What makes a good accordion club?

[acordiansam]

Well me as an accordion player would pick a nice soft one like the kids use in the pool. The other ones might leave a mark!

 

[losthobos]

I don't mean to sound harsh but I've never found accordion clubs or ukulele clubs to be that successful...perhaps it's the instruments themselves...it seems to me soon as you call it an individual instrument club things start to become very limited...perhaps dragged down by th lowest common denominator rather than raised to the highest level....if I were lucky enough to live near Paul Debra I'm sure I'd feel differently...the accordion is a lovely instrument but it's foolish to confine it to only playing 'accordion' music
I have noticed the Guildford club holds a themed meet each month...so members are encouraged at the end of a meet to go away and come back next time with a french/italian/klezmer/tango / swing et tune under their belts to share...think they like dressing up too...they have a God following and keep member interested...they also pull in guest artists now an again to add inspiration...
Personally I go to a couple of weekend accordion festivals a year...catch up with friends and expos myself to a wide variety of sounds, some I find dismally horrendous (I don't think large orchestras work due to tunin issues) and some wonderful players who have been kin enough to take me under their wings..
Other than that I think the open mic sessions are you better option as it's more likely you'll have a decent blow with a pick up band, or play in the pick up band than confining the music to accordions...a great voice it is...but it's still only A voice in a beautiful world of aural delights

 

[Alans]

I've tried to form an accordion club in my city for years. Last month I put out a call on two general information lists and got not one response! I find it very difficult to form a club. I have no idea where my fellow accordionist so are hiding/playing.

 

[JerryPH]

Alan, there is an accordion club in Hamilton (I should try to visit it at least once one week when I am there). Start by visiting there a couple times, get to know a few of the people, let them know that you want to start something in TO.

- Do you have a plan of events for an evening?
- Do you have a location available?
- Have any sponsors like a local accordion sales and repair place? (that's a good place to post info as well)
- Have any accordion friends (even 2-3) that are local and would help participate and assist in it's growth?

Just a few thoughts because it's definitely not easy to start from scratch.

 

[Alans]

Hi Jerry, the accordion club is actually west of Hamilton in Stoney Creek which makes it even further from toronto. I wrote to the people who run the club twice last
July. The first time I asked if there was anyone who would be interested in helping me set up a club here and I got no response. Maybe they were afraid I would be
impinging on their territory, I don't know. Then I wrote them again and asked if there are any Torontonians who attend as I would like to try and hitch a ride (and certainly
pay for the gas), and they again never got back to me. Stoney Creek is about ninety minutes from Toronto and as I don't drive or have a car, I can't get there. The meetings
end at 9:30 and it's a week night-so it just doesn't work for me, besides they never did get back to me even though their web site says they are keen on having new members and encourage people to write to them. So I don't know what is up with that.
I spoke to the AAA a few years ago and asked for assistance and they gave me the name of someone who started a club somewhere in the U.S. but that was a long time
ago and at that point I had given up. I have placed ads on craig's list and kijiji because they are both free, and as I said before, no one responded. Fortunately I do know
about five very experienced teachers so if I can ever get something off the ground there are people I can get the word out to. One of them is the exceptional Michael
Bridge and he actually teaches across the street from where I work!As for spaces,there are many churches downtown who are desperate for revenue so they rent out
spaces, the problem is the cost is probably quite high and without a solid membership it would be difficult to carry the rent for the night by myself. There is an excellent
free music sort of yellow pages in the city called Wholenote which is read by everyone in the music world and I thought of taking out a paid ad just to get the word out
there since my free ads didn't work. I don't mind paying for that-and it really isn't very expensive. But as you said starting a club is really tough. I can probably get
Joe Maccerollo's email address and contact him but I'm not sure he would want to be involved at any level anymore as he is 76 and I don't really know what his situation
is anymore. He still teaches, but perhaps only at the university. It is really pathetic that a city of this size with one language spoken hasn't had an accordion club in
decades. Victoria not only has a club but a big festival every year! Calgary has a club. I guess someone just needs to take the initiative and push and push until it finds it's
own feet. Maybe this year...we will certainly hope you come and visit if we ever get it off the ground.

 

[JerryPH]

we will certainly hope you come and visit if we ever get it off the ground.

Id make the trip just to visit for sure!

But yes, organization is the key to it all. Start out by finding a free location (back room of a restaurant, basement of a church, Legion hall) to start out with, plan it out, start it off with people that you know and that would show up and have them help spread the word, thats how clubs are formed.

BTW, I did not know they were in Stoney Creek, heck that makes it even closer to where my girlfriend lives than Hamilton (and why the heck is it called the Hamilton Accordion club if it is not in Hamilton is also beyond me... lol)!

