Bellowing out into the accordion

Do you know of someone who plays the accordion? I personally don’t, however there is a woman who I follow on social media platforms and she plays. She is in a band over in Switzerland, as well as an opera singer. It would be lovely to actually go and witness the musical abilities in person, even though everything would be in French and I don’t know much French. It would definitely be a wonderful learning and musical experience.

The accordion. It is a very interesting instrument and I must know where it derives from. In a show I was just in, my costar pulled an accordion out of her luggage bag in the show and everyone got a big laugh out of it. Another cast-mate said he knew how to play a little but couldn’t get that one to work well. So where did the accordion come from? Let’s find out together.

According to earlymusicamerica.org the “earliest forms of the accordion were inspired by the 1777 introduction of the Chinese free-reed Sheng (bowl mouth organ) into Europe by Pere Amiot, a Jesuit missionary in Qing China.” Side note: you should look up “Sheng.” It is a very interesting musical instrument to look. The construct of the Sheng and the accordion differ vastly as the Sheng is smaller in shape and looks like it you put a bunch of reeds strung together in a circular pattern with a mouth piece at the bottom. It is tall in stature but not so much that it could fit into your single hand. The accordion is far bigger. As you have carry it in front of your body with both hands, usually placed on the different side of the bellows (the black “accordion” looking material in the middle) and some straps to hold it up, as the size is a little larger. The first patent of the accordion was filed in 1829 by Cyrill Demian and showed that the named was derived from the German word Akkord (chord), with the suffix on analogy of clarion (high-pitched trumpet or bugle). Demian may have been the first to patent the accordion, however there have been many instances of a instruments in-between and that are similar, for instance the Concertina. A very similar instrument but smaller and easier to hold between two hands. The keys are placed similarly to the accordion, however they are pushed into the bellows and have no chordal keys. I hope you enjoyed a learning a little about the accordion as did I. If you have the opportunity to go and see someone who plays the accordion, definitely go. And if you’re like me you will be thinking of how someone constructed and got it to work like a bagpipe, yet without the air from your lungs and a little mix of keys like a piano. Happy listening.

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Samantha Y ocius Creative Media