Accordians

Accordions are musical instruments that are sometimes called a squeezebox. This has to do with the way an accordion is played. The instrument is held in with both hands parallel to each other. The accordion compacts and expands as the musician moves it in their hands. Bellows in the frame of the accordion allow various amounts of air to circulate through it during this process.

The result is reeds that help create tones as the musician operates the keys on the keyboard. The melody keyboard of an accordion is made up of buttons rather than actual keys like you find on a keyboard or a piano.

Accordions are made from lightweight wood, metal, and plastic. Each accordion has many small pieces inside of it. They are still considered to be handmade instruments because to the assembly that has to be done to install the small pieces.

The accordion was introduced by a Germany music man in the early 1800's. It was not patented until 1829 when the four bass keys were added to the model. The bass keys were introduced by Cyrillus Damian. There are many different types of accordions to choose from. While they all work the same basic way, there are models with different melody keys as well as different sizes of accordions.

The accordion continued to change over time as improvements were considered to produce better sound and to make the accordion easier to play. In 1850 the chromatic accordion was introduced, the required less ability with the bellows to create the proper notes. Steel rods were added to the accordion in 1857 to allow more bass keys to be added to the keyboard.

After Word War II, the idea of using electronics with the accordion was thought of. The first tries including attaching the accordion to an organ. Eventually the idea of the accordion having its own electronic box to amplify sound was installed. Shoulder straps were also added to allow the musician to handle the system easier.

The accordion, while not a very popular musical instrument, continues to see changes and improvements. A recent improvement allows the musician to change the notes by bending the tone. This removes some of the limitations previously related to accordions. Other improvements include making the accordion lighter while making it more durable. The accordions of today are more advanced then they were 100 years ago, and the continued improvements ensure the accordion will continue to be a versatile instrument.