Youngsters learn to play the accordion at SIBF 2023

Youngsters swayed their heads and listened enraptured as Ukrainian accordionists took them on an accordion adventure, playing music from across the world and coaching them on mini accordions during a workshop at the 42nd Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF).

Kiev-based Victor Yanchak, who has been playing the accordion for 35 years, illustrated to the young crowd how to operate the buttons on both sides of the box-shaped instrument to extract different melodies.

“This instrument comes from the harmonica family, and is popularly seen in concert halls,” explains Yanchak in halting English, as he shows how to play C major and C minor and set chords. “Press the button on the right and you get one type of sound. On the left there is a different kind of music but if you press together, note how the melody changes. On the right side are system soprano voices. And then these are registers to change sound,” he demonstrates, and the children join in the fun on their mini accordions filling the room with melodious music.

A stupendous array of workshops have been organised for children at SIBF 2023, which has the theme ‘We Speak Books’. The fair, now happening at Expo Center Sharjah, will conclude on November 12.