The Accordion

The accordion belongs to the family of free-reed instruments, whose sound is produced by free reeds: small metal tongues that vibrate through a closely fitting slot in the airstream from a bellows. Because the right hand plays the melody while the left sounds whole chords at the touch of a button, a single player can stand in for an entire ensemble – one reason why the accordion spread across the world with such speed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It became the sound of the Parisian musette, the Argentine tango, the Brazilian forró, the Colombian vallenato, Texan-Mexican norteño music, the Cajun music of Louisiana, Irish dance music, the Alpine countries and the Balkans. In parallel it developed into a concert instrument, studied today at conservatoires, for which composers such as Sofia Gubaidulina, Luciano Berio and Arne Nordheim have written.

1Overview and classification

The accordion is a free-reed aerophone (Hornbostel-Sachs 412.132). A tongue of spring steel is fixed at one end to a reed plate and swings freely through a slot whose edges it misses by hundredths of a millimetre. Each swing briefly interrupts the airstream, producing a note rich in overtones whose pitch depends solely on the length, thickness and mass of the reed. The accordion shares this principle with the harmonica, the harmonium, the concertina, the bandoneon and the Asian mouth organ.

Important distinctions within the family:

• Unisonoric or bisonoric: on a unisonoric (chromatic) accordion the same note sounds on both draw and press; on a bisonoric (diatonic) instrument a button produces different notes on draw and press – as on the harmonica.
• Treble system: a keyboard (piano accordion) or a field of buttons (button accordion).
• Bass system: standard bass with ready-made chords (Stradella) or free bass with single notes.

2Names and etymology

The name goes back to Cyrill Demian’s patent of 1829; he called his instrument the “Accordion” because of the chords that sounded at the press of a button. German also uses Ziehharmonika, Handharmonika, Schifferklavier, Quetschkommode and the colloquial Quetsche. Internationally: French accordéon, Italian fisarmonica, Spanish acordeón, Portuguese acordeão or sanfona (Brazil), Russian akkordeon or bayan (button accordion), Finnish harmonikka, Chinese 手风琴 (shǒufēngqín, “hand-wind instrument”).

3Prehistory: the free reed

The principle of the free reed comes from Asia. The Chinese mouth organ sheng is documented over more than 3,000 years; related instruments are the Japanese shō (gagaku), the Laotian khaen and the mouth organs of South-East Asia. Sheng instruments reached Europe in the eighteenth century; the Copenhagen physicist Christian Gottlieb Kratzenstein and the organ builder Franz Kirsnik (St Petersburg) experimented with reed stops around 1780. In the early nineteenth century a wealth of inventions followed: harmonicas, aeolines, the physharmonica keyboard instrument (Anton Haeckl, Vienna 1818) and finally the harmonium (Alexandre Debain, Paris 1840).

4History

• 1821 Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann (Berlin) builds the “Handäoline”, a small instrument with reeds and a bellows.
• 1829 Cyrill Demian and his sons are granted a patent in Vienna for the “Accordion”: five buttons that sound different chords on draw and press.
• 1829/1844 Charles Wheatstone (London) patents the symphonium and the English concertina.
• 1834 Carl Friedrich Uhlig (Chemnitz) builds the German concertina.
• about 1846 Heinrich Band (Krefeld) develops the bandoneon from it.
• from 1850 Series production in Germany (Klingenthal, Gera, Magdeburg), France and Italy. In 1863/64 Paolo Soprani founds the Italian accordion industry in Castelfidardo.
• 1857 Matthias Hohner starts making harmonicas in Trossingen; from 1903 Hohner builds accordions and becomes the largest manufacturer in the world.
• about 1880–1900 Chromatic button accordions (Vienna, Russia) and, in Italy, the first piano accordion (standard by about 1910); makers in Milan and Italian-American makers spread the keyboard.
• 1907 Pyotr Sterligov builds the first chromatic button accordion in Russia with the beginnings of a free bass, the “bayan”.
• about 1910–1930 The Stradella bass system with 120 basses becomes the standard.
• 1927 Hugo Herrmann writes the first original works for accordion (Baden-Baden); in 1931 Hohner founds the conservatoire institute in Trossingen.
• 1935 The Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes (CIA) is founded; from 1938 it holds the “Coupe Mondiale” world championship.
• 1950s–1970s The free bass (converter); accordion studies at conservatoires in Denmark, Russia, Germany and Finland; Mogens Ellegaard and Friedrich Lips commission new works.
• 2004 Roland presents the digital V-Accordion.

