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I think accordion being somewhat corny or looked down upon,
I think it's quite unique and distinct to the United States because, depending on
your background and your age, the accordion can mean so many different things.
You know, your grandparents generation who grew up watching the Lawrence Welk show, which single-handedly sort of popularized and stigmatized the accordion,
that sort of strengthened the association of the accordion with polka. So everybody sort of automatically assumes, you know, that accordion
means polka music even though there are zillions of other genres that can be played.
[Music]
So, the accordion of some kind can be found and really popular in Tango in Argentina, Norteno music in Mexico, Vallenato in Colombia, of course there is German polka.
You can also find it in Russia. It can also be found in China, and it's interesting during the Mao, cultural revolution when western instruments were forbidden,
accordion was one of the few instruments that were actually still allowed.
It can be a one-person instrument, but it draws
people and people start to sing along with you,
and also it allowed me to play with so many different ensembles and groups.
This is the piano accordion that I play for performances.
So here you have the keys just like the piano, and on the left hand there are six rows of
buttons so you can play bass lines and also chords.
And these are switches to change the "voice."
Here's just one middle reed. [Accordion] But if you combine that with high reed and a low reed all together... [Accordion]
And there is also something that is called wet tuning,
and that kind of creates this vibration or shimmering quality.
[Accordion music]
Right, whereas if you want to do gypsy music...
[Accordion music]
So the voice is--most Eastern European music, or Klezmer music, would not use the wet tuning.
I feel like every time I learn a different accordion style or genre, it's really like
a language, and some of them are close to each other and some of them are totally new,
and had I stuck with the piano or keyboard, I don't think I would have gotten so many opportunities to play with different groups so many times.