Every awareness event we cover on the AWARENESSMONTHS Blog is hand selected by employees at Motivators. Each awareness event or awareness month covered is something we care deeply about. However, it is a rarity to find a fun, unique awareness month that fills us (or at least, Nick) with the anticipation and the excitement in the same way National Accordion Awareness Month does.

The accordion is one of my favorite instruments. Following in the vein of the piano, the accordion is one of the few instruments to not only transcend musical genres over the course of generations but is one of the few instruments that can be used in almost any genre today.

Invented in the 19th century,  the accordion is comprised of keys, valves, reeds and a squeezebox. When the keys are pressed and the squeezebox is expanded or contrasted, it pushes air through reeds. To this day the accordion remains one of the most recognized instruments in both look and sound.

As mentioned above, there are more genres than polka that are using the accordion. Whether it is indie rock, (The Decemberists, Arcade Fire) various forms of punk, (Gogol Bordello, The Pogues) rock and roll, (John Cougar Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band) alternative rock, (Panic! At The Disco, They Might Be Giants) or even various forms of metal (Agalloch, Turisas)  you’ve probably listened to accordion music without realizing it.

National Accordion Awareness Month is in June and is a great way to celebrate the instrument that has been so iconic. Celebrate with a custom imprinted USB flash drive of accordion music.