In Germany the accordion was a mass phenomenon between 1920 and 1960: hundreds of thousands played in harmonica and accordion orchestras, clubs and schools. The Deutscher Harmonika-Verband (DHV, founded 1931) and the German association of accordion teachers still shape amateur and competition culture today.

5Construction

The main assemblies

Assembly	Parts and function
Treble side	keyboard or button field, register switches (treble and chin registers), treble action, reed blocks with reeds, grille
Bellows	a folded air chamber of stiff card, linen and leather with metal corners; usually 14–20 folds; closed with bellows straps
Bass side	bass button field, bass action (levers, rods, a combination mechanism for the chords), bass registers, bass strap, air button
Reed blocks	wooden blocks with chambers on which the reed plates sit, arranged by reed bank and register
Reed plates	aluminium or zinc plates with two slots and two reeds (for draw and press), with leather or plastic valves
Cassotto	a tone chamber housing one or two reed banks; it makes the sound softer, darker and rounder

The reeds

Every reed plate carries two reeds, one on the outside and one on the inside. One speaks when the bellows are drawn, the other when they are pressed; a leather valve over the slot not in use prevents loss of air. The quality of the reeds is decisive for response, dynamics and sound:

Quality	Characteristics
Machine reeds	machine-made, inexpensive; student instruments
“Tipo a mano”	machine-made but finished in the manner of hand-made reeds
“A mano” (hand-made reeds)	filed and fitted by hand, with the smallest gap and the best response in pianissimo
“A mano export”, “superiore”	the highest quality, for concert instruments

Tuning is done by scraping: removing material at the tip of the reed raises the pitch, removing it at the root lowers it. Reed plates are fixed to the reed blocks with wax, or screwed or nailed on in concert instruments.

6Reed banks, registers and colours

An accordion usually has several sets of reeds, described by footage in the organ tradition and called reed banks. Register switches combine them.

Reed bank	Pitch	Traditional name
16′	an octave below written pitch	“bassoon”
8′	at pitch	“clarinet”
8′ + (tuned sharp)	slightly sharp	tremolo / musette bank
8′ − (tuned flat)	slightly flat	musette (three banks)
4′	an octave higher	“piccolo”

Common register combinations

Combination	Name	Character
8′	clarinet	clear, slender
16′	bassoon	dark, soft
16′ + 8′	oboe / bandoneon	full, tango-like
8′ + 4′	organ	bright, organ-like
8′ + 8′ (tremolo)	violin / tremolo	shimmering
8′ + 8′ + 8′	musette	strongly shimmering, Parisian musette
16′ + 8′ + 4′	harmonium / organ	full
all banks	master (tutti)	maximum fullness

The strength of the beating (tremolo) is given in cents: “dry” (0), light tremolo (about 5–10 cents), “swing” or “American” (about 10–15 cents) and “musette” (15–30 cents and more). Concert instruments are usually tuned dry or with a light tremolo, while musette and folk instruments have a strong beat. Register switches show the combinations with circular symbols and dots.

7Types of instrument

The piano accordion

The right hand plays a reduced-size keyboard (keys about 17–20 mm wide instead of the 23 mm of a piano). Standard sizes have 26 to 45 keys; the full instrument with 41 keys runs from F3 to A6 (at 8′ pitch). The keyboard makes it easier for pianists to start and is most widespread in Germany, Italy, Britain and North America.

