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Let's Discuss Accordions


ggm1960

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The accordion plays a very important role in Mexican music of the Norteno region, and South Texas Tex-Mex music, its chiefest star for many years being Flaco Jimenez. The story goes that it was the Germans who brought the accordion to Mexico in the 19thc., and to this day, a number of Mexican popular rhythms are close to old German grooves.


I hope our Gus Lozada will weigh in here with much more authoratitive comments on this style of music and the role of the accordion in it.

 

 

Yes, I was doing a little internet research on Tejano music yesterday. According to this page I stumbled upon the style was largely influenced by German, Czech and Polish immigrants who lived in the area of what is now southern Texas and northeastern Mexico.

 

Another thing I couldn't help but notice is that the Tejano players appear to prefer the button type accordion as opposed to the piano style I have.

 

I can remember back in 1980 when I lived in Austin for a while I had a number of hispanic friends in the apartment building I was at. I can recall one telling me how Tejano music was to him like rock 'n roll was to me.

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Philbo beat me to the classic accordion joke I was going to post.

 

One cool thing about accordion is how physical it is to play the damned thing! Quite different from detachedly plinking on piano keys, it's really a full-body experience. I think the only instrument I've ever played that was more whole-body physical was the bagpipes. Perhaps that was due to the audience reaction, though. It's surprisingly hard to run at full speed when playing bagpipes.

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If you are not aware of Zydeco music and its use of the accordion to play a Cajun influenced R&B, you are in for a treat. Clifton Chenier was the king of the genre.

 

[video=youtube;4LF3KKmOjcc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LF3KKmOjcc

 

Argentinian tango is very sophisticated and emotional music that often features the accordion-like Bandoneon.

 

[video=youtube;RUAPf_ccobc]

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I was lucky enough to see Astor Piazzolla in Holland back in the 80s, thanks to a friend of mine, Felix Visser. He said "you gotta see this guy." Right. Well, I was blown away. It was sort of like the Mahavishnu Orchestra meets...well, accordions...or more precisely, Bandoneons. I thought what his band played was deeply emotional, sophisticated music that was just stunning.

 

When I was in Argentina a few years later, I picked up every Astor Piazzolla CD I could find :) Great stuff.

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If you are not aware of Zydeco music and its use of the accordion to play a Cajun influenced R&B, you are in for a treat. Clifton Chenier was the king of the genre.

 

That should teach the blues lovers like Philbo to treat the instrument with a little more respect! :p

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Philbo's joke is told here in zmichigan, usually, late summer, but instead of accordians, it's Zuchinnis:)

 

I have a little 12 Bass accrdian. The thing sounds amazing, not that I play for {censored}. But, it fills a room and sounds fantastic with acoustics and fiddle.

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my mother was a virtuoso, Akkordeon it was very popilar in the 1920, every village had an Akkodeon Klub

 

today it is still very popular in Volksmusik, don't forget, in Europe 65% of all music sold is Volksmusik, maybe similar to the sales of Country Music in the USA

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That's excellent, way beyond what I'll ever be able to do. One thing I'm trying to pick up on is how to work the bellows, it seems to flow very naturally for these expert players while on youtube I notice people that have the same problem I do; keeping the air flowing smoothly.

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The most interesting thing I recently learned about the acccordian is that it makes that wonderful push-pull swishy sound on the Beach Boys classic "Wouldnt it be Nice".

I never quite recognized it for what it was- assuming some sort of synth was in play.

It really defines the sound of that record - aside from those timeless vocals.

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So this is a MASSIVE LONGSHOT, but would you, after all this time, be willing to part with this instrument?

 

My father played the same one as a kid and I’ve been hunting one down for a while. I’d love to surprise him with it for Christmas. I found old pictures of him in the 1950s in a church talent show playing his Silvio Marotta Concerto red/white marble. He talks about it a lot and now that he’s retired I’d love to rekindle that passion for it. I’m from Chicago and more than happy to pay a fair price and cover shipping.

 

Regardless of your answer, thank you for sharing your passion for music

 

- Karen

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I just ran across this recently resurrected thread. Heh, I'm sure there are many talented accordion players out there, but I'll admit, I'll never be one. I was more or less forced to learn accordion as a child because my parents liked Lawrence Welk. It was a dreadful time in my life because I wanted to learn guitar. I dimly recall my mother making some sort of weak promise to me that if I took accordion lessons for some unspecified period of time, then I could get a guitar. So I relented and suffered through an accordion purgatory. It eventually ended and I was given my first guitar for Christmas when I was 11 yo. It was a cheap Kay and unplayable. Fortunately -- but then I suppose it depends on how you look at it -- my mom bought me a cheap electric and an amp that following summer -- and it's been downhill ever since. But it's been a helluva ride.

 

I haven't seen one in years but I still like the bumper sticker that reads "Use an Accordion, Go to Jail" (a take-off on "Use a Gun, Go to Jail")

 

Now, having written all that, I can enjoy watching an accomplished accordionist. But then I can enjoy watching any skilled musician.

 

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This classic Far Side cartoon needs to be posted in this thread... ;)

 

 

[ATTACH=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","title":"885fc7d572cc30ffc646951b9f926be1.jpg","data-attachmentid":32395440}[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

lol...

try playing the buttons/keys same time as working the bellows, difficult for me smiley-wink

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My parents grew up in a small town in the Pocono Mts.

 

heavy concentration of Germans, Poles, and other Slavic denizens.

 

what every family wished for was to have a son that would become a Priest, and another that would play the accordion,

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My parents grew up in a small town in the Pocono Mts.

 

heavy concentration of Germans, Poles, and other Slavic denizens.

 

what every family wished for was to have a son that would become a Priest, and another that would play the accordion,

 

Boy them some high aspirations for the lads eh? :lol:

 

Accordions look complicated...All them dang buttons, the keyboard and having to pump the dang thing at the same time. No real polka band is complete without one.

 

The Hill Country of Texas was settled by a lot of Germans and Czechs. Well, after they ran all the Comanches out...That took a while....And a lot of scalps were taken in the process....But polka bands still abound up there. The Accordion is alive and well up there...Along with great sausages.

 

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