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All About Accordions
To many of us, an accordion is an accordion. The seasoned player, however, knows that there is much more to this age-old instrument.
Also known as squeezeboxes, accordions belong to the handheld bellows-driven free reed aerophone family. When an accordion is played, the compression and expansion of the bellows generates airflow across the reed. The air causes the reed to vibrate, and creates a musical tone. Accordions also feature keyboards, which control the airflow to the reeds, and produce a greater variety of tones.
Physical Features of the Accordion
Today's modern accordions consist of a two-part body. Bellows separates these two rectangular halves. On each half of the body there is a keyboard with piano style keys, buttons or levers. When pressed, these buttons travel in a direction perpendicular to the movement of the bellows, or toward the performer. Most modern accordions have buttons that are capable of producing entire chords, while traditional concertinas have buttons that only produce single notes.
Accordion Styles
There are a number of different styles and key notes systems that differentiate the types of accordions. These include the Chromatic, Concertina, Diatonic and Piano accordions.
Chromatic Accordion: This instrument is capable of playing a 46-note chromatic scale. Because the buttons are not diatonic, it has the greatest range of treble noted of any accordion style available these days. Chromatic accordions range in size from those with 20 treble keys and 12 bass buttons, to modern chromatic models featuring 6 treble button rows and 160 bass buttons. These styles are now very popular in Russia.
Concertina: Noted for its unique shape, the concertina can have anywhere from four to twelve sides in cross-section. It has two keyboards, one at each end of the bellows. Every one of the buttons delivers an individual note, so there are no fixed chords on a concertina. Also, the different notes and systems vary so greatly that it is almost impossible for a performer of one system to pick up a concertina of a different system and play it having to relearn the instrument from scratch.
Other unique characteristics set this particular instrument apart from the rest. Unlike modern accordions, the concertina's buttons never produce chords. Further, they travel parallel to the motion of the bellows, or toward the opposite end of the instrument. The internal materials, mechanics, construction and tone color are all unique from other styles of accordions. The basic standards of sound production, however, are identical.
Diatonic: Many folk and dance troup performers use diatonic accordions. This style produces great sound output. It's also light weight, affordable and easy to play. With a note pattern on the keyboard similar to that of the mouth harmonica, it is simple to play and a favorite choice around the world.
Piano: Since the development of the Stradella bass system, the piano accordion has become the first truly standardized universal type. A performer can play a number of different styles without changing the system, making the piano accordion the easiest to play.
There's a lot more to the accordion than a simple "squeezebox". If you've always wanted to play the accordion, why not try a few different types? You'll be making sweet music with an accordion style that's easy to use and fun to play.
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About the Author
Columnist Darnell Istead loves writing for several Internet magazines, on home improvement and family life themes. You can get a unique content version of this article.
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