Level 4 · Bellows artistry and free bass

the bellows shake, broader bass vocabulary, faster passagework, and the free-bass converter

Free bass lifts the left hand out of fixed chords into real counterpoint; the bellows shake gives the right hand a percussive, singing articulation.

What you learn

• The bellows shake (ricochet): rapid alternating short bellows movements for a tremolo articulation on a sustained chord.
• Walking bass and counterbass lines using the full fundamental and counterbass rows.
• The diminished-chord row and chromatic chord changes for richer harmony.
• Faster right-hand passagework with the thumb-under scale technique of piano playing.
• The free-bass (converter) system — on the Roland FR, a switch converts the Stradella chords into single chromatic bass notes, letting the left hand play independent melodic lines.

Grounded in: the standard Stradella (fixed-bass) and free-bass left-hand systems — for left-hand layout, bass-and-chord patterns, and free-bass polyphony.

Note: a method-grounded technique curriculum (no score corpus for this instrument); levels are graded skills, not pieces.