A Dying Art

“Sir,” said the flight attendant. “Your accordion is not going to fit in overhead storage.”

At the time I was actively trying to shove a carry-on case the size of a Buick Skylark into the overhead bin, while weaving a tapestry of colorful expletives such as had seldom been heard at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth Airport.

I was on my way to perform my one-man trainwreck in Virginia. I had my instruments.

Nobody else on the plane noticed me struggling with my instruments. Most passengers were busy playing on phones.

Have you ever noticed how eerie it is, watching hundreds of people stare at screens?

Fact: One of the leading causes of injuries in the world is walking into objects while staring at one’s phone. Objects such as walls.

The passenger in the seat next to mine was maybe 13. He was playing on his phone.

“What’s in the case?” he said.

“An accordion.”

“A what?”

“It’s also called a squeezebox.”

“I’ve heard of those, they’re basically big squirt guns, right?”

You have to worry about our nation’s youth.

“No,” I pointed out. “An accordion is a musical instrument.”

“Oh,” he said. “Do you play music?”

“No, just the accordion.”

The airline attendant came by and made me check my accordion and guitar. They strapped my banjo to the wing.

“The accordion is weird,” said America’s Hope for the Future.

“Why do you say that?”

“That’s what people say.”

“Who’s ’people’?”

“I don’t know—everyone.”

“So you’ve met and spoken to all 7.9 billion people on earth?”

Shrug.

He went back to playing on his phone.

Times have changed. My grandfather played accordion. My uncles played. My father didn’t play accordion, but he played the horses.

In the 1950s, over a million accordions were manufactured and sold. You couldn’t visit an American party, reception, or bar mitzvah without someone’s nephew Sal playing “Polka! Polka! Polka!”

Sadly, by the 1970s, accordion sales dropped into the mere thousands. And amazingly, last year annual accordion sales fell to about 4—not counting the one I bought.

“I tried taking guitar lessons once,” said America’s Youth. He was still playing on his phone.

“What happened?” I said.

“I quit.”

“Pray tell.”

His mom spoke up from a nearby seat. “He can’t focus long enough to practice. Someone usually texts him, or he ends up watching TikTok. We finally sold his guitar.”

His story isn’t uncommon. Today, fewer American children are playing musical instruments than ever before. At one time in history, nearly 75 percent of Americans had taken piano lessons. Today it’s around 14 percent.

Yesterday, while writing this, I emailed a friend who is a big-time university music professor. I asked about the current state of music.

He wrote back: “Phones and technology are killing our music. Every year I have less music majors. It’s even worse in the English department. Our ancestors used art to entertain themselves, and pass on our culture, but today technology does that for us.”

Say it ain’t so.

When we landed, we were soon in the terminal. The kid asked to see my accordion. So I took it out of the case. I let him hold it.

He snapped a selfie. Then, without saying a word he walked off, staring at his phone.

I watched him follow his mom through the airport. I watched him thumb away on his screen, mouth agape. And when we were only a few yards away, I walked straight into a wall.

Heaven help us.

3 comments

  1. Cindy - May 15, 2024 9:38 am

    Our 12 year old granddaughter is in 6th grade band and plays the clarinet. She loves it and plans to continue. There is great hope when I see her and her whole group playing! Can’t wait to meet you tomorrow night (coming with my two sisters).

    Reply
  2. Melissa Childers - May 15, 2024 12:34 pm

    Hi, Sean. I enjoyed hearing you play your accordian while at your Rome, Georgia, show. I understand the reduced interest in music, and, in the sales of musical instruments. I am trying to find a new home for my late father’s three Hohner accordians. So far, there is zero interest. It is a shame. The instrument itself, the skills required to play, as well as the lovely sounds produced, is a joy to appreciate.
    Who could have imagined just a couple of decades ago, that humans would become addicted to their telephones? I remember, as a child, family members arguing over whose turn it was to answer the phone! It seems that growing up, our time was spent enjoying the interaction of real humans instead of inanimate objects.
    I appreciate your talent, Sean, in music, as well as in writing. Both bring me, and so many others, such joy. Please continue in excelling in both areas! Have a great day; and, watch out for walls!

    Reply
  3. stephenpe - May 15, 2024 12:52 pm

    Phones are awful and wonderful. Much like fire. Accordian to me. 😉

    Reply

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