I enjoy listening to Portuguese folk music. Maybe it’s because I lived in a mostly Portugese area of Toronto for quite a while and have a fondness for Portugese culture. Here’s a player named Raul Godinho who really knows his way around the chromatic button accordion. He’s playing a corridinho, which is a fast Portuguese dance form in 4/4 time. A corridinho is like a race to the finish.
I hope you enjoy listening to this piece as much as I do.
27th Street 
sorry about spelling mistakes…i posted send quicker than I did to think about editing…ooops
I enjoyed that very much. I even got up off my chair and danced around the living room a bit. I think the accordion style is just plain associated with cheerfulness. Like, parities, dancing, socializing. There aren’t too many cultural references between horror movies and accordions (which actually might be a fun thing to do) or danger. Accordions and this particulr folk music here just say DANCE! Maybe they is why they are so fun. Also…i noticed gee, its also very very easy to dance to. you don’t need any special training or stle. Anyone and anywhere can dance to that piece of music and its it might be that it is so in harmony with the human heart beat and body capability. Maybe that is why it is so nice. it may very well be that it is so aligned with the human body stamina and heart…since it is a “breathing” machine.
that’s always been my theory anyways. Not that anyone asked for a theory ha ha.
oh in the same way that the bagpipe instrument has a deep sense of boding…it can be associated with a war cry..or funeral or regal…events of serious weight. The instrument is also a brathing machine. The body seems so quick to react to the sound of both these instruments. (I used to play a dirge thingie back in the day with a few Indian musicians…and began to ponder the quality in that style of music with it’s breathing and tempo ofthat the musicians would play as “incantatory” conducive to thoughtulness or meditation and prayer)
The corridinho is also a very specific dance form and the music is there to accommodate the dance. I think it’s regionally associated with the south of Portugal, but I don’t know too much about the regional differences. It’s quite structured and beautiful to watch. Search corridinho on YouTube and you can see some dancers. I’m more interested in the accordion work personally, and in particular, I’m thinking a lot about the chromatic accordion these days. Taken out of its cultural context, I agree, it’s fun music and very danceable. Too bad you don’t see corridinhos on Dancing with the Stars.
As for bagpipes, I hear they make great kindling for an accordion fire 🙂