Ep 3: Pulsing the bellows - Mistakes Self-Taught Accordion Players Make.

Pulsing the bellows is a common problem that can make your songs sound clumsy. This is something that you might not notice while playing, but it will be clearly audible to the audience. I used to do this a lot and I've consciously worked on unlearning this bad habit.
This is the third episode of my series - Mistakes Self-Taught Accordion Players Make.
The goal of this series is to not criticize other musicians, but to share some of my learnings with others so that they can use that if they find it beneficial. It is hard to find accordion teachers (compared to other instruments) and there are several musicians who love to play the accordion but might not have a teacher to spot and fix certain problems in technique.
My teachers have fixed several problems with my technique and I still actively work on further making improvements.
Here is a link to the playlist with all episodes.
• Breaking Air! Mistakes...
Links to individual episodes:
Episode 1: Breaking Air! Mistakes by Self Taught Accordion Players • Breaking Air! Mistakes...
Episode 2: Playing Chord Buttons Too Long • Breaking Air! Mistakes...
Episode 3: Pulsing Bellows • Ep 3: Pulsing the bell...
Episode 4: Right Hand Position • Ep 4: Right Hand Posit...

[@kyleowen1553]

These videos are great! Very helpful, thanks!😊

[@811birch]

Anand, This is really helpful. Thanks for addressing misuse of the bellows and suggestions of how to correct that!😊

[@BreezyBellows]

Thank you Guy!

[@djemberandstad]

Thank you 🙏🙏. And what a beautifull french song you played. What is the name of this song ??

[@BreezyBellows]

Thank you! Although that song sounds very French, it is actually a Venezuelan waltz called la partita. I also thought it was French when I first heard it.

[@djemberandstad]

Thanx very much 😇

[@patrickdevlin8553]

Hah. At 4:40 "[if you do this mistake a lot] it makes the song... ... less enjoyable." Very tactfully said, and nice job avoiding saying "makes the song sound just terrible'

[@BreezyBellows]

I respect everyone that is out there pursuing their hobbies. There is always something that can be improved. If like to look at that as an opportunity instead of a failure. I've seen two types of skilled musicians. The first type inspires me to play more. The second type makes me feel uncomfortable and discouraged. Over the years I've realized how certain comments can bring down morale. So my choice of words are very deliberate. Thanks for your comment.

[@enjaycable]

Hi, I sometimes use pulsing on particularly rhythmic Latin beat songs where the right and left hand are playing in sync. I feel in in this situation I am actually using pulsing to convey an energy. Is pulsing legitimate at these times?

[@BreezyBellows]

It should be alright if you are deliberately adding accents because of the song's style. Adding accents with bellows is legitimate if it suits the context of the song (ex: tangos). Pulsing is a problem if it exists in every beat of every song.

[@tandemwings4733]

Never heard of such a thing, and many of my friends are self taught.

[@BreezyBellows]

What have you not heard? Do you mean the term "pulsing" out the actual accents added to every beat because of the jerky motion in the bellows?

[@tandemwings4733]

​@@BreezyBellows I have often encountered folks "stroking" the bellows to the bar, which is extremely common with self taught beginners, but never have never come across this "jerky" motion that you're describing.

[@BreezyBellows]

I over did it on the video so that it can be easily heard. I've seen several players do it. I myself used to do it when I started out.