I was experiencing what sounded like a horrible problem with my Guerrini triple row diatonic button accordion. Something was stuck, causing air to pass through a reed even though no buttons were depressed. That meant the box was unplayable in its current condition. Before taking it in to the shop, though, I thought I should take the grill off and see if there was any visible problem.

The picture shows the accordion without the grill. The left side is the bottom of the accordion when playing. The yellow wire you can see along that side connects from an internal mic to a control on the outside of the accordion. That wire sits there under the grill in a space next to the valves. Somehow, the wire slipped under one of the pads. When I opened up the grill, I could see the wire holding up the pad, allowing air to pass. Normally, gravity keeps the wire away from the pad. I must have depressed a button with the accordion upside down, causing gravity to have the reverse effect, lodging the wire where it didn’t belong.

Once I saw the problem, the repair took a fraction of a second. If I experience another problem with the wire, I can secure it down so it can’t possibly slide under the pad, but I’ve had this box for years and have never had the problem before, and I don’t really expect to experience it again.

To celebrate, I practiced Soldier’s Joy until my fingers hurt.

Soldier’s Joy is a tune that has been around for a very very long time and I’ve heard it played in all sorts of ways, all of which more or less share a melody. Here are a few different approaches to the tune.