Chuck in Indy,

How's the Thumb-Position progressing?

Would it help to post a photograph?

--Big

That's the ticket!

how mucjh ypou payen for work raymond my boy is ;lookin for work he is a good boy yea --teebooger

Chuck,

See if this helps.

It's a 60 second video (Windows Media) clip
that illustrates thumb positioning.

If you do not have broadband Internet access,
it may take a bit to download because it's ~7 Meg
in size

http://www.bignick.net/video/thumb.wmv

But, the good part is that it's free

Hope this helps!

--Big Nick

Nick, that's perfect! It's slightly looser than I have it now, as I thought from Sarah's description, but the video really nails it down! Thanks for the time and effort making it. I'll give it a whirl, and report when I get back from Jazz Fest.

And 'boog...I ain't hirin' that kid of yours until he brings back the corn squeezin's he stole last time he came around.

Chuck,

My thumbstrap is a bit loose right now

They do stretch out and require regular adjustments.

But, it's close.

Keep on squeezin'!

--Big

Hey Chuck,

I have short stubby fingers and a thumb joint problem. My solution for the thumb problem was to hook up two straps to my ACADIAN, one over each shoulder. This prevents it from moving back and forth. I place my thumb on the back of the keyboard(without using the thumb strap), which prevents it from flopping in and out, and play to my hearts content. Keeping my thumb centered is a must.

I play with my fingers flat across the buttons. I've found that I tend to push them down too far if I play with my fingertips, which can slow the finger movement somewhat.

Been playing this way since I got my first accordion from Marc in 85 and I'm having a blast.

My two cents.

Bon Chance
Nelson Trahan

Thanks Nelson. Jonno F. plays that way, and I've seen Jeffrey Broussard play with no thumb strap...or other straps, for that matter. But that's not for us normal folks, and thanks for the info.