Traditional Button Accordions
Button accordions may be traditional instruments, but they enjoy as strong a popularity as ever before.
The accordion family includes a wide variety of styles and forms. The piano, diatonic and chromatic accordions are just a few of the most popular choices. Another important branch on the family tree, the button accordion, has been popular since it was first developed in the late nineteenth century.
The button accordion is an adaptation of an older and more basic instrument known as the melodeon. The button accordion has a unique physical characteristic, with an extra row of buttons that have been pitched a semi-tone above or below those of the melodeon. Using the bellows, the musician can actually create two notes from one single button. This manipulation gives the button accordion more fingering economy and articulation.
With the family of button accordions, there are some variations. The widest array can be found within the areas of tuning, action and basic construction of the individual instruments.
One of the most notable styles of button accordion is the diatonic. On a diatonic accordion, there is a melody-sized keyboard that is limited to the notes of diatonic scales. These notes are provided through a small number of keys, or even just one key. It is worth noting that the bass side of the diatonic usually contains the principal chords of the instrument’s key, including the root notes of those chords.
Diatonic button accordions are generally bisonoric, meaning that every button produces a couple of notes. One note is produced when the bellows are compressed, and the other is produced when the bellows are expanded.
Some diatonic button accordions, however, are unisonoric. In other words, each button on the garmon produces the same note, regardless of the direction of the bellows. Others offer a combination of the two styles.
The chromatic is another well-known variation of button accordion. On this instrument, the melody-sized keyboard is composed of uniform rows of buttons. These buttons are arranged so that the pitch increases chromatically along diagonals. The bass side keyboard of this instrument is typically the Stradella system, which is one of many converter or free-bass systems.
Some instruments in this class are simply called “chromatic” accordions, even though the other types, including the piano accordion, are also fully chromatic. Since the introduction of chromatic buttons, this type of accordion has become the preference of many classical music performers. The treble keyboard of this instrument is now denser than that of a piano accordion, allowing a much greater musical range.
Various cultures have developed their own versions of modern button accordions. They have also adapted these unique inventions to suit their own traditional styles of music. In Russia alone there are a number of accordion styles including the Garmon, Saratovskaya Garmonica, Livenka and the very popular Bayan.
If you love the unique sound that an accordion can bring to traditional and popular music, pick up a button accordion and try your hand at playing this age-old and ever-popular instrument.
