Bulgarian Accordion Tutorial 2018

Bulgarian Accordion Tutorial 2018 - Overview of Changes

This page describes changes in approach & mechanics between the 2017 and 2018 revisions of the tutorial. It is aimed at those who have used the 2017 tutorial in the past and want a quick overview of what has changed in the new version.

Motivation

The 2018 revision was motivated by the following issues:

I'd often found 232 pralls more difficult to execute cleanly and stably than 121, 131 or 343. This goes against expectations and my understanding of other players' experience.
I'd been frustrated understanding why some fingerings work well while seemingly similar ones remain awkward and difficult to execute cleanly. This had often led to me creating ever-more-complicated fingerings seeking one that is mechanically sound. As I did so, I often thought "it just can't be this complicated!"
I'd wanted a common framework I can use to understand the mechanical advantages of each of these different ornamental fingerings, one that draws on unifying physical principles.
I'd wanted a framework that reduces the number of notes I have to think about - so I think about only one thing on each 16th note, and not have to think twice as fast during ornaments.
I'd wanted mechanics I can practice at very slow speed that are still valid up tempo.
I'd been baffled by Petar Ralchev's smooth stability. His completely calm mastery is evident even at very slow tempos, and markedly different from the frenetic flailings of others. I'd also marveled him playing amazingly complex ornamental textures at high speed (even if they're not always ones I'd choose.)
On the other end of the complexity scale, what makes Boris Karlov's simple ornaments so incredibly powerful?

The New Mechanics

In resting position, fingers 2, 3 & 4 are curved as if holding a tangerine. Keys are depressed with these fingers by bending primarily at the 2nd knuckle (the proximal interphalangeal joint). My previous mechanics implied a combination of 1st & 2nd knuckle bending ("similar to the motion of gently closing your hand around a tennis ball"). I now believe too much 1st knuckle bending will leave the finger resting so deeply in the keyboard as to make subsequent actions awkward. As before, notes are depressed by brushing the finger inward toward the palm. Bending from the 2nd knuckle facilitates more compact motion (and thus, greater speed) and imparts a somewhat crab-like affect while traversing a melody.

To make 2nd knuckle bending work, the hand must be held somewhat higher above the keyboard than in the past. The high position of the hand, with fingers curled underneath is evident in this video between 0:17 and 0:24 (after Ralchev says "now Bulgarian") when he quickly rehearses his fingering before starting to play.

The "holding a tangerine" analogy above should not be applied to the thumb. At rest, the thumb is held below the hand at an angle of approximately 20 degrees. Key depression with the thumb is described in "Tilt" section below.

I call the new mechanics for realizing basic Bulgarian melodies Tilt-Brush-Pivot.

Tilt: Keys are depressed with the thumb by rotating the wrist (and thus tilting the plane of the hand) to the left. Depression may be assisted by moving the thumb horizontally away from the palm from the 1st knuckle. As the hand tilts, this horizontal displacement become somewhat vertical, moving the thumb into the key.
Brush: Keys are depressed with fingers 2, 3 & 4 by brushing into the hand from the 2nd knuckle (described above). Such notes may be individual 16ths of the melody or the first note of a prall (see "Pivot" below).
Pivot: A prall is executed as a Brush followed by a Pivot. Starting on a base note depressed by brushing finger 2 or 3, the Pivot consists of two additional notes: an upper auxillary and a return to the base note. The two notes are sounded in quick succession by a combination of auxillary finger motion and back-and-forth rocking of the wrist, pivoting on the base note first rightward (when sounding the auxillary) and then leftward (returning to base). A Pivot, despite consisting of two separate notes, is conceptualized by the player as a single mechanical action.

Thus framed, basic Bulgarian mechanics consist of a series of Tilts, Brushes and Pivots. Tilt & Brush provide the foundational mechanics for playing an unornamented melody. Built upon this foundation, the Pivot provides mechanics for pralls and trills. A prall consists of a Brush followed by a Pivot. A trill consists of a Brush followed by two (or occasionally more) Pivots.

The "hard part" of Bulgarian mechanics is mostly in the Pivot. The exact mechanics of the pivot varies depending upon the geometry of the black & white keys required and the fingering context of the ornament. These details (some of which I'm still trying to iron out) will be described more fully in the tutorial text.

Distinction between smooth ornaments (e.g. Kosta Kolev) and sharp ornaments (e.g. Karlov) is achieved in the timing of the Pivot. For a smoother effect, execute the pivot midway through the 8th note duration (i.e. on the second 16th). For a sharper effect, execute the pivot somewhat earlier, often as soon after the Brush as possible.

The basic mechanics above does not use finger 5 - being significantly shorter than 2, 3 or 4, it can't use the same brush mechanics. However, most simple Bulgarian melodies can be played fine without finger 5, so I have moved its consideration out of "basic mechanics" and into topics to be covered later (beyond the basics).