Learning the Accordion (w/ a Pro) 

Wow you made me sound smart! Pleasure making this video with you, Rob! Lets meet up again soon!

Very happy to be back :)

"by under i mean diagonal towards the ceiling" the accordion in a nutshell

I demand an Accordion Mike youtube channel where each episode he shows me a beautiful accordion, tells me it's history, and plays me a period appropriate song.

Love how every time he brings a guest musician on the channel, he always finds a way to rope them into playing some good old midwest emo.

He always picks the best people to showcase the instrument. They're always super educated about their instrument and super awesome attitudes.

"Find the music you're interested in and do the best you can." Probably some of the best musical advice ever.

no fuckin way, i know Mike from his playing at Wednesday night open mics in willow springs, he's literally the peak of any night he's there. immense joy is derived from his jolly tunes. much love from the masters collection to Mike!

My Mom, one lung oxygen patient in her 70s, is weak and frail, but about once a year, she asks me to set her accordian on her lap, and she sits in a chair and plays down heaven.

The absolute joy on Mike's face while he was playing the guitar was so wonderful to see

Rob, this video is fucking WILD. My uncle spent his life studying accordion, but passed away in 2009. In 2007, he bought me a Parker Fly as a gift to help him record his final album. He knew he had stage 4 cancer at the time but didn't tell anyone. The Fly is one of my favorite guitars ever, and one that I still play! Well... it was, until yesterday. After my uncle passed, I became the owner of his Petosa Classic Antico, his pride and joy, and a beautiful accordion, which he spec'd out and paid $6500 for (!!!) in 2001. I never played accordion, so it just sat in its case, aside from pulling it out every few months to make sure all was good and the bellows were moved. I finally said that I needed to sell the accordion, to put it in the hands of someone that will actually play it. It didn't need to sit around collecting dust. I sold that accordion this week. Yesterday, I was playing my Fly and a fucking fret fell off the guitar. Just playing casually and a fret landed in my hand. Today, I log onto RU-vid, and there's THIS video with a guy playing a very similar accordion to what I just sold. Jesus Christ, Rob, the spirit of my uncle is radically fucking with me. But cool video nonetheless.

5:04 "...and this doesn't break all the time?" hahah this was exactly my thought too when it got opened up! So many little parts

I had no idea how an accordion worked. Far more complicated than I ever imagined. Cant wait for the spinning guitar video tho.

You found a great guy for this video. No idea who he is, but he is obviously knowledgeable, both about the instrument and music. On top of that, he is able to communicate. If he doesn’t have a channel already, you should coach him up, Rob.

Dude from rural bavaria here. This sound is pure nostalgia for me, love the accordion. Makes me instantly feel like I'm in a big tent with a bunch of fellow drunk country-bumpkins swaying side to side, while eating half a chicken that's been deepfried into oblivion. :D

I want an Accordion Mike RU-vid channel where he repairs and refurbishes accordions while giving a history lesson on the history and story of said accordion. The outro could just be him playing his accordion!

We must protect Accordion Mike at all costs. He is a national treasure.

Accordion Mike is amazing!! He has such a gift for playing, but also a gift for explaining it. He should give lessons!! And like so many have said, he should have his own RU-vid channel. What a talent! BTW, I'm a little biased...I'm his mom❤ But seriously, isn't he amazing??!!!

As a french man born in the 90's, i always see the accordion as old-fashioned, from another time. Only old people can appreciate this type on sound. But, as always, this series allows you to discover, and rediscover instruments that you might think are boring. It's always magical to see musician talks about their passion, their instrument.

"I must be doing something wrong." "Nope! It just hurts." 😂😂😂

One of my favourite instruments, I wish it were used more in modern styles. Also yes, "accord" means chord in French, so "accordéon" = the chord instrument. It's the same etymological root as "according to" in English, outside of music it also means "to agree, to go well with, to be in sync, to be harmonious"

Rob, I don't know how you do it but you kill it every time with these musicians. Love the series, love the passion you and the guests have for music. 10/10 musical education, thank you!

In Germany, traditionally (and if you're cool), we also call this instrument Heimatluftkompressor (hometown air compressor), although if you play sea shanties it's more like a Seeluftkompressor (ocean air compressor), there's also yodel songs and such and it switches to a mountain air compressor.

