Why the accordion?

Many people from the UK consider the accordion to be a comedy instrument, if indeed they think about it at all. It is not something that is often portrayed in the media and it is certainly not trendy. So why do I want to learn it?

Well, I played violin, piano and treble recorder as a child and had the usual school music lessons. As usual, my ability to pass academic studies without too much thought was the source of an apathy that led me to let the chance to really enjoy learning music slip by. Later, with little money and other things on my mind, I further failed to make any effort towards music.

Now that I am a fraction older, living comfortably and surrounded by musical talent I have been reminded how much I do love music. It's frustrating to me that I cannot talk the language that I want to with my more learned friends. I notice how much I sing and how often I seek out music. I know myself well enough to know how to focus on the root of my enthusiasm and use it to achieve a useful outcome - in this case, learning more.

I have known for some time that I need to really get a buzz for something to be able to follow up on it continuously and get through the rough spots. I thought about various instruments like the piano, the guitar, the drums, violin and realised that while I love them, I did not want to play them. I'm the person who thought they were bad at languages, then decided to learn Finnish. I like to explore things I know nothing about, things that are slightly unusual and things that take a little more effort in general. I knew I wanted to play an unusual instrument, but had no idea what it was going to be. I supposed it would be an obscure ancient Asian instrument and made a mental note to bear it in mind if I ever went to Asia.

Thankfully, lightning struck rather closer to home. There I was sitting on the tram, when I saw a shop full of accordions. I wanted one. I don't usually care for things in shop windows. It was a total eureka moment, true Melody-Jane style, but just to be sure I did some research. The more I did the more excited I got about it and the more certain I became that this was an instrument I actually wanted to learn. If I were anyone else I'd not have been so sure, but as I mentioned earlier, I'm the person who decided to learn Finnish on a whim. Now I've relocated to Finland permanently and have a basic level of spoken Finnish that I am continuing to improve on.

I want more accordion. And I'm going to get it!