The piano accordion is one of the world’s most beloved two-reed instruments, due to its popularity throughout Europe and use in diverse traditional musical styles.
Left-hand keyboards feature piano keys arranged in rows. Bass side piano keyboards contain buttons which, when opened, produce fixed chords (major, minor, diminished and counter bass).
Keyboard layout
Button accordions feature an internal keyboard of buttons extending inside the bellows, each covering a hole leading to reeds; when air flows through these holes when depressing a key, making each set of reeds sound. Each voice on an accordion may contain up to five distinct pitches depending on its model.
Accordion manufacturers typically arrange the bass buttons in circles of fifths along columns, marking each note with tactile landmarks such as dimples and rhinestones for easy finding chords and melodies in left-hand positions. This enables players to locate chords quickly.
When playing a piano accordion, it’s essential to sit up straight with good posture. Otherwise, the instrument could move and cause keys to stick or fall off, potentially damaging its bellows and producing poor sounds. Furthermore, storage should always include keeping the keyboard facing upward rather than downward or flat on a surface.
Basses
Many piano accordions feature a standard bass button layout with columns of buttons arranged in a circle of fifths that can be pressed to produce either the root note or chord voicing of its root chord.
Smaller instruments may feature only a handful of bass buttons – this may allow a lighter instrument to be used – however this will limit how many different notes and chords can be played on that bass instrument.
Some acoustic accordions feature an innovative hybrid Chromatic/Stradella system which arranges left hand buttons so as to enable both chromatic and Circle-of-Fifths chord inversions as well as different chord voicings at once, much to Mogens Ellegaard’s delight as a free bass accordionist. This technique has proved popular with musicians including the free-bass accordionist himself.
Smaller accordions may also be found with just 12 basses, 60 basses or 72 basses that will be lighter with reduced chord and bass run possibilities. Unfortunately it would be difficult to recommend an appropriate instrument without first knowing your musical needs and your size of hands!
Reeds
On a piano accordion, its keyboard features 25 to 45 treble keys balanced by a larger array of bass buttons. These keys control valves that release reeds as air compresses and decompresses bellows. In contrast to string instruments, accordions don’t need frequent tuning – rather tuning can be performed by assessing each note’s tempered intervals against other notes in its scale.
Reed plates are often fitted with thin strips of plastic or leather to keep reed tongues from colliding and damaging one another, preventing air leakage through these curled up strips into the reed block. Unfortunately, over time these strips can become curled up allowing air leakage past tongues into block.
Repairing leathers requires an in-depth knowledge of mechanical principles, along with some mechanical aptitude. A full reed overhaul requires disassembling all reed plates, reeds and wax before cleaning and rewaxing for optimal performance. Unfortunately this repair could become expensive over time without returning your accordion back to its original condition.
Accessories
Since 2010, piano accordions have become an incredibly popular element of folk and traditional music, thanks to Karen Tweed, Sam Pirt or Chris Parkinson demonstrating just what an impressive instrument it can be – with full chromatic capabilities, providing all of orchestra’s range within itself.
Accordions (from German: Akkordion = musical chord, concord of sounds) are bellows-driven free reed aerophone instruments with melody sections on their right-hand side (also referred to as manual) and accompaniment or Basso continuo functionality on their left hand side, or left side bass buttons. Musicians perform melodies using keys or buttons on either the manual side or bass buttons respectively; playing these requires playing pre-set chords with keys or buttons on either the manual side or left hand sides simultaneously – making for complex musical compositions!
Accordion makers often opt for different arrangements when it comes to the layout of bass buttons on their instruments. Some rely on what is known as the Stradella system, in which each button corresponds to one bass note; other accordions feature converter basses which offer multiple bass styles simultaneously.