Stephen Hawkins post_id=63089 time=1537655973 user_id=1440 said:
Oooo, an interesting twist on this theme, and a subject worthy of consideration.
I have no interest in accordion music at all. What does float my sampan is music that I like and want to play. It doesnt matter one iota where it is from, who wrote it, or who thinks it is good, as my only yardstick is personal preference.
The Birdie Song was never a favourite of mine, though I recall how very popular it became when it was released in the 70s.
I can appreciate virtuosity when I see/hear it, but that doesnt mean that I will necessarily like the tune. It is not a sin to say that you dont like something, even if the player is a gifted denizen of the accordion world.
Stephen,
The issue is that if it wasnt for accordion music, the makers would have pulled the shutters down in the 70s. It wouldnt have been worthwhile to make accordions just on the off chance that people might want to play a selection of non accordion music on them. Up here in the 50s and 60s the Italian makers couldnt make them fast enough for us. The accordion survived the rock n roll era, but by the time Deep Purple (remember them?) had arrived the accordion shops were in deep soot.
My 20 year old granddaughter lived with us for a few years recently, and would often ask me why I bothered to play something as antiquated as an accordion. I told her it was once very popular and she said she had seen a poster advertising accordion music at her college. She also said she had considered going, but the poster mentioned something called Scottish Country Dancing, and she remembered that my wife had told her that she used to do the dances as a child. I cannot print her reasons for no wanting to get involved, but it sort of summed up the attitudes of todays youth with regard to the accordion scene. Yes, there are scores of up and coming youngsters, but they arent exactly household names any more.
As Ive indicated, if I worked on it I could probably create a list of accordion tunes that I just cannot abide, and maybe a bigger list of non accordion tunes that people feel the need to play on accordions. However, it is those tunes that tend to keep the factories open (just), and which draw most of us to the instrument
There are thousands of contemporary professional accordionists worldwide who can play loads of different styles of music, but the majority of them arent brave enough to break away from accordion music. That is a major part of the problem. You have to be a special kind of player to be able to pull an accordion out of its case and mesmerise an audience with non accordion music.
As you say, playing for the fun of it is what its all about, and I suppose most of us take the instrument far too seriously. You can clown around with something as universal as a guitar and few people will probably object, but do the same with an accordion and youll never hear the end of it.
So, now Ive got that sorted, where the hell did I put that harmonica? I want to learn Jingle Bells on it before Xmas so that I can impress all those who are fed up with my efforts on the accordion.
Beautiful.
