The lowly accordion, possibly the geekiest instrument ever.

and to mexican corridos and vallenato

I think it's marginally better than bagpipes.

I saw a beautiful one in a thrift store last year. It was really an elaborate instrument.

I associate accordians with the 1950s and the song "Lady of Spain". At least the bagpipes have men wearing skirts with no underwear.

But if you learn how to play the accordion, you can be the life of the party!

They must be easy to play if they were popular back in the day.

r2 Actually, a lot better. No spit valve to worry about, and no chance of contracting Piper's Lung.

"Ti-Ti-Ti-Tico-Ti, Ti-Ti-Ti-Tico-Ta....."

Anything is better than a harmonica.

I quite liked this when it came out. 'Heater' by Samim. Cumbia mixed with house music.

Why aren't these more popular? It's like a portable piano.

It's not the geekiest instrument ever, it's thue dorkiest instrument ever!

There's a big difference.

Connie Francis plays.

[quote]accordians

Oh, dear.

They're nothing like a portable piano, R10.

As an accordion player, they are like a portable piano in terms of keyboard. A one handed small keyboard. The sound of course is....specific. But for many ethnic groups, it’s important. There was a brief shining moment in the 80s when zydeco became - well, not popular, but maybe a trend. After spending too much time as a kid learning it, I basically abandoned it by my 20s. Not a lot of uses.

I quite like accordions, it wasn't until recently I started hearing people bagging them out. I never realised they were as disliked as they can be.

Here's a great song that utlises the accordion:

My grandfather played it and taught it to some of my cousins. I thought it was dorky but was fascinated by the bellows seeming aspect of it.

What's the piano you play with your feet (not the standard pedals, but the dorky looks like you're stomping a rascally roach)?

Some guy in my marina has a bumper sticker that says "Plan an accordion, go to jail...its the Law!"

Pretty much says it for me.

r17 Are you thinking of a pump organ?

You should excuse the expression.

Nobody's going to fuvk you if you use the word dorky.

"The only really unfunny people are professional accordion players."

That's a bit harsh, R18. Bagpipe players definitely belong in prison though.

Jo-Ann Castle, DL Icon, burning up the keys on her accordian.

“"The only really unfunny people are professional accordion players.”

But those accordion boys really know how to work my squeeze box.

On "Rhoda," Nick Lobo, played by Richard Masur ("Hold me, David. I'm scared."), would always show up at parties with an accordion.

I love bagpipes if they're played at a distance outdoors and the player is talented.

I've never enjoyed the accordion, I have to say. I've known people who were taught it as kids and then bring them to parties to play them--supposedly ironically as a fun retro thing--but they're always a drag. They're so wheezy and loud.

I did love it when Joan played hers at a party on "Mad Men," though. And I loved it when Eugene Levy played his with John Candy when they used to do the Schmenge Brothers (aka "The Happy Wanderers") on SCTV.

I loved Joe Jackson's accordion playing, it gave his songs a unique sound. God, I miss the music of the 80s.

Oops, duh.

"Huey Lewis and the News!"

Not that guy, but the same show!

[quote]The lowly accordion, possibly the geekiest instrument ever

Close but no.

I'm torn. Either the theremin or an Otamatone.

R26, do you know what the guys in front are doing, aside from carrying the stick thing? They just kind of change their positioning but don't actually do any tricks.

Grace Jones is no geek.

I love it, especially in tango or gypsy.

I play piano and classical guitar but, famn, this appears more difficult.

I love the accordion. But I love ranchera music. Or polkas. They're fun.

I'm actually in love with one of the Melodica Men.

Nixon played a variety of instruments, including the accordion.

He would play the accordion, wouldn't he.

It's the instrument of choice for this Fashion Chameleon Muse. And they don't need to pay me $10,000.

How dare you!

They were extremely popular in the 1950's through mid 60's. The quickly went out of fashion.

Lawrence Welk and Myron Floren help make accordions popular in the '50s and '60s, and possibly into the '70s.

Fuck Off O.P.