The chromatic button accordion

The treble buttons are arranged in three basic rows whose notes rise in minor thirds; two further rows repeat the first two so that fingerings can be shifted. As a result every scale and every chord has the same shape in all keys – unlike on the piano. Within the same width the button system reaches a considerably wider range (up to 64 notes), and wide intervals can be stretched.

System	Characteristics	Where it is used
C system	the outer row starts on C, then C♯/D♭ … in minor thirds	France, Italy, Belgium, Scandinavia, Germany, Western Europe
B system	arranged as a mirror image	Russia, Ukraine, Eastern Europe (bayan), partly Finland

The bayan

The Russian bayan is a chromatic button accordion in the B system, usually with a wide range, a strong dark sound and a free bass. In Russia, Ukraine and Belarus it is the concert instrument par excellence, and since Soviet times it has been taught at conservatoires to the highest level (Friedrich Lips, Yuri Shishkin, Vyacheslav Semyonov).

Diatonic accordions

Diatonic instruments are bisonoric and built in particular keys. They are smaller, lighter and often very loud.

Type	Characteristics	Region and style
One-row accordion (melodeon)	one row, one key, 2–4 basses	Cajun (Louisiana), early folk music
Two-row accordion	rows in G/C, B/C (Ireland) or C♯/D, for example	Ireland (B/C), England (Morris dancing), France
Three-row accordion	for example F–B♭–E♭ or G–C–F	norteño/Tex-Mex, vallenato, forró
Styrian accordion	three to five rows, with powerful “helicon” basses and its own tablature notation	Alpine folk music (Austria, Bavaria, Slovenia, South Tyrol)
Schwyzerörgeli	a small diatonic instrument with 18 basses	Switzerland (Ländler music)
Trikitixa	a two-row instrument	the Basque Country
Garmon	a one-row instrument	Russia (folk music)

The bandoneon

The bandoneon is box-shaped, with buttons on both sides but no chord basses. The “Rhenish” or unified bandoneon common in Germany is bisonoric with 142 notes; there are also unisonoric systems (Kusserow, Péguri). Originally intended as an inexpensive substitute for the organ in church and folk music, it travelled with emigrants to Argentina and Uruguay around 1870–1900 and became the soul of tango. The bandoneons made by Alfred Arnold (“AA”) of Carlsfeld in Saxony are still considered unsurpassed; in recent years they have been built again.

The concertina

The concertina is small, six- or eight-sided, with buttons on both sides. The English concertina (Wheatstone) is unisonoric and was played in Victorian drawing rooms and concertina bands; the Anglo concertina is bisonoric and characterises Irish music (particularly in County Clare); the German concertina (Chemnitzer) was the model for the bandoneon and is widespread in the polka music of the American Midwest.

Digital accordions

Digital instruments such as the Roland V-Accordion have the keyboard and bellows of an accordion but generate sound by sampling or modelling. They allow quiet practice with headphones, a wide range of accordion and orchestral sounds and MIDI control; the feel of the bellows is reproduced through pressure sensors.

8The basses

Standard bass (Stradella)

On a 120-bass instrument the buttons stand in 20 rows a fifth apart (the circle of fifths) and six columns:

Column	Contents (example of C)	Note
1. Counter bass	E (a major third above C)	for alternating bass and bass lines
2. Root bass	C	the C button has a dimple, and the A♭ and E buttons often a ring, for orientation
3. Major chord	C–E–G	–
4. Minor chord	C–E♭–G	–
5. Seventh chord	C–E–B♭ (without the fifth)	the dominant seventh chord
6. Diminished chord	C–E♭–A (without the fifth)	a diminished seventh chord without the fifth

Because neighbouring rows lie a fifth apart, tonic, dominant and subdominant are always side by side. Combinations produce further chords: Cmaj7 from the C bass and the E minor button, C6 from the C bass and the A minor button, Cm7 from the C bass and the E♭ major button. The root basses and chords sound within a limited range (usually about an octave), and the “jump” at the octave boundary is a characteristic of the standard bass. Smaller instruments have 8, 12, 24, 32, 48, 72, 80 or 96 basses with correspondingly fewer keys and columns.

