Does your accordion have a name?

[Greg Ellis]

I have 3, Stella (an Italian Salanti), Arlene (a Hohner Marchesa) and Emily, a just bought yesterday Hohner "Trutone" but I think it's a different model with a Trutone sticker from somewhere.
Stella because it is an old Italian accordion my son left at my house when he moved out west.  Arlene because my niece (Arlene was her middle name) passed away the day I bought it (at around the same time she passed away - she loved the videos I'd sent her of me attempting to play the accordion).  And Emily was the girl who sold me the accordion that was in a barn in a property they had purchased.

I got the naming idea when I picked up my grandson from piano lessons at his teacher's house.  She had a beautiful grand piano in her living room.  I told her the piano looked beautiful.  She said, oh, that's Luna, that's her name!

 

[Eddy Yates]

Yeah. Yesterday when practicing wasn’t going well I called it @&/#€#%!

 

[Dingo40]

Greg,

Sorry, no, other than the one the manufacturer put in it. :-/

 

[Corinto]

Manufacturer's name, yes. As I have three HOHNER LUCIA from the 1930s and as LUCIA is the name of my spouse's godmother and aunt, the accordions keep this name, being LUCIA RED, LUCIA YELLOW (although Hohner says it is "white perloid") and LUCIA MIDI (the reedless midi one, also white/yellow). Also have a HOHNER CORNELIA I from the same decade, and also two HOHNER PIROL, these are my grandchildren's instruments and are called by the name of their little owners. And the WELTMEISTER is called WELTY ...

 

[debra]

We tend to use the manufacturer's name as well. We have a "Höhner" (it's a Hohner but we say it wrong, after a somewhat known vendor who used the wrong pronunciation all the time. And we have two Bugari accordions of which we call one "de klenne" which is dialect for "the small one". It's a 540/ARS/C which is small in size but is a double-cassotto CBA with 52 treble notes and 120 bass with 49 notes in the convertor, so it's actually not small in terms of capabilities. The others we just call by the brand name.

 

[Stephen Hawkins]

Hi Greg,

Just like Eddy says, some of the names I call my accordions are not fit for publication.

I own a Galotta, a Hohner Arietta and a Chanson. I usually abbreviate the Hohner to just Arietta, though I don't really think that is what you are looking for.

When I was about three years old, I had a little Teddy which I named "Tizer" after my favourite pop/soda. That was seventy years ago, and I now have no recollection of what happened to little Tizer. Perhaps I could name an accordion in his honour ........ what do you think?

Kind Regards,

Stephen.

 

[Eddy Yates]

Sorry, Stephen. I do know what happened to your Teddy....just down the street from me:

 

[Tom]

I have "my big accordion" and "my other one."

 

[Frank Fusari]

I named my accordion when I first got it, when I was 10: Godzilla, and I still refer to it as such.

 

[Stephen Hawkins]

Oh No ....... Eddy ..... My childhood memories are now in tatters. Poor little Tizer.

Hey, maybe that purveyor of meat liked Tizer pop when he was a kid.

Kind Regards,

Stephen.

 

[Eddy Yates]

Oh No ....... Eddy ..... My childhood memories are now in tatters.  Poor little Tizer.

Hey, maybe that purveyor of meat liked Tizer pop when he was a kid.

Kind Regards,

Stephen.[/quote]
My sincere apologies, Stephen. Maybe the picture below will give Balm in Gillead. It was taken in Tizer Gardens (Tizer is a big name here in the Helena Valley in Montana. Either he was a miner, or the soda pop King, I can’t say.)

 

[jozz]

I have "Armando". I try to pronounce it with a spanish accent.

 

[Stephen Hawkins]

Hi Eddy,

You chose the photograph wisely, possibly knowing that I have three daughters of my own. Of course, they are all grown up now, but I still hold fond memories of them dressing up in a variety of heart-stealing costumes.

The little girl depicted in your photograph is gorgeous, and brings out the primal, protective instinct toward children which is easily understood by Fathers & Grandfathers around the World.

The name "Tizer" is obviously well known in your region, and you can now associate an English fizzy drink and a Teddy Bear to the name. (and possibly an accordion.)

Kind Regards,

Stephen.

 

[Eddy Yates]

Life is rich, Stephen. Thanks for making it even more so.
When it’s open during Summer, young parents and grandparents bring children to Tizer Gardens, so there are usually many little girls, like the one pictured, running around dressed like wood sprites. It’s an enchanting place, very unlike more crassly commercial venues of its sort.
Didn’t mean to hijack this thread about naming instruments. I know it’s pretty common for guitarists to name their guitars. I am attached to the accordions I have, and I find it difficult to think about trading or selling them in spite of their faults. I don’t say it out loud, but to me, my Bugari is “Blue”, my Tiger Combo-Cordeon is “Tiger”, (not Tizer, although....hmmm....) and my Iorio is just “Yo”, shortening the name, but also because it’s from New Jersey (regional joke). Naming them doesn’t really affect what or how I play, but these particular 3 have radically different personalities. If I had just one accordion that did everything pretty well, I’d have a harder time naming it.

 

[Stephen Hawkins]

Hi Eddy,

I am not really given to naming inanimate objects (with the possible exception of Teddy Bears) but I do have "pet" names for Brenda and some of our family.

Brenda & I have owned dogs all our lives, until age dictated that, after the last one died, and in consideration of the dog's health and well-being, we decided not to replace him.

Recycling is a big thing these days, but I was way ahead of the game. New dogs were often named after their predecessors, with the big dogs being named "Floyd" and the smaller ones "Barney." Perhaps this continuity could be applied to accordion names, though I'm not sure it would catch on.

I need more time to consider names for my accordions ......... it isn't something I want to rush into.

Kind Regards,

Stephen.

 

[JerryPH]

I don't have lady names for them, but when I refer to the "Free Bass", my mother has linked the big Hohner Morino to that and "Roland" or "digital" to the FR-8X and the "little red" to the small Hohner Free Bass accordion.

 

[craptiger]

Mine's just called "Box"

 

[easysqueezey]

Of course, Fifi La Tiger-Nuts, I thought they all had. See the nice dust cover the wife made in my profile picture.

 

[Eddy Yates]

Of course, Fifi La Tiger-Nuts, I thought they all had. See the nice dust cover the wife made in my profile picture.

Uh......hmmm.....well......
Nice lettering.

 

[knobby]

I have “Big Lass” Hohner Vox 4, “Lottie” Galotta Continent and “Dion” Hohner Tango II.

Everything in our household gets a name; cars, motorbikes, even the plants outside. It’s really difficult sometimes to remember all the names!