Musical Background

(May 11, 2022) Music has always been a big part of my life. I started playing accordion when I was nine years old and found that I had a real knack for it. I soon joined a large accordion orchestra in my home town Beerta (a tiny village in the north east of the Netherlands) and enjoyed playing in this group for many years.

My parents also wanted me to play the piano and started me on lessons in a neighboring village. This did not work out at all. My teacher and I had very different ideas about music: I wanted to play the boogie-woogie, he only allowed me to play nocturnes and other classical music pieces. He told me that boogie-woogies would destroy my fingering and that was the end of that. Music needs to come from the heart.

At one point my parents got an electric organ and that turned out to be much more my thing. My parents were always very invested in my musical development and made sure I was properly schooled on this instrument as well. Around my sixteenth birthday I joined a band (The Rodys) and started playing clarion in our local drum band.

After finishing school, I joined the Navy in the guided weapon systems department. Everyone who played an instrument was automatically enlisted to the ship band. As part of the band, we basically toured the whole wide world and performed in places such as Norfolk USA, Odessa, Tolio and Gibraltar which was a great experience.

I regularly changed ships during my time at the Navy and joined the band every time. Often the keyboardist position was already taken, in which case I would try out a different instrument. This allowed me to add bass guitar and saxophone to the list. But, whenever I could, I would go back to my first love, the accordion.

At one point we were stationed for a long time at Curaçao, where we would often play music on the beach. One night, almost 50 years ago, I was playing music with some of my crew mates when a number of ladies joined our group to listen to the music. One of those ladies later became my wife to whom I am still happily married.

After eight years in the Navy, I moved back to the mainland to work as an electrotechnician, but my love for music always stayed. Next to my day job I played in a band called The Rio’s at weddings and parties. I also volunteered to play accordion in nursing homes and accompanied Dutch folk choirs together with a friend, which I still do on occasion (unfortunately, my friend recently passed away after 30 years of playing the accordion together).

Now that I am a bit older, the on-stage performances have become less frequent. I do still accompany one Dutch folk choir for men and record background music for singers and choirs who do not have the luxury of professional musicians. I used to record songs using the MIDI format but have recently switched to mp3 as this is much easier to play from a telephone.

I have a lot more time to devote to my music now that I am retired. I practice at least an hour a day on my accordions and record a lot of German and Dutch folk music. I also still enjoy the boogie-woogie. I record my music on the Tyros 5 and Roland FR7. I am trying to covert my old midi files in to styles with Style Works2000, but is not an easy process. In any case, over the years, I have produced a ton of mp3 and midi songs and the pile keeps on growing. I would love to share these songs with you all via this website. I will also try to share some of my best midi files from the past.

Juul Meffert

Juul's MP3 Song Index

Juul's songs are arranged alphabetically by song title. Click on the song title to listen to and/or download the song. Songs were recorded on the Tyros5.

Aber Dich (T5) Aloahe (T5) Blame It On The Bossanova (T5) * Bridge Over Trobled Water (T5) * Broekje Van Jantje (T5) * Costa Del Sol (T5) * Daar Bij Die Molen 2 (T5) * Daar Bij Die Molen (T5) Dan Gaan De Lichten Aan (T5) * Dans Klein Zigeunermeisje (T5) * Dans Nog Eenmaal Met Mij (T5) * De Bloemenmand (T5) De Boom (T5) * De Oude Man En De Zee (T5) *

De Speelman (T5) * Deze Zee (T5) * Dorp Aan De Rivier Bes (T5) * Een Zeereis Is Mooi (5.) * El Condor Pasa (T5) Greetje Uit De Polder (T5) * Ik Zal Jou Nooit Vergeten (T5) * La Paloma (T5) Mien Drenthe (T5) * My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean (T5) Old Calahan (live) (T5) * Pappie Loop Niet Zo Snel (T5) * Schoonoords Volkslied (5.) Sierra Madre (T5)

Speel Je Accordeon (T5) * Steeds Weer Huil Je (live) (T5) * Tabe Mien Laiverd (T5) * The Mermaid (T5) Trompeten Echo (T5) Tussen Het Riet (T5) * Twee Reebruine Ogen (T5) * Ver In Den Vreemde (T5) Vlinder (Karst) (T5) * Zeeman, De Zee Is Jouw Thuis (T5) * Zeeman O Zeeman (T5) Zeven Rozen Zeven Jaren (live) (T5) *

* Juul has made available the styles that he used for these songs. You can download all of these song-named styles in a single Styles.zip file.

MIDI Songs

Beatles MIDI Songs

(6/27/22) Jules has come across a large number of midi files of Beatles songs. There are nearly 200 songs in this collection. Download all of them in this compressed file: Beatles-6-27.zip.

Juul's MIDI Songs

Juul's midi songs are arranged alphabetically by song title. Click on the song title to listen to and/or download the song. Songs were recorded on the Tyros5. 13 songs were added in two volumes (1,2) and they can be downloaded in a single zip file: V1-2.zip.

(5/18/22) 15 midi songs added in V3. Each is in the table below and all can be downloaded together in V3.zip.

(5/24/22) 10 midi songs added in V4. Each is in the table below and all can be downloaded together in V4.zip.

(5/29/22) 12 "practice" midi songs converted from Korg to T5 in V5. There is no melody line or a very soft one. Dick and I used these files in our lessons so you can play the song with your right hand. All are available in V5.zip.

(5/29/22) 10 more midi songs added in V6. Each is in the table below and all can be downloaded together in V6.zip.