Play simple tunes like children songs with the bass until you do it just like that.
Or just play the bass side and make your song yourself at the other side.
I remember I had to learn that when I start to play chromatic accordion as a child :slightly_smiling_face:

The real challenge here is that in playing the accordion there are actually 3 parts of your body to be "coordinated" (I put that last word in quotes, for reasons I'll explain): your right hand/fingers, your left hand/fingers, and your left arm.

The right hand/fingers pick out the notes to be played as melody on the 10 buttons of the accordion. But each button can create 2 different notes depending on bellows direction, which is controlled by the left arm. So to play the melody you want, your left arm has to be 100% coordinated with your right hand/fingers.

The bass and chords you play with your left hand/fingers, however, are ENTIRELY rhythmic. The specific bass note and chord that your left hand/fingers produce at any particular moment in a song are the result of whatever the left arm is doing to create the right hand melody. So the key to getting your left hand/fingers working properly is to train them NOT to coordinate with the left arm or right hand, but rather to operate independently to create a steady rhythm - bass-chord-bass-chord for a 2-step, bass-chord-chord for a waltz -- that completely ignores what the left arm and right hand are doing.

For me, the hardest part was to convince my left hand to ignore changes in bellows direction driven by my left arm. One simple exercise that helped me was to play up the scale in groups of 4 or 3 notes, accompanied by steady bass-chord rhythm on the left hand:

2-Step: CDEC / DEFD / EFGE / etc. (bass-chord-bass-chord with each group of 4 notes)

Waltz: CDE / DEF / EFG / etc. (bass-chord-chord with each group of 3 notes)

Each of these little note sequences involves changes in bellows direction, so maintaining the steady left hand rhythm is trickier than it looks. Once you've mastered these scales, you can do them double time (e.g., CDEC in a single bass-chord, changing the waltz sequence to CDEEDC to get 6 notes in a single bass-chord-chord, etc.), which introduces changing bellows direction during a single left-hand bass or chord.

Hi Folks

Thanks for the tips.. Will try out your idea Bassman.. Sound like a good idea.. If I get all that you lay out there, what would be the next 'lesson'.. ;-)

I was hoping for something along those lines. Just didn't know where to start.. Also Is there any combinations of scales one might work on to get more dexterity in the Right hand.

Thanks a bunch for posting that

Willy Wog

WooooHoooooo Bassman! Now that's what I'm talkin about! Now that's sharing the knowledge like it was meant to be shared. Keep it up and they may make you a disciple. I knew you had it man! waaaahhhhhhoooooo! But you left out two body parts...Like CJ Ron said, the feet man, don't forget to play the got dam feet! Match the feet to the beat. Match the feet and the beat to the base buttons. Then last but not least, match the right hand fingers to all of it when you play them 10 buttons. Stressing on the down beat. Simple as that! Sometimes takes 10 to 60 years to master, but it is doable. The only reason it takes so got dam long is because no body tells or shows anybody how to do it. This was talked about a long time ago by a feller with the last name of Hebert right on this very discussion board. It's been here all along and so many just dismissed it as if it were of hardly any value. Go back and read got dammit people! It's all here.