Free bass

On a free bass instrument each button is a single note across several octaves – as on a piano. A distinction is made between the fifths system (notes a fifth apart) and the chromatic system (laid out like the treble side, in the C or B system). A converter allows switching between standard bass and free bass. Only the free bass makes polyphonic playing possible: Bach fugues, Scarlatti sonatas and the modern concert repertoire.

9Bellows technique

The bellows are the central means of expression: the pressure applied determines the volume, and finely graded bellows work produces crescendo, diminuendo, accents and phrasing. A change of bellows direction (from draw to press or the reverse) briefly interrupts the airstream and has to be placed musically – much like a wind player’s breathing or a string player’s change of bow. In the score the direction is marked with symbols (⊓ for draw, V for press, or with arrows).

Technique	Description
Bellows vibrato	a fast, regular fluctuation of bellows pressure
Bellows shake	very rapid alternation between draw and press, rhythmic or irregular
Ricochet	rhythmic bellows changes in groups of three or four, controlled by the knee and arm
Bellows accent, sforzato	a short impulse of the bellows
Air button	opening or closing the bellows without sounding a note; also used as a noise in new music
Clusters, glissandi, button glissandi	across many keys or buttons
Percussion	tapping on the grille, the bellows or the body

10Acoustics

The pitch of a reed depends on its length, thickness and mass: low bass reeds are long and often weighted at the tip. Because the reed interrupts the airstream periodically, the spectrum is rich in overtones; the chambers of the reed blocks and the cassotto filter it. Unlike pipe or reed instruments, the pitch changes only slightly with bellows pressure (very strong pressure lowers it a little) – the accordion is therefore stable in pitch, but cannot shade intonation or produce vibrato the way a wind instrument can. The tremolo of several detuned reed banks creates beats whose frequency equals the difference between the two pitches.

11Notation

Piano and button accordions are written on a piano system: the treble in the treble clef, the bass in the bass clef. For the standard bass there is a simplified notation: root basses as notes, chords with letters (M = major, m = minor, 7 = seventh chord, v or d = diminished) or as chord symbols; counter basses are underlined or marked with a stroke. Modern original literature for free bass is written like piano music. Diatonic instruments such as the Styrian accordion often use Griffschrift, a tablature in which the notes indicate buttons rather than pitches and a line shows the bellows direction. Germany and Switzerland have their own publishers and methods for it.

12The accordion around the world

Carried by emigrants, sailors and migrant workers, the accordion spread across the world in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Because it was robust, loud, comparatively cheap and, as a one-person orchestra, well suited to dance music, it displaced older instruments in many regions – and became the core of new styles there.