 

[george garside]

perhaps the best way is to start small by 'gathering' (possibly via the teachers you mention) a small group ?4-6 of box players to meet regularly to play together and again encourage local teachers to encourage their students to join you and so let it build up slowly whilst at the same time developing a coherent identity.

Having a small regular group of players/enthusuasts is far more likely to lead to something that will spread than trying as an individual to get something off the ground.

It may also be worth considering taking in other instruments such as do the many 'box and fiddle' clubs in Scotland, or the now defunct Yorkshire Squeezebox Club that I co founded many years ago and ran successfully in the upper room of a pub ( for free as we bought their beer!).

Its success lay in the fact that we included piano accordions, button accordions of various types, concertinas and melodeons.In other words anything with bellows in the middle! We had a first half hour for beginners to play slower stuff and usually agreed a couple of tunes to learn/practice for the next months meeting Interestingly although most were from a folk/trad background a local classically orientated accordion teacher actively encouraged her students to join and often came along herself.

george

 

[JerryPH]

perhaps the best way is to start small by 'gathering' (possibly via the teachers you mention) a small group ?4-6 of box players to meet regularly to play together and again encourage local teachers to encourage their students to join you and so let it build up slowly whilst at the same time developing a coherent identity.

Having a small regular group of players/enthusuasts is far more likely to lead to something that will spread than trying as an individual to get something off the ground.

That's exactly what I am saying, start small, start free and start well organized.

I've started out 2 photography clubs and 1 car club myself. The car club that I pioneered in 1997 is still going pretty well even after I left it in 2012. I did not place as much effort and planning in to the photography clubs, so when I passed them on to others, they let it gradually die off.

It may also be worth considering taking in other instruments such as do the many 'box and fiddle' clubs in Scotland, or the now defunct Yorkshire Squeezebox Club that I co founded many years ago and ran successfully in the upper room of a pub ( for free as we bought their beer!).

Its success lay in the fact that we included piano accordions, button accordions of various types, concertinas and melodeons.In other words anything with bellows in the middle! We had a first half hour for beginners to play slower stuff and usually agreed a couple of tunes to learn/practice for the next months meeting Interestingly although most were from a folk/trad background a local classically orientated accordion teacher actively encouraged her students to join and often came along herself.

Which is one of the small secrets to success. One has to make sure that the club has a mandate and specific target group of members to accept.

For example, I did not accept people that pushed Honda cars in a Grand Prix club, but anyone that had even a remote interest in a Pontiac Grand Prix was welcomed, ownership of a GP was not a mandatory prerequisite, but the passion and interest was. That is one advantage one would inherently have in Canada... there are no rigid segregations between button and piano accordions, no rigid lines between melodeon and Bayan. Where a line MIGHT exist and it has to be squashed from day 1 is music style. Accept and push ALL styles, jazz, classical, folk, everything!

I like the idea of the format for an evening, where one starts out with the beginners, and a shared piece is learned and performed solo and group, but this is a concept I see as needing a little more refinement and leeway before it would fit in with a bigger group. For example, someone might not want to play outside a group, and so to bring together people that like to play in groups vs soloists and make it a goal of the evening to touch on. Seminars on styles, techniques and special gusts are the signs of a more advanced group succeeding, as is a growing membership, even if that is 1 person a month. An open door policy is a must, and asking people to leave ego at the door and promoting a spirit of friendship, wanting to help and grow is very beneficial. Which brings the question of does the club want to be an entertainment entity, a learning entity? Both? Neither?

Goals... it's all about making small organizational goals, and attaining them.

 

[Alans]

Thank-you both for great suggestions. It didn't occur to me that maybe we should start off as a small accordion band/orchestra. There is someone I
recently met on this list who has three other people and perhaps I can find one of the teachers in the city to set up a band with music for us. That
may be a way of starting a group. As I've written before I know quite a few very experienced players and teachers (both doing graduate work in
accordion) and for a fee they may be willing to lead a small-to begin with-accordion ensemble. I'm going to check with my friend and then scout
out possible teachers. I know the group in Philadelphia-Liberty Bells offers different levels of playing in groups in their accordion store., That might
be the best way to start.

 

[JerryPH]

It doesn't need to be an ensemble or group or orchestra... in fact, that may scare away the concept of an accordion CLUB... unless what you were really looking for was a group of accordionists to create such an ensemble with? If not, keeping it more open to people of various levels of experience and desires to play solo and in small groups for entertainment and just to maybe promote the accordion in public a little more broader range of possibilities is where you need to be looking to start.

Edit: Alan, did you try calling them (Hamilton Accordion Club). and talking to a real person? It sometimes just works better.

John Cauwenbergs
Phone: 905 531-3251

Ingo Andersen
Phone: 905 634-9033