New Challenge: Draw an Accordionist.

[Morne]

Not particularly awe inspiring, but many years ago before I got my first accordion I used to doodle once in a while. This was something I did 2 weeks before I actually got my first one (coincidentally also red).

I think this was a Romanian player (on a crutch) I saw on YouTube. At the time I didn't notice the wrong bass layout .

 

[Tom]

Not particularly awe inspiring, but many years ago before I got my first accordion I used to doodle once in a while. This was something I did 2 weeks before I actually got my first one (coincidentally also red).

I think this was a Romanian player (on a crutch) I saw on YouTube. At the time I didn't notice the wrong bass layout .

Nice one, Morne. I think you've outdone Jozz with this one!

 

[davidplaysaccordion]

From my childhood (which was a very long time ago)

 

[pillbugg]

Most recently of course, the main character of the film Encanto plays vallenato accordion, at least briefly. I haven't see it yet. Maybe she gets to play it as part of her magic powers or something. Not so much in the trailer.

I actually decided to watch that insanely popular movie because of the supposed accordion playing main character (apparently a song from the movie has already surpassed Frozen's "Let It Go" in terms of hits, if I am not mistaken). Can this movie revitalize the forgotten instrument?

0/10. No magical accordions that save the world.
But really, I think it was a rather enjoyable movie regardless of the lack of super accordions. Some accordion can be heard in some of the tunes that played.

Wait, there's an electronic toy accordion too? It is not accurate at all. No alternative to Roland here.

Darn. It looked promising.

 

[Johnny]

Loooong webpage of accordion cartoons and comic strips:
https://suekayton.com/Accordionhumor.htm

Accordion illustration is particularly popular in children's picture books. Because they look like fun.
I think we gave up collecting the images they're so common. Like if there's "picture a bunch of musicians here" in a kids book, it's basically 1955 again. They're everywhere.

I see them a lot in graphic novels/comics too, but I'm always looking. They show up in comics for kids/youth or from outside the mainstream English superhero market.

Video games have Kass. ? ?


And there's a pirate game, with a hurdy gurdy (!) and an anachronistic accordion you can play. (I've written to tell them accordions hadn't been invented yet, but they don't respond.)


Content Not intentionally a corporate promotion, but it does their job:

Most recently of course, the main character of the film Encanto plays vallenato accordion, at least briefly. I haven't see it yet. Maybe she gets to play it as part of her magic powers or something. Not so much in the trailer.


Lauded for the accuracy of the accordions pictured in the film. But not the storage of them in the local shop, where they are hung up by their bellows straps like animal pelts. The rare Colombian wild accordion. Highly prized by collectors once properly cured.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Accordion/...o_see_encanto_today_looks_like_disney_doesnt/

You can get a tie-in accordion-playing doll. Wait, there's an electronic toy accordion too? It is not accurate at all. No alternative to Roland here. The doll is playing a tiny version of the horrible electronic thing. Kids should get a refund.

"Kids should get a refund" - ? That made me laugh, Bruce!

**spoiler alert**

I've seen this film at least three times already with my family (yes; kids love this musical). Mirabel, the protagonist & occasional accordion player, is the odd one out in her family. Unlike her siblings and other relatives, she is not blessed with magical powers at the outset of the story. Yet she works hard to support her family despite being just a 'normal' girl. As her relatives eventually discover, even without any magical gifts, Mirabel shows that she is wise, clever, kind, brave and determined.

Of course: the movie and its corporate overlord have many flaws, but I thought it was a lovely story with some fun tunes and compelling characters.

Millions of children/adolescents -- and their parents! -- are watching the film and listening to the music. It was released in November 2021. Several of the songs feature accordion, including the opener ("The Family Madrigal") which already has over 28 million (!) streams on Spotify and 4 million + views on YouTube. I can personally attest to kids playing and singing these tunes (repeatedly).

For anyone griping about how more young people should discover and take up the accordion in the U.S., Disney's Encanto might be doing more than any accordion YouTube tutorial, book, or online forum to drum up interest in recent history, cheap toys and all.

Alas, it's true: the accordions are stored improperly during one scene - just imagine the imaginary leathers in the imaginary cassottos. The indignity of it all! (Remember: there are also talking houses and people with magical powers in this film.) And perhaps younger Encanto viewers will refrain from debating wet vs. dry tuning any time soon or where they sourced their handmade Italian reeds. The producers of Encanto were (probably) not aiming for the demographic active on this accordion forum.

But if some younger fans are inspired by Encanto's Mirabel to give a real accordion a go? That's just awesome.

 

[Morne]

There's a crocodile playing the garmon in the old Soviet stop motion animation film Gena the Crocodile.

 

[Squeezebox Of Delights]

I draw accordions and other instruments an awful lot, but very rarely people playing them. Perhaps because I can’t draw people for love nor money... Anyway, I know it’s not quite a drawing, but here’s a weird little stop-motion animation I did for the Christmas before last, featuring an accordion playing frog. The pieces are drawn with a fineliner, coloured with alcohol markers and then cut out, so it is technically a drawing...
-Oskar

 

[Tom]

I draw accordions and other instruments an awful lot, but very rarely people playing them. Perhaps because I can’t draw people for love nor money... Anyway, I know it’s not quite a drawing, but here’s a weird little stop-motion animation I did for the Christmas before last, featuring an accordion playing frog. The pieces are drawn with a fineliner, coloured with alcohol markers and then cut out, so it is technically a drawing...
-Oskar

That's super cool, Oskar! Since this was a challenge, not a contest, I can't say we have a winner (although I would go with Morne). Basically I tried a few but have more work to do. I think our quest remains ongoing....

 

[jozz]

Nice one, Morne. I think you've outdone Jozz with this one!

my day is ruined!

 

[JeffJetton]

There's a crocodile playing the garmon in the old Soviet stop motion animation film Gena the Crocodile.

Oh, Krokodil Gena is the best! Here's another one of his tunes.

I love how the lady reaches into her purse about 30 seconds in and manages to fish out an entire garmon! Wish I had a purse like that--it would be so much easier taking an accordion on a plane.