Style / region	Instrument	Characteristics	Well-known musicians
Musette (Paris)	button accordion in the C system, musette tuning	waltz, java, swing musette; the bals musettes of Auvergnat and Italian communities in Paris from about 1900	Émile Vacher, Gus Viseur, Tony Murena, Jo Privat, Yvette Horner, Marcel Azzola, Richard Galliano (“new musette”)
Tango (Argentina, Uruguay)	bandoneon	from about 1900 the leading instrument of the orquesta típica; arrastre, staccato chords	Eduardo Arolas, Pedro Maffia, Aníbal Troilo, Astor Piazzolla (tango nuevo), Leopoldo Federico, Dino Saluzzi
Chamamé (north-east Argentina)	accordion, bandoneon	dance music from the Corrientes region; UNESCO cultural heritage 2020	Raúl Barboza, Tránsito Cocomarola
Forró (north-east Brazil)	sanfona (piano or button accordion)	baião, xote and xaxado with zabumba (drum) and triangle	Luiz Gonzaga (“king of baião”), Dominguinhos, Sivuca
Vallenato (Colombia)	three-row diatonic accordion	with caja (drum) and guacharaca (scraper); UNESCO cultural heritage 2015; festival in Valledupar	Alejo Durán, Egidio Cuadrado
Norteño, Tex-Mex, conjunto (Mexico, Texas)	three-row diatonic accordion	with bajo sexto; polkas, rancheras, corridos	Narciso Martínez, Flaco Jiménez, Los Tigres del Norte
Cajun, zydeco (Louisiana)	one-row accordion, or piano or button accordion	French-language dance music; zydeco with rubboard, blues and R&B	Amédé Ardoin, Nathan Abshire, Clifton Chenier (“king of zydeco”), Boozoo Chavis
Ireland, Scotland	two-row B/C or C♯/D accordion, piano accordion (Scotland), Anglo concertina	reels, jigs, hornpipes; céilí bands	Joe Cooley, Joe Burke, Jackie Daly, Sharon Shannon, Máirtín O’Connor; Jimmy Shand (Scotland)
Alpine folk music	Styrian accordion, Schwyzerörgeli, piano accordion	ländler, polka, waltz; new folk music	Slavko Avsenik (Oberkrainer), Hubert von Goisern, Herbert Pixner
Scandinavia, Finland	chromatic button accordion	gammaldans, Finnish tango, folk avant-garde	Kimmo Pohjonen, Maria Kalaniemi, Lars Hollmer
The Balkans, Eastern Europe	piano accordion, button accordion	kolo, horo, čoček; odd metres, virtuoso ornamentation; klezmer	Petar Ralchev (Bulgaria)
Russia, Ukraine	bayan, garmon	folk song, dance, concert music	Yuri Kazakov, Friedrich Lips, Yuri Shishkin
Italy	piano accordion	liscio (the dance music of Emilia-Romagna), canzone	Pietro Frosini, Gorni Kramer, Gervasio Marcosignori
North America	piano accordion	vaudeville, polka, jazz of the 1930s to 1950s	Guido and Pietro Deiro, Charles Magnante, Frankie Yankovic (polka), Art Van Damme (jazz)
Africa	diatonic accordions, concertinas	South African boeremusiek and mbaqanga, Madagascar (salegy), Cape Verde (funaná)	Régis Gizavo (Madagascar)

13Jazz, pop and film music

In jazz, the accordion was widespread in the United States from the 1930s to the 1950s (Art Van Damme, Joe Mooney, Leon Sash), then retreated, and enjoyed a renaissance from the 1980s through Richard Galliano, Frank Marocco, Gil Goldstein and Vincent Peirani. In pop and rock it appears with Bruce Springsteen, The Pogues, Tom Waits, Arcade Fire and in Balkan beat projects. Film likes to use it as a sonic shorthand – for Paris (Yann Tiersen’s score for Amélie, 2001), for Buenos Aires, or for harbour-side romance.

14The accordion in art music

Orchestra and opera

Work	Use
Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Orchestral Suite no. 2 op. 53 (1883)	four accordions ad libitum in the scherzo – one of the earliest examples
Umberto Giordano, Fedora (1898)	accordion on stage
Alban Berg, Wozzeck (1925)	tavern music
Paul Hindemith, Kammermusik no. 1 op. 24/1 (1922)	accordion in a chamber ensemble
Kurt Weill, The Threepenny Opera (1928)	bandoneon
Sergei Prokofiev, Cantata for the Twentieth Anniversary of the October Revolution (1937)	accordion ensemble
Dmitri Shostakovich, the Jazz Suites and film scores	accordion
Luciano Berio, Sequenza XIII “Chanson” (1995)	a solo work

