a year ago or so, i plucked the courage to walk into the accordion store in our local shopping street and ask for a try-out lesson. an event which, despite its innocent appearance, ranks among the three most courageous acts of my life. since then much has happened, here and elsewhere, but the sheer exhilaration i experience whenever i pick up my shiny black friend remains astonishingly fresh and unchanged. playing the accordion has taught me many things i suspected but did not know for sure, as well as some things i did not even suspect.
among them, in the disorder:
- if for twenty years, you consistently dream of being friends/lovers/neighbours/pen-pals with an accordionist, chances are you are an accordionist
- making music together is exponentially nicer than making music alone
- it is possible to become extraordinarily close friends with someone simply by playing together the two voices of one song
- unschooling (i.e. only playing that which wants to be played and only when it wants to be played) is by far the most enjoyable and effective way to learn to play an instrument
- if i play all the A-minor songs my soul longs for, i won't have to live an A-minor life
and finally, the best discovery of all: an accordion is an extension (and expansion) of both the heart and the lungs. through it, my heart and my breath come together and sing.
(here is a small demonstration of my efforts http://www.badongo.com/audio/21236569. please to keep in mind that, all exhilaration aside, i remain a musically-challenged first-year student, so be gentle in your appraisal...)
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