3:39 A "free reed" just means the reed is free to vibrate in its frame without touching anything, as opposed to a "percussion reed" where the reed beats against the frame or against another reed. A crumhorn has a reed inside that you don't blow directly, but it's a double reed like an oboe, where the two parts beat against each other, so it's not classified as a free reed. Great Highland bagpipes are similar, with a double reed inside the chanter and single reeds inside the drones. Free reeds have more stable pitch with varying air pressure than percussion reeds, so the accordion can play more dynamics than those instruments and stay in tune.

As a born and raised Wisconsinite musician, I'm WAY too excited for this video! Accordion is so mainstream underrated!

That guy is such a joy to listen to and watch him do his magic. What a fantastic instrument.

It‘s so lovely how everyone just feels for this instrument as an integral part of their traditional culture. Because when I heard it first I felt like „aaaaah yeah this is our german folk music“ but everyone from all around the world feels like this. Like „aah yes this is france, portugal, chile, russia, Wisconsin“

Holy crap, I can't believe he's just casually playing an instrument that's 96 years old. That's insane that it still has such a wonderful sound after so long.

As an accordionist I am very happy you made this video, not least because I can now just link people to it whenever I get asked how all the buttons work, instead of having to give the same explanation I’ve given so many times I’ve lost count because it’s what literally everybody asks 😂 Also 30:56 - this is basically just Korpiklaani lol

Pointing out that you can improvise a chord progression by just moving the left hand in a small cluster also helped me realise why improvising along with an accordion player is so easy! You either end up doing the exact same Standard progression as them, or by doing other Standard intervals you end up nicely harmonising. So you can’t go wrong! I’ve been humming chord extensions for the whole rest of the video 😊

I would really love to see other stuff like bagpipes and/or tablas show up on this series at some point! This series is so awesome, man. I love it when I finally get the answers to musical questions that have plague me, such as how the hell an accordion is works and is played lol. This show addresses a lot of music-related stuff that I have wondered about but have never taken time to research for myself, which is awesome and really scratches that specific itch. As someone who can play a few instruments myself, it is also cool to see how quickly a multi-instrumentalist like you can pick up a new instrument. Keep going with this stuff, man!

Fastest click of my life! So pumped to see new videos!

as a portuguese the sound of the accordion is sooooo engraved in my brain that only as a adult i can apreciate it

Robs ability to pick up instruments is mind blowing.

Rob mentions at 12:27 using a button pressing technique he learned from the late Tetris ambassador and legend Jonas Neubauer. Their video where he teaches Jonas how to play drums is still my fav vid of his from the joy of music Jonas had learning to play drums with Rob. That still being with him brought me to tear up :').

I grew up in a musical family the Vadnals. My great grandparents were immigrants from Slovenia, and my great grandmother would be hugely influential in the Slovenian American musical community. She would translate Slovenian folk songs into English and teach the local Slovenian kids the traditional folk songs. Her own kids, my grandmother and her brothers, started performing music at an early age. My grandmother Valeria played piano, her older brother Tony played violin but later had to switch to bass after loosing three fingers on his left hand in a machine shop accident, my uncle Frankie played guitar and banjo, the next brother Johnny, in many ways the most talented, played accordion and the youngest brother Richie, my god father, also playing accordion. All of them had the most beautiful vocals in both English and Slovenian. They were known as a polka band but they played a little bit of everything. In the 1950's, they were session musicians for RCA Victor and went on to play on local television shows for the next 20 years. Needless to say I've been fond of the accordion since I was a kid. Growing up in the Cleveland Slovenian musical community I was fortunate to meet and play so many great musicians over the years. Probably the most amazing of these is an accordion player named Joey Miskulin. Joey is probably the greatest musician I've ever met. His catalog of accomplishments is out of this world. Inspirt of all of that he is the kindest most down to earth person you will ever meet. If you enjoy the accordion, please check out Joey's music. I'll attach a video of Joey at Patosa Accordions as a little introduction. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bofpcJD1j-w.html

No way , Rob scallion and accordion Mike in the same video !?!??! This is the best way to start the day .

these interviews with the unique instruments are some of the best content on this channel. the musician's enthusiasm for the instrument is great.

I love this. My grandpa played accordion and I regret never asking him more about it or even having him show me how to play. This fills that void a bit. Thanks Mike and Rob!

the mechanical genius involved in making these instruments is astonishing

As a guitar player, I've always thought of the accordion as just a cheesy polka instrument. I have to say, this video has changed my mind. That dude is a beast. Great video, bro.

