Piano accordions feature a keyboard with anywhere between 25 to 45 treble keys and a bass chord key system, and when a button is pressed it unlatches rods and levers which generate sounds depending on bellows movement direction. When unlatched they make sounds that vary in volume depending on which direction bellows movement goes in.
To effectively play the piano accordion, it is crucial that you gain an understanding of all its parts. Doing this will provide a deeper insight into its components as well as increase your skills when it comes to playing it.
Keyboard
Accordions feature a piano-style keyboard on the right-hand side that produces treble notes, and a bass chord key system on the left for bass notes. Single row diatonic accordions are widely popular for Irish/Celtic music as well as Latino styles like Norteno, Conjunto and Zydeco styles of Latin music.
Treble keys produce individual notes or pitches, and basses usually produce chords depending on which way the bellows is moved: major triads when closed and dominant sevenths (7-9) when opened. Chromatic scales can also be produced by combining notes from different rows on the keyboard.
Price of accordions depends heavily on their number of reed ranks on either side, register switches available to you and how often they need adjusting. Smaller instruments typically feature two or three voice tuning, while larger models typically use five voices; professional grade accordions typically costing over PS10,000 can cost even more!
Bass button
The bass buttons on the left hand of an accordion are an integral component that can affect the lower end of its scale. They typically come in two varieties: free bass keys that produce one note or pitch; and chord keys which produce three notes to form major, minor, seventh or diminished chords.
Stradella bass systems are one of the most widely-used button systems, featuring six rows of bass buttons and four rows of chords arranged in a circle of fifths arrangement to make playing chords simpler.
Left-hand chords can be played by pressing multiple pallet openings with various notes of a chord at once, producing an up and down movement along the bass row. Button accordions often utilize felt material under their keys for touch control and noise reduction due to movement caused by shifting pallets that translate a single button press into multiple notes or chords.
Right-hand chords
As part of learning the accordion, it’s essential that you learn about chords and basslines. Melody notes are played on the keyboard while basslines are played by pressing buttons on the bass side of the instrument. Over time you should memorize their layout until instinctively knowing which button produces which bass note; although this takes practice!
The accordion is an intricate musical instrument with its own special charm; no two accordion players experience its full range. Size, layout and playing range vary significantly from model to model – some featuring just one row of bass keys while others boasting up to 96!
The most widely used accordion system is known as a Stradella system, featuring six rows of bass buttons which enable single bass notes and chords that fall within an octave range to be produced by these buttons. Many accordions also feature switches enabling different combinations of reed banks to operate; each produces unique sound timbre.
Left-hand chords
A piano accordion features a set of chord buttons on its left hand side for creating various types of harmony, including arpeggios and tremolos. Furthermore, multiple voices – metal reeds that vibrate when bellows are in motion to produce vibrato effects – may be added for additional vibrato effects.
Small piano accordions typically use two or three voice tuning, while larger instruments may feature four voices that can be tuned using various methods such as musette or double octet tuning.
However, unlike right-hand piano keys which are organized in an octave pattern, button accordions feature notes arranged chromatically. Therefore, it’s crucial that you understand which system your accordion uses so that when playing melodies, selecting the right key can be easy and stress-free. Click any image below for a full layout of chord buttons on a chromatic accordion from Hohner’s Chromatic SqueezeBox Pro app.