User:TwoThirdsBird/sandbox

Often confused with a concertina - is not Accordion has buttons on the front, concertina's are on the sides and pushed in a parallel direction to the bellows

Modern accordion patented by Cyril Demian in 1829 - concertina in 1829 by Charles Wheatstone

First chromatic button accordion by Franz Walther in 1850

May have originated with traditional reed instruments of southwest Asia

Name comes from Akkord, German word for the major triad that is played when the buttons are sounded.

Categorized as a free reed aerophone in the classification of instruments published by Erich Von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs in 1914. Sound produced by the vibration of air

This first mass-produced in Europe in 1835, piano accordion to come later. First mass-produced, loud, durable, portable instrument - though not cheap

At first, the button accordion was too expensive to be very common among the lower and middle classes, but as it lost its novelty (around the 1860s ), it became more widespread among these groups, too.

Remaining early instruments show that at first they only played chords, and was to be played left-handed, unlike now

First accordions only had 5 buttons (10 chords) so mostly used for accompaniment

"early minstrel troupes" toured America as early as 1843, spreading the accordion sound

Occurs in Ukranian, Scandinavian, Irish/Scottish, Cajun, Texas Mexican, African, African American,

Ideal in dance music because one could play both the melody and accompaniment at once, and still be able to sing or tap his or her feet. The many reeds produce a louder sound, ideal for a crowded dance hall

The stops allowed the instrument to produce different tones for a variety of situations

The German melodeon was a popular, later version of a diatonic button accordion, especially in Scotland until around the 1920s.

Arrived in Louisiana in the 1800s

Popular instrument with Cajuns and French-speaking Creoles

Later, a new, higher quality version was made in Louisiana, which became and remained popular with Cajun and Zydeco players

Starting in the 19th century, has played a part in sub-Saharan Africa

Brought by sailors, merchants, settlers

Used solo and in dance bands

Windjammer - sometimes a diatonic button accordion

Huddie "Leadbelly" Leadbetter from Caddo Parish, Louisiana - recordings on button accordion from 1942-1947 rural African-American music. Style influenced by "Acadian tradition of southern Louisiana" One of first African-Americans to make commercial recordings on the button accordion

May have been most popular among African-Americans from 1880-1910

First available for sale in Ireland in 1831

Irish traditional music is played on it

A popular accordionist in Texas Mexican accordion music is Flaco Jiménez

Another notable accordionist is Gilberto Reyes

He repaired and tuned accordions, and made changes to his own button accordion that got him noticed by the Hohner accordion company, who invited him to work with them

He changed the tuning of the reeds in the button accordion to develop an accordion with Jiménez' preferred sound for Texas-Mexican music

The diatonic 2-row button accordion with eight bass buttons is still very common in northeast Brazil

Known as the fole to distinguish it from the piano accordion

First appeared there in the late nineteenth century

Previously used one-row diatonic button accordions with two bass buttons

Commonly, in diatonic button accordions, each row of melody buttons produces a different major scale, some with some accidentals at the ends of the rows. Later changed to chromatic tuning, which increased possible styles that could be played

Well known virtuosos include Zé Calixto and his brother Luizinho Calixto

To sound a note on the accordion, a button is pressed, and the tone changes depending on whether the bellows are expanded or contracted, like the harmonic, where the note changes depending on whether the player is breathing in or out - just diatonic?

Diatonic button accordian is the most popular type of accordion, with appearances in many cultures, especially in traditional music.

Chromatic button accordion is very similar to piano accordion, but has 3, 4, or 5 rows of buttons on the right hand side. Chromatic button accordion is traditional concert accordion.

Pushing or pulling the bellows slower or faster makes the sound softer or louder respectively

Reeds are fixed in pairs so that one sounds when air moves in, and one when air moves out

Free reeds modernly generally made of tempered steel

Button accordion has melodic notes on one side of the bellows, and bass accompaniment notes on the other side.

Some have "stops", which could change the tone and were called things like "Organ" or "Trumpet" or "Tremolo"

The standard, one-row button accordion is tuned to a diatonic, 2.5 octave scale. Other side (accompaniment ( bass/chordal)) has tonic chord when pushed, and dominant chord when pulled. - works well for basic Anglo-American fiddle tunes

Three-stop accordion: 2 sets of tenor reeds, 1 bass set. Classic German four-stop: preferred by Cajun musicians - 1 bass, 1 piccolo, 2 tenor - gives denser sound