Original literature for accordion

Composer	Work
Hugo Herrmann	Sieben neue Spielmusiken (1927) – the first original compositions
Ole Schmidt	Symphonic Fantasy and Allegro (1958), accordion concerto
Per Nørgård	Anatomic Safari (1967)
Niels Viggo Bentzon	sonatas, concerto
Vladislav Zolotaryov	sonatas, children’s suites (classics of the bayan repertoire)
Sofia Gubaidulina	De profundis (1978), Et exspecto (1985), Silenzio (for bayan, violin and cello, 1991), Fachwerk (bayan, percussion and strings, 2009)
Arne Nordheim	Flashing (1985)
Mauricio Kagel	Episoden, Figuren; chamber music
Magnus Lindberg	Jeux d’anches (1990)
Toshio Hosokawa, Klaus Huber, Nicolaus A. Huber, Georg Katzer, Isang Yun	solo and chamber music
Astor Piazzolla	Aconcagua (bandoneon concerto, 1979), Le Grand Tango
Richard Galliano	Opale Concerto, tango and musette works

Arrangements

The concert repertoire includes many arrangements: Bach (preludes and fugues, the Goldberg Variations), Scarlatti sonatas, Rameau, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons. The ability to sustain and shape notes dynamically gives Baroque music on the accordion a character of its own, close to the organ.

Accordion orchestras

Accordion orchestras are especially widespread in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands. They play with accordion parts I–IV (or more), a bass part (free bass or electronium) and often percussion. The repertoire ranges from original works (Hans Brehme, Rudolf Würthner, Adolf Götz, Fritz Dobler) through arrangements of symphonic music to pop and film music. The Deutscher Harmonika-Verband organises competitions and festivals.

15Training and competitions

The accordion is studied at many conservatoires – in Germany at Trossingen, Essen, Hanover, Würzburg, Weimar and Berlin among others; internationally in Copenhagen, Helsinki (Sibelius Academy), Moscow (Gnessin), Graz, Paris, Lucerne and many other cities. Important competitions:

• the Coupe Mondiale (CIA, since 1938) and the Trophée Mondial (CMA)
• the International Accordion Competition in Klingenthal (since 1964)
• the Premio Internazionale di Castelfidardo (since 1976)
• Arrasate Hiria (Spain) and competitions in Pula, St Petersburg and Shanghai
• “Jugend musiziert” and the DHV competitions in Germany

16Leading concert accordionists

Mogens Ellegaard, Friedrich Lips, Yuri Kazakov, Yuri Shishkin, Hugo Noth, Joseph Macerollo, Geir Draugsvoll, Stefan Hussong, Teodoro Anzellotti, Mie Miki, Pascal Contet, Claudio Jacomucci, Viviane Chassot, Ksenija Sidorova, Martynas Levickis, Iñaki Alberdi, Aydar Gaynullin.

17Sizes and buying

Size	Treble (piano)	Weight (approx.)	Suitable for	Guide price (new)
8–32 basses	17–26 keys	2–4 kg	children from 5–6 years	about €300–900
48 basses	26–30 keys	4–6 kg	children, beginners	about €700–1,800
72 basses	34 keys	7–8 kg	teenagers	about €1,500–3,500
96 basses	37 keys	8–9 kg	teenagers, adults	about €2,500–5,000
120 basses	41 keys	10–12 kg	adults, the standard	about €3,500–12,000
Concert instrument with free bass, cassotto and hand-made reeds	41–45 keys or 5 rows of buttons	12–15 kg	degree students, professionals	about €10,000–30,000 and more
Styrian accordion	3–5 rows	5–8 kg	folk music	about €2,000–8,000
Bandoneon (newly built)	142 notes	about 5 kg	tango	about €4,000–10,000; historic AA instruments similar

18Care and maintenance

• Close the bellows straps after playing, and store the instrument upright in its case (bass side down).
• Protect it from heat (cars, direct sun), cold and damp – the wax holding the reed plates can soften in heat, and leather and valves warp.
• Let a cold instrument come up to room temperature before playing (condensation on the reeds causes rust).
• Never work the bellows “dry” with the keys down and without using the air button; do not sit on the bellows or put objects on them.
• Play regularly: instruments left unused for long periods develop sticking valves.
• Workshop: tuning and servicing every 3 to 10 years depending on use; valve replacement, bellows repairs and retuning belong in expert hands.

