Western New York Accordion Club

The Accordion is a hand-held free reed instrument. The reeds, generally made of steel, vibrate when air is forced through them by use of bellows. One side of the accordion is set with treble keys, either buttons or piano keys.

The most common accordion in the United States is the piano accordion, with treble piano keys on the right hand and buttons on the left hand.

On the right side, a standard piano accordion has 41 piano keys (black and white) but can range from 25 to 43 piano keys. On the left side, the standard accordion with stradella bass has 120 buttons, but can range from 12 to 140 buttons.  See anatomy accordions page.

Most popular in Europe is the chromatic accordion (CBA) with buttons on both right and left hand. Treble (right hand) keys consist of three to five rows.  In five row systems, the additional rows repeat the first two rows to faciliate fingering.

The two most popular scales on the chromatic accordion are the C scale (or griff) and B scale (or griff).   The C griff is popular is Western Europe where it is often used on French musette accordions. B griff is popular in Norway and in Russia.

The Bayan is a Russian chromatic accordion.  The construction of the Bayan, including rectangular reeds screwed to reed plates (rather than affixed to reed blocks with wax) makes for a deeper sound.

Another popular accordion in the United States is the diatonic accordion, with buttons on both right and left hands. The right hand buttons (generally limited to one or two rows) are diatonic (meaning different notes on the push and the pull, like a harmonica).   One popular form of diatonic accordion is used in tex-mex and conjunto music.

In Russia, a two row Garmoshka was developed as a folk instrument and became very popular.  It is diatonic-with a different sound on the push and pull.

      In the United States, the cajun accordion, generally with one row of buttons on the right hand, and four to six chord buttons on the left hand became popular in Louisiana.

Concertinas have buttons on both the left and right sides and are much smaller than an accordion.  The English concertina plays the same notes on the push or pull while the German concertina has different notes on the push and pull, like a harmonica.

Accordions have also evolved into artistic masterpieces.

Thus, the Gabanelli accordions are often colorfully designed

And the latest French Hohnor accordions are vividly colored.

Fisitalia Accordion

Weltmeister Accordion

The new Roland V-Accordions

 RESERVED FOR ADDITIONAL COMMENTARY

 Photo Under Construction.