Jill Schramm/MDN Instructor Gerald Schlag, right, and student Titus Bulow join on a lively accordion piece Tuesday, Sept. 2, as they prepare to perform with the Accordion Club at Norsk Hostfest.

Gerald Schlag and Titus Bulow of Minot are doing their part to ensure accordion music will be enjoyed for generations to come.

A long-time accordion instructor, Schlag has been working with Bulow, 14, for a few years. They recently entered a second year in an apprenticeship grant program of the North Dakota Council on the Arts that seeks to preserve traditional arts.

Bulow said he developed an interest in the accordion after a friend of his mother came from Florida with her accordion to perform at a church hymn sing.

“She let me borrow it for a couple days. Then she bought me this one,” he said of the accordion he now owns. Bulow said he has dabbled in other instruments but hasn’t tried to master them the way he is hoping to master the accordion.

“It’s just a full sound. It’s fun to play,” he said.

Schlag currently has just two students, which is more than he had expected to have after deciding to retire from teaching at age 80. That retirement date came and went nearly five years ago.

Schlag has participated in the North Dakota Council on the Arts apprenticeship program numerous times since its inception, estimating he’s taught 25-30 students during that time.

Schlag, who began playing accordion at age 10, said his own formal training consisted of less than two months of study. He credits his father for giving him excellent ear training and a firm foundation in music that launched many opportunities to perform and produce recordings with the accordion. He continues to host the Monday evening shows on social media that he launched during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although age makes it a bit more difficult to manage the accordion keys, especially on the challenging fingering in the “Minnesota Rose Polka,” he still has the touch for passing on knowledge.

Bulow confirmed Schlag is a good teacher, good at explaining information and good at knowing his students’ abilities.

“He just knows what I’m ready for,” Bulow said.

Schlag said he wants to put challenges before students so they can try harder material, but he doesn’t wear them out by straining for long periods to learn a piece.

In Bulow’s case, he said, he thought he might be giving him material too easy because he picks it up so fast. The biggest challenge for his young student has been learning the bass, or button side, of the accordion, but Schlag said Bulow is beginning to catch on to harder techniques, such as the walking bass.

Bulow played with the accordion band at Norsk Hostfest for the past two years and has been practicing to participate again during this year’s event from Sept. 24-27. The Accordion Club performs daily in Reykjavik Hall at 9:15 a.m. and 2:15 p.m.

This will be the first year Bulow won’t be by far the youngest player. Schlag’s other student, who is about Bulow’s age, also plans to participate.

Schlag speaks well of the progress Bulow has made with the accordion under his tutelage.

“Basically, he can play just about every song in that Hostfest book, besides a few extras,” he said.

“I like the Hostfest music. It’s pretty fun,” Bulow said of the waltzes and polkas. He said he enjoys playing with other musicians.

“That’s part of training, too,” Schlag said of the confidence to get up in front of a crowd.

Solo performances might be in his future, but Bulow said, for now, he’s sticking with the band and performing at nursing homes with Schlag.

“It’ll be a little bit until I think I’m good enough by myself,” he said. However, he said his goal is to eventually be able to play just about anything – maybe even that “Minnesota Rose Polka.”