19Health and ergonomics

The weight of an accordion puts a strain on the shoulders and back. What matters is the right size, wide padded straps, a back strap that stabilises the instrument, playing seated with the instrument on the left thigh, and taking breaks. Children should not play instruments that are too large for them too early.

20Learning the accordion

Stage	Content
The first weeks	carrying the instrument and adjusting the straps, controlling the bellows, first melodies in a five-note range, root bass and major chord in the left hand
Year 1	alternating bass, minor and seventh chords, musical bellows changes, reading in both clefs
Years 2–3	scales and chords in several keys, choosing registers deliberately, waltz and polka accompaniment, ensemble or orchestra playing
Years 4–5	bellows technique (bellows shake), scales over two octaves, polyphonic playing, musette and tango, competition repertoire
Advanced	free bass, arrangements of Bach and Scarlatti, original literature (Zolotaryov, Nordheim), chamber music

21The accordion at Cuxhaven Music School

We teach piano and button accordion to children, young people and adults – from folk music, musette and tango to classical music and original repertoire – and are happy to advise on size, weight and instruments to borrow. In the ensemble, the accordion supplies melody, harmony and bass all at once. Related instruments: the keyboard and the piano.

22Frequently asked questions

Piano accordion or button accordion?

Both are suitable for beginners. Many people find the keyboard familiar; the button system offers a wider range, shorter distances and the same fingering patterns in every key. In professional concert playing the button accordion predominates.

How heavy is an accordion?

Children’s instruments weigh 2 to 6 kg, standard instruments 10 to 12 kg and concert instruments up to 15 kg. The right size and good straps are decisive.

What is musette?

A shimmering sound produced by three reed banks tuned slightly apart, typical of Parisian dance music.

What is the difference between an accordion and a bandoneon?

The bandoneon has buttons on both sides, no ready-made chord basses and is usually bisonoric; it is the instrument of tango.

Does an accordion need tuning?

Not as often as a piano. Depending on use, a check every few years is enough; the tuning is stable but changes slowly.

Is a digital accordion an alternative?

For quiet practice, a wide choice of sounds and stage work, yes; but it does not fully replace the feel of the bellows and the acoustic sound of a good instrument.

23Glossary

Bayan

The Russian chromatic button accordion (B system).

Bellows change

The change from draw to press or the reverse.

Bandoneon

A box-shaped free-reed instrument without chord basses; the instrument of tango.

C system / B system

The two layouts of the button accordion.

Cassotto

A tone chamber giving a softer sound.

Reed bank

A set of reeds at one footage.

Converter

A switch between standard bass and free bass.

Free reed

A metal tongue that vibrates freely through a slot.

Griffschrift

A notation that indicates buttons rather than pitches.

Helicon bass

The powerful bass of the Styrian accordion.

Free bass

Single notes in the bass across several octaves.

Musette

A strongly shimmering registration; Parisian dance music.

Reed plate

A plate carrying two reeds, for draw and press.

Stradella bass

The standard bass with ready-made chords.

Tremolo

The beating produced by detuned reed banks.

Bisonoric

Draw and press produce different notes.

24Sources and further reading

• Helmi Strahl Harrington, article “Accordion” in: Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press.
• Article “Harmonikainstrumente” in: Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (MGG).
• Deutsches Harmonikamuseum Trossingen: publications on the history of free-reed instruments.
• Marion Jacobson: Squeeze This! A Cultural History of the Accordion in America. University of Illinois Press 2012.
• Helena Simonett (ed.): A Cultural History of the Accordion in the Americas. University of Illinois Press 2012.
• Christoph Wagner: Das Akkordeon oder die Erfindung der populären Musik. Schott, Mainz 2001.
• Maria Dunkel: Bandonion und Konzertina. Katzbichler, Munich 1987.
• Deutscher Harmonika-Verband (DHV): curriculum and materials for the accordion.

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Last updated: September 2026 · Musikpedia editorial team, Cuxhaven Music School