Accordions come in different styles, shapes and sizes and there’s lots to know if you’re interested. They are categorized by musicologists and historians as bellow-driven free-reed aerophones. Here’s a few tidbits of info about these mythical beasts.
Accordions are box-shaped musical instruments that share the commonality of sound being made by pushing air through reeds. A bellows is used to push the flow of air through these reeds. How an accordionist works these bellows become the nuances, dynamics and rhythms of the notes and chords being played. In fact, all expression is effected with the bellows, not the keys or buttons.
The direction of airflow through the reeds (either pushing or pulling the bellows) produces a different note for each key or button as well. This interval is different from one variety of accordion to another.
They appear in Eastern Euprope and Russia during the 19th century and are still used in lots of different folk music styles around the world today. It is believed that the basic form of the instrument was invented in Berlin in 1822.
Pictured here is a Diatonic Button Accordion manufactured in Germany by Imperial, probably dating to the 1930s or 1940s. The right-hand buttons produce notes in a Diatonic scale.
This one comes from a family in the area and is in relatively good shape. A nice handmade wood case is included. $300.
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