Music Movement

Yesterday, on our train ride to Serpukhov.. a 10-year-old kid came into our wagon and started performing with his mini accordion. He sang a Russian song about his Mama with a sad melody. It was an instant hit because everyone gave him money.

Can't even call him a beggar, you know

I think he swept a couple of hundreds roubles, easy.

And after our sumptious breakfast at Starlite Diner's, Turkish and I visited the Alfred Mirek Russian Harmonika Museum at 2nd Tverskaya-Yamskaya Ulitsa. It's another private/one-of-a-kind museum like the Fires of Moscow. I must say it's a damn good one.

I think I should start collecting something so that I would have a world of collection to call my own before I die LOL

An eye-opener to a misunderstood musical instrument

This musical squeezebox looks so complicated, I can't understand its mechanism. It's not like playing the string instruments which fingers on one hand take control. With an accordion, all fingers and toes are involved (that's if you do a bit of tap dance).

First, it took us quite a while to understand its several names. The oldest name is the Harmonika but now it's commonly known as the Accordion and the Russian version is called the Bayan.

I've always had the impression that the accordion and harmonica are played by the poor people, on the streets or in prison. Even the articles wrote that this versatile instrument isn't universally respect but this museum will tell you otherwise, really. Not only it's classy and expensive.. you need some intelligence to learn how to play it too.

I think there's a museum to everything in Russia

This is Vitrina, made by the Kiselev Brothers in the 1900s

Foooooshhh..
Liberace would want to own this like his piano

I just had to touch it

N.Minh of 1930s (famous player)

1st Youth Assembly of the Accordion

Don't you wanna have a copy?

We missed the concert though. There have fancy-dressed musical excursions and Russian folk song performance almost daily. Upon request, you can actually ask for a sound test from the showcased accordions. Alfred Mirek the owner of this museum is a virtuoso himself. Turkish loved this place and its authenticity gave him some kind of inspiration to open a museum for me too LOL.

Good ol' Alfred Mirek

We walked through the halls and came to the harmonica section.

Hahahahaa this one's my favourite

"Quick, entertain us! Play with your banana!".