Hey there Rob, I've been waiting for you to make this video for a long time. As a blind accordion player and multi instrumentalist myself, accordion is one of the instruments I find most intriguing teaching people as once they get it they find a light goes on in a very neat way as what happened here. I believe that you will get those bass and cords going with a little bit of time I would definitely keep it when time permits. Also that is a very nice accordion you have there in terms of the features and having all four sets of reads and the different combinations there, that is definitely the hallmark of a professional instrument and the fact that you got it for free, definitely means you should hang onto that for sure. That is a gem right there.

You gotta line out on that thing... pedal board that beast. (Sooo glad to see you back!)

love the shoutout to Jonas - R.I.P.

I know this series is more for less common instruments... but like dude how cool would it be to see a bass episode with Les Claypool! Also I want to recommend a couple instrument episode ideas. The Array Mbira and Daxophone have been on my mind recently and I think it would be fun to see.

In my heavily cartoon-influenced perception, the Accordion was always very goofy, but it's really quite a beautiful instrument! So glad you got me to see it in a new light, and very stoked to see you uploading again

love mike's classic chicago accent and his great knowledge and good vibes !

So excited for the "2 Hours of Relaxing Accordion" Video.

My grandma played accordion. She had two - the fancy red and white one for parties and the black one she played at home. She passed away when I was a kid, but I remember being totally amazed that she could play that thing so effortlessly. She also played piano too. Makes me wish that she was alive so I could start an accordion-guitar band with her lol.

I love how you guys opened it up and explain how all the mechanisms work. This instrument is mind blowing. Very insightful. Thank you for videos like this.

Mybfather played accordion. Before marriage he was a seaman, ship's engineer, actually. He said that he chose accordion because he could smuggle contraband inside the bellows.he played very well if you disn't mind the constant tang of a polka beat regardless what time signature he was playing. Dad just had a polka heart.

One of my favorite musical combinations is rock-'n'-roll and accordion. There's a band from the South of Brazil called Nenhum de Nós that adds accordion to most of their songs and it's fantastic! Edit: the accordionist of the band passed away today (march 27th) and now I'm just devastated 😢

These videos are always my favourites, the one with the koto is one of my go to videos when I'm super depressed.

Having a 1/4” output means you can run that accordion through your guitar rig, Rob. Accordion Metal incoming? 🤘

Dude I went to this accordion shop about 1 weeks ago ago to rent one out and failed miserably. This is such a huge coincidence to see Mike on your channel and in real life all in one week lmao. Fantastic video. Glad to you see you around more…south.

I love the squints that Rob gets when he's really concentrating on something... Great stuff! I love these exploration videos where Rob learns a new thing. He gets such joy out of making the connections between instruments

This has been such an interesting video to me so far at the 11:30 mark. I’m an Acadian (Cajun) so accordions are very important to my culture and our music. I’m being completely honest when I say it blows my mind that there are brand names of accordions out there and that some are known as better than others. All the accordions I grew up around were locally made. There were no name brands, just “aye la ba my cousin makes accordions” and that’s it. It’s such a beautiful instrument and I’m glad you’re bringing attention to it. Thanks Rob, from a severely homesick Cajun. Y’all’s jam session at the beginning of the video reminded me of home.

Awesome! Need a part two where you plug the electric accordion into some pedals!

This has got to be one of the most fun people rob has had on the show! great video!

I've played the Accordion way back when, but I've never seen the insides of the instrument. Fascinating!

Accordion Mike is the coolest guy at our coffeehouse! Ashbary Coffeehouse of willow springs🤙

I need more Accordion Mike

I love the accordion.

Accordion has probably been one of the most important parts of my musical journey. I remember the night I pulled my family accordion out of my basement. It was buried beneath a bunch of my grandmas stuff that we meant to sell after her house, but we live in a small town in the Midwest and had no recourses to appraise it, so it just sat down there collecting dust. One night though, I couldn’t sleep so I dug through every old thing we had. At first I thought it was some sort of travel case. It was actually locked when I pulled it out of the pile so I had to pick it with some paper clips. (The locks are more to prevent the case from accidentally opening than to prevent theft so it was pretty easy.) When I finally got it open, I was amazed by what I saw. It looked pristine save for 2 bass buttons stuck down that I was actually able to fix myself. I immediately took it out to the garage to listen to it because I wouldn’t wake up my family that way. Earlier that year, I had joined my high school band as an percussionist (because I couldn’t play any other instrument) but it never felt quite right. I was years behind compared to my fellow band members and always felt like I was dragging the band down. Accordion felt right though. It also helped that it practically taught me basic music theory. I’m still not very good at it, but I was able to play it for my states solo ensemble competition as a duet with a close friend on marimba and got a D1 😊 Thank you for bringing a little more attention to my favorite instrument and best of luck if you intend on continuing with it.

