I've started learning accordion! A couple of years ago I met an accordionist playing between DJ sets at an outdoor festival, and couldn't stop dancing. A few months later I mentioned to a colleague that I wanted to find an accordion of my own, and he had two and wanted to get rid of one! Since then I've been practicing quite intermittently.
I'd also like to learn the accordian, but I'm poor and those are not cheap instruments. I'm partially influenced by [Geoff Berner](www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H4ORggG0V0) and [Daniel Kahn](www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5XRZAWk8Jc). That, and I like Russian folk-music in general for some reason.
Playing the accordion is one of my dreams. You lucky sod.
Woah! That's an awesome turn of events. I've yet to meet someone who plays the accordion but I have an appreciation for the instrument. Does yours have keys or is it played by covering holes?
My right hand is a keyboard for melody and my left hand is a Stradella bass system. It also has several "mode" buttons on each side, similar to the pedals on a piano (two on the left, three on the right, though one mode on the right is broken for one of the keyboard keys). I actually bought it off my colleague immediately after we finished our drinks. We walked over to his place, I handed him $60 (a total steal), and he handed me the accordion to schlep home!