“The vibrations on the air are the breath of God speaking to man’s soul.” – Beethoven
I grew up listening to my father play the accordion, an instrument he learned in high school in late 1930’s New Hampshire. He was a taciturn man, but music brought out the best in him and gave me a glimpse of the smiling charmer who snagged my mother’s heart. Especially when he played her song: “Juanita.”
He could be fierce about it. No one dared make a sound or interrupt him while The Lawrence Welk Show aired, especially when Myron Floren, Joann Castle or the maestro himself took center stage with their keyboards and bellows. Half our hi-fi cabinet boasted albums by accordionists. (The other half was filled with salsa artists, but that’s another story.)
They’re fascinating instruments, beautiful and complex. The process of making one is incredibly precise. With up to 600 reeds, the final tuning alone can take up to 16 hours.
You can perform just about any kind of music with an accordion. Folk, blues, rock, pop, Latin, Tex-Mex, Italian, Irish, French, Celtic, Cajun/Zydeco, even classical. A lot of people associate the accordion with Weird Al Yankovic and the polka. Its range is far wider. Musicians you might not expect have embraced it. Julieta Venegas, the Mexican singer. John Lennon. Sheryl Crow. Jimi Hendrix. Billy Joel. Danny Federici (who played with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Bank). Stevie Wonder.
Elvis could play one—badly, if you believe the rumors.
My first piano accordion, a bare-bones model for beginners, cost less than $100, far less than the $40,000 the exquisite Pigini Mythos commands. It was tiny but allowed me to learn the basics of posture and playing while seated. What looks easy involves quite a bit of work.
Before you begin
Keep the keyboard aligned with your chin.
Rest the middle of the accordion on your left thigh.
Hold out your right elbow.
Tuck in your left elbow.
Remember to work the bellows smoothly. Accordions need air.
To play
Practice the melody alone until mastered.
Do the same with bass notes/chords.
Put both parts together.
And then you’ll have … music?
I’ll be honest. The air in my room turned blue when I practiced. My partner complimented me on the variety of curses I knew. In different languages, no less. A metronome helped to keep the tempo regular, but my first songs sounded like dirges. I played everything s…l…o…w…l…y and gained a new respect for the pros.
That first accordion ended up in my second-grade classroom, where the kids happily embraced a budding musician and sang along to pieces from my early Palmer-Hughes instruction books. Its replacement was a vintage De La Rosa I picked up at the Cotati Accordion Festival, an annual event in northern California (link below). Made in Italy, mid-size, mother-of-pearl keys, gorgeous sound.
Did I get better with a more refined instrument? Yes. A well-made, well-tuned accordion inspired me to work harder. I remember how happy it made me to tell my teacher that I’d reached a point where I felt one with the music.
It’s an intensely personal experience. Notes seem to play themselves, your body and mind transport to another dimension. When you finish, there’s hushed silence as the vibrations fade.
You don’t have to believe in God to understand what Beethoven meant. Music has spirit. Music has soul.
The benefits go beyond the divine. According to research, learning any kind of instrument sharpens your brain by utilizing higher cognitive functions. It doesn’t matter how old you are. Playing music improves mental and physical well-being at any age. These days, that’s a bonus I’ll gladly accept.
If you want to learn more, or glimpse the pin-up calendar featuring women who love their accordions, here are a few links to get you started:
How Accordions are Made https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcMHiAxB-jQ
Accordion Babes https://accordionpinupcalendar.com/pin-up-galleries/2018_calendar/
Cotati Accordion Festival https://cotatifest.com/
The Brains of Musicians https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMYQHTbPTVA
Could Playing Music Drastically Alter Your Brain? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-Zl1oFjezI
Thanks for reading. 
Images:
Photo of Viola Turpeinen https://accordionuprising.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/viola-turpeinen-the-first-recorded-woman-accordionist/
Photo of Julieta Venegas: http://wnyaccordions.org/noted_accordion_players
Photo of Elvis: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/532902568395344050/