As a fellow (diatonic button) accordion player I'm so hyped to see you play and enjoy the accordion and your guest actually having and playing an Accordion that looked just like my first instrument. Thank you so very much!

the Maria Schneider Orchestra introduced me to accordion outside of a polka/Urkel context and I was BLOWN away by how beautiful it sounded. Been a fan ever since. Bought a crummy one at a flea market, sorta figured out the bass key arrangement and have been goofing around for 10 years. This is finally giving me the motivation to get it back out of the basement! Thanks Rob! and Mike!

I bought an Accordion few months ago, and when I picked it up, I did it the wrong way where the chords in the right hand the notes (piano) on the left hand, I found it easier as a guitarist to coordinate the chords and melodies like that, where the right hand controls the rhythm and the left hand controls the melody.

I love Rob! He can pick up any damn instrument and it clicks with him almost immediately! And he doesn't make me feel like an outsider while doing it (as a non musically-inclined person), if that makes any sense at all. Every video is fantastic!

Proud to be an accordion player! It belongs in rock and roll, I'm telling you. Atlantic City by the Band, the Subdudes, John Mellencamp and Springsteen, Kokomo and God Only Knows by the beach boys, nitty gritty dirt band, Little Feat, man the list goes on!

Congratulations on your feature, Mike! 🫔🫔🫔🫔

Love these videos. You find such smart, interesting people. Then you treat them and their craft with such respect. THEN you make sweet beautiful music together!!! ❤❤❤❤

I love Accordeon, Amélie is my favorite movie and Yann Tiersen uses it a lot in his composition

Rob looks so emotional at times, whether it reminds him of his grandmother, or whatever ,its nice to see ppl cry for music.

Im always amazed at how quickly and easily muscians understand each other no matter what instrument they play.

The guitar and accordion rock collab went crazy.

I picked up a used accordion last year. I've been concentrating on guitar, but will get to spend some time with it eventually... Really interesting instruments.

What a joy. Another banger from Rob. Great music, passionate people, good vibes.

These interviews are always an absolute joy to watch

i was on a Rob Scallon binge, and he drops a new video, as i come to the end of a playlist. 0_o

YES!!! Was hoping that someday I’d see the accordion on this channel. It’s the most fun instrument to play :)

Fantastic to see another video from you Rob, and what a banger. Welcome back!

These videos are always so fun! And Mike plays beautifully!

Great video. I learned so much about the accordion

You came in wanting to learn about the accordion (and you did, as we all did!), but I think you ended up converting your pro to the guitar :P

you always manage to find the most wonderful, charming people and instruments for these videos!

Yes! This is the accordion video I've been waiting for. Thanks for opening it up and demystifying the field of buttons

I have been waiting so long for this video!

yes dude amazing

this was a really wonderful watch. amazing how fast he was able to play the guitar! great stuff

As someone coming from a place where traditional music is heavily based on a accordion, it's lovely to watch someone trying to crack it

Mike was such a great guest everyone is talking about him in the comments instead of how shit better help is so just a reminder that they suck hot dog water

Metall Polka with acordion...let's go. Has to be in your next cooperation with Adrew.

Man, that was FUN! Thanks for the great video! It's very entertaining to watch Rob explore a new instrument. Mike is also amazing!

I haven't smiled so much watching a video in a long time! Thanks so much!

29:30 me and my friends anytime we pick up instruments

Rob Scallon was the last channel I thought I'd be unsubscribing from for a Better Help segment but here we are

Such a fun video, and the accordionist is a really fun and talented individual. You guys are awesome!

Rob, you ask the best questions! I love these instrument deep dives!

If Bon Scott, Al Yankovic and Rob Scallion got an accordion sorted... my compressor can stay at home.

Fuck Better Help. But a fascinating video! Insane how complex it is