2006年NPR美国国家公共电台九月-The Family That Squeezes Together...

It's time again for Storycorp, the oral history project traveling around the country. People have been interviewing each other in part to preserve memories. Today a daughter recalls her family's history with the accordion¹. Joyce Kahkonen's father played professionally, and his enthusiasm was contagious². Here with her daughter Gay, Joyce Kahkonen talks about her father and his passion.

He loved music, he loved performing, he played, you know, always with a tux, always looking nice, shiny shoes.

What kind of music would he play?

Er, a lot of polkas, a lot of upbeat waltzes, and the old standards that everyone knew.

You and your sister, and your bother all learned to play the accordion.

We certainly did. We had no choice. We have family pictures where we were all sporting an accordion, my older sister who was so good and my brother, and my mother that didn't play, but would put on an accordion for a family portrait. In the 50s, my father started his own accordion studio in this old rickety wooden-frame house. It was a great location because my father drew students from all Pittsburgh areas, and they could always get there on a trolley³, you know, and drag their accordion up to our studio. He would book anything, if you had a church group and you had a calendar party, and you needed ten accordionists, guess what? We were there, we played mental hospitals, we played nursing homes, we played anybody that wanted music.

Now your father had a very famous saying.

Yes, I sometimes was good, and sometimes my fingers would just get ahead of themselves, and I wasn't very good, and he would say to me: Honey, remember one thing, if you can't play good, play loud, let them know you are there. And I would come home from a job and he would say oh, how did you do today? I'd say, well, played loud.

Joyce Kahkonen with her daughter Gay at Storecorp, in Pittsburgh. These interviews are archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, find out how to record yours at NPR.org.

Major funding for Storycorp comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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polka
A lively round dance originating in Bohemia and performed by couples.
波尔卡舞源于波西米亚并由双人来表演的一种活泼的绕圈舞蹈
Music for this dance, having duple meter.
波尔卡舞曲这种舞蹈的音乐，采用二拍的节奏
sport v.
To display or show off:
炫耀展示或炫耀惹人注目地穿带：
His shoes sported elevated heels?(Truman Capote)
"他惹人注目地穿着高跟鞋"(杜鲁门·卡波特)

1 accordion   

n.手风琴；adj.可折叠的

参考例句：

• The accordion music in the film isn't very beautiful.这部影片中的手风琴音乐不是很好。
• The accordion music reminds me of my boyhood.这手风琴的乐声让我回忆起了我的少年时代。

2 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

3 trolley   

n.手推车，台车；无轨电车；有轨电车

参考例句：

• The waiter had brought the sweet trolley.侍者已经推来了甜食推车。
• In a library,books are moved on a trolley.在图书馆，书籍是放在台车上搬动的。