The
Accordion - A European Musical
Delight
About
The Accordion
One great
thing about music is the variety
of instruments and types of music
that each culture around the
world enjoys. The accordion was
developed in Europe in the 19th
century and is still played
today.
Three
Types Of Accordions
This unique
instrument uses bellows and
carries the nickname of
squeezebox. The first one, used
by musicians in Vienna looked
quite different from the modern
instruments that are played
today. There are three main
versions; the piano accordion
with keyboard, the button and the
concertina.
The
Accordion Comes To
America
Vaudeville
performers in America and Britain
made the accordion a familiar
sound. French society has a long
association with the instrument,
often heard at formal balls.
It also
became popular in French songs of
the 1950s and street players are
feted by tourists. Holiday makers
will also be familiar with
buskers and waiters playing
accordion music in Italy, Germany
and the Czech
Republic.
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Cajun
Accordions ?
Cajun
music also uses the
instrument, as does the
bands playing polka
dance music in various
European countries.
Brazilian
musicians play their
dance music with it and
a lot of Celtic music is
written for
it.
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The Button
version has been adapted in
different countries around the
world and is especially favored
in Russia.
Electric
Guitars, Accordions And Rock
& Roll
Today, rock
bands looking for a distinctive
sound or who have some ethnic
connection, use the accordion on
their records. Celebrated grunge
band, Nirvana took advantage of
the instrument in their famous
unplugged session.
Bass player
Krist Novoselic, who has Croatian
roots, is an accomplished player.
Garth Hudson, Canadian session
musician and member of The Band,
is a classically trained musician
who studied musical composition
and also likes to play the
accordion. Folk rock fusion band,
The Pogues
blend the instrument with rock
arrangements, in the hands of
James Fearnley.
Other
Musicians Embracing The
Accordion
Another
band to feature the instrument is
They Might Be Giants, famous for
the theme song of comedy show,
Malcolm in the Middle, called
Boss of Me. John Linnell is one
half of the duo and he plays
accordion on occasion.
The E
Street Band is famous for backing
Bruce Springsteen. Their keyboard
player Danny Federici, also plays
the instrument. The instrument is
so versatile that it can be
incorporated into most genres
including jazz and new age
music.
Digital
Accordions
There is a
digital version of the
instrument, which makes it an
appealing prospect to modern
performers. As long as today's
performers take an interest in
the instrument, its unique sound
will never die. When cool rock
stars play, the instrument
becomes cool as well.
A
Personal Accordion
Story
It is
strange to see an instrument as
traditionally ridiculed as the
accordion enjoying a resurgence
among young people. These days,
you can buy accordions and
accordion sheet music in almost
any music store and what was once
the subject of jokes is now
virtually challenging the guitar
for musical
predominance.
My
Plight With Learning To Play
Accordion
I started
learning how to play the
accordion myself when I was just
ten years old. Those days, I had
to hide my accordion sheet music
from friends, because if they saw
me carrying it along with my
school books, they would laugh at
me.
Everyone
thought that learning how to play
the accordion was an occupation
for ridiculous old men from
France, and that the squeezebox
was for squares. So while they
were all playing guitars in bad
hard rock bands that sounded
virtually identical, I was
playing my squeeze box studying
polkas, waltzes, Cajun zydeco,
and old European folk
melodies.
Higher
Education Embraced My
Accordion
When I got
to college, though, things
started to change. My skinny,
geeks demeanor suddenly was hip
and cool to my compatriots. No
one wanted to hear the standard
lead guitar, rhythm guitar,
drums, bass rock power lineup any
more.
People were
looking for something different,
something new, or perhaps a new
incarnation of something really
rather old. I was in the perfect
position to put my accordion
playing to work.
I would do
open mikes at first, then as I
became more confident, I would
start to play accordion shows. I
had a band backing me up
consisting of mandolin, violin,
doumbek, and electric bass, and
we'd play the most strange
melange of haunting old world
music and modern funk this side
of San Francisco. It was one of
the best times of my
life.
The
Accordion Hobby
Of course,
the band didn't ever completely
work out, but it has remained a
hobby of mine since then, and we
recently took a small tour after
completing our most recent album.
As I have
refined my accordion and song
writing skills, and my band mates
have grown in their abilities as
well, our music has done nothing
but improved. I also recently
played the accordion at the
wedding of my best friend,
Arthur, taking a moment to get up
on stage with the other musicians
and perform his favorite song.
Life is
perfect when there is time to do
what you most love! No matter
what musical instrument you play,
always remember, if you're too
busy to play music, you're just
too busy!!
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