Accordions have been played the world over. Though a fairly young instrument (patented in 1829 by Cyrill Demian in Vienna), the accordion quickly became adopted to musics of different cultures. And as immigrants traveled, they carried with them small accordions to play the music of their homeland. Demian's original design was very simple, with buttons that would produce a chord when pressed. Also, like the "button boxes" of today, different notes would sound depending on whether the instrument's bellows was pushed in or pulled out.

The source of sound for an accordion are it's many reeds which are activated by bellows air. It is a "free reed" instrument, meaning that the reeds do not vibrate against anything (such as lips) but are held freely in an air column. The principal was used thousands of years before on the Chinese Cheng which is considered the accordion's ancient ancestor

Though a Austrian invention, most accordions in the world today were built by Italians.

The peak of accordion popularity in the United States was during the 1920s through the 1940s when many Italian immigrants started factories in San Francisco, Chicago and New York among others.

Advantages of the accordion:

• Portablility
• Ability to play harmony and melody at the same time
• Holds it's tuning much longer than a violin, piano or guitar
• Has great expressiveness due to the bellows changing pressure
• Projects sound without needing amplification
• Adapts well to playing with both reed and stringed instruments

For more information on the history of the accordion go to:

The Classical Free Reed

or contact Kimric Smythe