Private lessons · Accordion
Accordion lessons in Miami
Bellows, reeds and two hands doing different jobs. Here is the instrument, and the stages of technique an accordionist moves through.
- FamilyFree-reed aerophone, driven by bellows
- Two kindsPiano keyboard or button board
- OriginBerlin, 1822; first patented in Vienna, 1829
The basics
- The accordion is a box-shaped, bellows-driven free-reed aerophone.
- Moving the bellows pushes air across metal reeds; pressing keys or buttons opens pallets that let air reach particular reeds.
- Piano accordions have a piano-style keyboard on the right. Button accordions have a buttonboard, either chromatic or diatonic.
- The left side plays bass notes and preset chord buttons. The Stradella bass system is the most common layout on modern accordions.
- The basic form is believed to date from Berlin in 1822, credited to Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann. Cyrill Demian patented the "accordion" in Vienna in 1829.
- Latin American folk music uses it widely: vallenato in Colombia, norteño in Mexico and forró in Brazil. Button accordions appear in Argentine tango.
- It is also central to Cajun, conjunto, Tejano, zydeco and klezmer music.
How technique develops
A map of the stages, taken from published exam-board requirements (named below). It is a map of what each stage can look like, not Green Hat's own method; your teacher adapts the path to you.
Bellows and reeds
Sound comes from air pushed across metal reeds by the bellows. Keys or buttons only choose which reeds speak, so bellows control shapes every note.
The left hand
The left side plays single bass notes and preset chord buttons, most often in the Stradella layout, while the right hand plays the melody.
Grade 1 technique
LCME's Grade 1 technical work asks for one major scale, one minor scale, a C chromatic scale, and one major and one minor arpeggio.
Grade 4 technique
Grade 4 adds contrary-motion scales, a G major pentatonic scale and two major arpeggios, with scales played partly swung and partly straight.
Accordion grade requirements differ between exam boards; these come from the London College of Music Exams (LCME).
Sources
Facts come from the sources below; check them if you need exact details.