[quote] Do you know what the guys in front are doing, aside from carrying the stick thing? They just kind of change their positioning but don't actually do any tricks.

Pipe bands have roots in the british army. Those are drum majors, each pipe band has one. He's in charge of the three D's: dress, drill, and deportment, he's supposed to be the hardass who makes sure everyone looks, acts, and marches well. The mace he's carrying is used to send visual signals to the band about turns, stops, starts, roll-offs, cut-offs, etc since pipe bands are crazy-loud. Sometimes they do flourishes, spins, etc but priority-one is the signals. This video is a "massed bands" event, where they merge 11 individual pipe bands into one. Hence the 11 drum majors (and the sketchy tuning), though I think only the front guy leads and the others are effectively just for show. I play bagpipes, it's a neat world.

Oh wow, R44, thanks.

So they're always giving the band signals? I can kind of make it out a bit better in this video. Holding it up in the air either means to start or stop playing I take it?

The little pony is super cute. Do a lot of these bands have mascots?

The accordion scene in Holy Motors was great!

Loved the whole wacky movie!

You dare besmirch the memory of someone who did 1,065 television broadcasts?

Guys and even gals can have fun with the accordion!

[quote]I'm torn. Either the theremin or an Otamatone.

How about the autoharp? The recorder? The kazoo?

r23 see r13

It matters who's playing it.

And loud, trashy Mexican music. You haven't lived until you've heard cars with booming stereos blaring Tejano or whatever the hell it is here in Houston.

Dutch teens play birthday tribute to Tejano accordionist, Flaco Jimenez.

I really wanted to play the piano. My parents took me to a music school, where they told me I needed to play the accordion before I moved on to the piano. After three weeks of playing, I dropped it. I was too intimidated to even consider the piano. I don't know why the instructor suggested the accordion was the sure-fire way to play the piano. Was it the extra money they earned for the rental of the instrument? That's my suspicion.

Flaco Jimenez is great. It's the crap blaring from car stereos that sucks.

R54 that is truly bizarre. I'm a classically trained pianist, and I've never been near an accordion.

Even the theremin can be sexy when played right. See Alison Goldfrapp during the Black Cherry tour.

For some unknown reason, my sister took accordion lessons when she was a kid. There must have been a guy in the school band she liked. This was back in the 60s.

Accordions are the reason Melania fled Slovenia:

I love Weird Al and his accordion. He proved the accordion could be a cool musical tool.

I've wondered if it might be amusing to get a cheap kid's accordion just to fool around. Generally less than 50 bucks.

R60 Do it! It's like fooling around with a ukulele -- lots of fun.

The mellotron is where it's at! at!

Kazoos are lower. Much lower.

It can sound great playing some classical pieces such as Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

R51, that’s a concertina. I learned how to play one several years ago and have several different versions of the instrument. All of them antique or vintage. It was difficult to learn how to play. Unlike any instrument I’ve ever known.

Geekiest? Has to be the musical saw.

r43 Always liked her. I remember when she invented her own religion-Judyism.

Not so lowly, in the hands of this incredible woman.

And Andreas Ottensamer on clarinet is nothing short of a wet dream.

Accordians are people from Accordia, no?

"It's a bagpipe with pleats."

This just came up in my YouTube recommendations, and seeing as others have spoken here on how difficult the concertina is, I thought I'd share it. This is pretty amazing, it must take years of practice to get to this stage:

OP , burn in a grease fire !!

I've noticed that the Brits seem to like to use "concertina" as a verb.

Agreed R34. I'll add klezmer to your list.

No, no, OP. The geekiest instrument was the wooden recorder foisted on us EGs in grade school.

Here's Trump playing the accordian:

I really wanted one and learn to play one as a kid, now I am glad that didn't happen.

The fact that you wanted to learn makes you a geek, R76.

"The lowly accordion, possibly the geekiest instrument ever."

Tell me about it, OP!

Virgin accordion vs. Chad bandoneon

Myron Floren's cracked-out "Lady of Spain"

For the love of god....

The accordion ok R25 but what's with Richard masur's hair?