A small, portable, keyed wind instrument in which the wind (both vacuum and pressure) is forced upon free-swinging metallic reeds by means of a bellows. Small instruments (e.g., concertina) are supported by the hands; with large instruments the right (treble) portion is supported by shoulder straps and the left side supported by the left hand. The chromatic instruments typically sound the same notes whether pushing or pulling the bellows, but the diatonic instruments (e.g., concertina and "button-box") usually produce complementary notes and chords.
All accordions have similar button arrangements for the left hand (bass) side: one or more rows of single tones, and one or more rows of different 3-note chords, e.g., in one row each button controls a major chord, in the next row each button controls a minor chord, the next row is for the seventh chord, etc.
Two different keyboards are used on the right hand (treble) side of the accordion. The piano accordion has a keyboard like a piano, whereas round button are used in the button accordion (D: Knopfgriffakkordeon, NL: knopaccordeon).
The accordion is the today's most important instrument belonging to the family of the Handharmonika (D) instruments. Other well known members of this family of instruments are the concertina (hexagonal body), the bandoneon (nowadays especially used for the tango music in Argentina), and the Schrammelharmonika especially played in Vienna for the SchrammelMusik.
Etymology: from Latin accordare and later derivatives meaning chord, including German akkord and French accorder.
file accordion.htm
Revision history:
Mon, 1 Mar 99 23:18:10 +0100 Christian Greinacher; new
Tue, 02 Mar 1999 22:04:36 +0100 Hans van Oost; add Dutch words
Tue, 02 Mar 1999 23:30 +08006 Robbie Rhodes; small editing, more text;
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