flickr.com/cesarastudillo
To most of us, an accordion is an accordion. However, the seasoned player knows that there is much more to this age-old instrument.
Accordions, also known as squeezeboxes, belong to the handheld bellows-driven free reed aerophone family. When an accordion is played, the compression and expansion of the bellows produces airflow across the reed. The air causes the reed to vibrate, and produces a musical tone. Accordions also feature keyboards, which influence the airflow to the reeds, and produce a greater variety of tones.
Physical Characteristics
Today’s state-of-the-art accordions consist of a two-part body. Bellows divides these two rectangular halves. On each half of the body, there is a keyboard with piano style keys, levers or buttons. When pressed, these buttons travel in a direction toward the performer or perpendicular to the movement of the bellows. Most modern accordions have buttons that are capable of producing entire chords, while conventional concertinas have buttons that only produce single notes.
Kinds of Accordions
There are a number of different styles and key notes systems that differentiate the kinds of accordions. These include the Concertina, Diatonic, Chromatic, and Piano accordions.
Chromatic Accordion: This instrument is capable of playing a forty six-note chromatic scale. It has the greatest range of treble noted of any accordion style available these days because the buttons are not diatonic. Chromatic accordions range in size from those with 20 treble keys and 12 bass buttons, to modern chromatic versions featuring 6 treble button rows and 160 bass buttons. These styles are now very popular in Russia.
Concertina: Noted for its distinct shape, the concertina can have anywhere from 4 to 12 sides in cross-section. It consists of two keyboards, one at each end of the bellows. Every one of the buttons carries an individual note, so there are no fixed chords on a concertina. Also, the different systems and notes 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 zero. There are other unique features that set this particular instrument apart from the rest. Unlike modern accordions, the concertina’s buttons never create chords and they travel parallel to the motion of the bellows, or toward the opposite end of the instrument. Additionally, the internal materials, construction, mechanics, and tone colour are all different from other styles of accordions, but the basic standards of sound production are identical.
Diatonic: This model of accordion is often the instrument of choice of folk and dance groups. The great sound output, low cost, light weight, and playing simplicity make the diatonic one of the world’s most popular accordions. Players find it easy to perform on the diatonic, as the note pattern on the keyboard is the same to that of the mouth harmonica.
Piano Accordions: The piano accordion has become the first truly standardized universal type since the creation of the Stradella bass system. This simply means that a performer can play in a number of styles without altering the system, making the piano accordion the easiest type to play.
Unlike most other types of musical instruments, there is more than the “basic” model of accordion. If you’re interested in learning to play the accordion, try a few different types to find the one that suits you perfectly.
Tagged with: types of accordion
Filed under: Buying an Accordion