In keeping with what Rick started.

Its such a pleasure when:

1. You find a forum full of accordion lovers to learn from and feed each others obsession.

2. You finally get your hands on an accordion after reading about everyone else's on a forum and yearning like a little kid before Christmas.

3. After some very frustrating sessions, songs start to materialize.

4. In extreme frustration on getting a particular note(s), it all of a sudden appears and you wonder why you couldnt find it before.

5. The left hand weans itself off the right and starts venturing out on its own and playing rhythm like its supposed to, even if not on every song.

6. Once you start playing the left hand, you realize how out of time you had been.

7. After embarrassing yourself at your first live performance (family gathering for pig butchering) from nervousness (not enough beer yet), then spend the rest of the night with dad (on guitar) around the campfire playing wonderfully (i.e. enough alchohol by then to think so, but who cares).

8. You start hearing little licks in songs you never noticed before you started trying to play, and learn to appreciate the folks who can do them.

There's more but gotta rest the calloused fingers.

Yeah, Bryan, I'm feeling a group hug coming on! It IS a pleasure to have a place where we can all go to outsource our awareness of the lil' wooden box and to get some insightful expertise. This forum has really kept my ear to the ground and my nose to the grind in that respect.

There's a lot of knowledge dropped and lessons learned within the threads herein, and you've got contributors on all levels of wisdom and appreciation, along with some occasional lagniappe, of course! It's a pleasure to know you are gaining some ground with your playing -- I remember when when you were interested in picking up the accordion; then you got one; now you're learning. That's kick-ace brutha!

I think any of us who have been through those initial steps know exactly what you are talking about! Fun to hear it from you, mon ami...

This is truly an AA meeting of sorts... Accordionics Anonymous.

Push, pull, click, click,

R!CK

you get your first accordion (Jr. Martin ) one week and in two sit down and talk with Geno Delafose about it when you don't even live in LA. Working on the bands website. We're new but loved.

...you make little kids dance.