphany. Now, more than 2 years later, I still have to do a few drills from time to time to keep my left hand from dogging.

When the left hand works well, the notes fall into place on the keyboard, and, when not, the right hand finds a reason to stumble.

Trust yourself and be patient. The hands will work together when they're ready. There seems to be no shortcut.

Yea that's what I'm learning about this instrument there's no easy way of going about it. I just gotta be patient hunker down and practice.

Click on the link or paste it whatever its Love Bridge Waltz by Chris Miller very easy to learn and like someone said its a good song to learn the base side of the box

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5yRgMUjBpI

I love Waltzes I'll check it out!! Thanks for the suggestion.

The waltzes are what really talk to me. Yeah... that left hand is the hardest part of playing the accordion, I think. It certainly adds richness to the whole thing though.

Keep at it. Play at least a little every day - especially when you just don't want to pick the thing up. Seems like every time I'm completely stuck and just can't make progress, I turn a corner.

Unless you're one of those naturals it's gonna be a long but enjoyable journey. Find folks with whom to play. It's really tough all on your own.

John in Oregon

Use a metronome, and practice slowly.

Merry Xmas!

Merry Christmas to you and all my other new friends who play the Cajun Accordion!!

Peer is right on about the metronome. You will quickly hate it as the slave driver it is, but it'll sure help. Nothing like good time!!

John in Oregon

First you'll hate it, but later hopefully you'll love it, which means you are on the right track. Good luck!

Haha... I never found the love, but I go back to it now and again. It is always humbling and instructive.

John in Oregon

I agree with all of you regarding the metronome. At first you will hate it because you are forced to play at a regimented pace. It forces you to be accurate in your melody. It is a Godsend for proper timing especially when playing rolls and sets of triplets. I have an electronic metronome on my computer and I use it every day. The results are definitely paying off as I now notice that my note values are more even and I don't rush a set of triplets anymore. Everything seems to flow more evenly. The metronome is a must if you want to get serious about playing any kind of music on any instrument.

And .. If you'd rather not purchase a metronome,
there are several 'virtual' online metronomes
that you can run with your computer.

You don't even need to download them ..

--bn

Luckily I have at least 2 metronomes on my iPhone alone and they work really well so I will definitely get in a habit of implementing it.

A lot of good advice from the Braves...how lucky we are to have such a board....left hand was a struggle for me too....I was told to keep playing it..no matter what...and it will come along with time....just like wine..it gets better with time/age...one thing I did, was played in front of mirror....as you know the motion of the bass side for waltz and 2 step...when I see my hand playing it, it sorta help me...if it did not look right I corrected it...but listening has more to do with that, you know when it does not sound right...anyhow good luck to ya and stick with it...it will get better with practice..practice...practice...

When I was a kid I learned to play piano-accordion.
It started with simple children songs and it's easier to manage the bass-side if you keep the melody simple. After some time it becomes an automatic thing with your left hand.
I don't need a metronome, because I'm one myself who drink to much