In its early days, the accordion demanded to be noticed.
According to Symons, the piano accordion, which is so-named because its keyboard looks just like that of a piano, is the sort of accordion that you see most frequently in the U.S.
Accordions are played with either keys or with buttons-and within this last category, there are diatonic button accordions (each having two different notes per button) and chromatic button accordions (which come in two different varieties). They can be large and cumbersome or small and boxy. They play a myriad of music from Cajun and klezmer to classical and cancan. If that sounds too technical for the average non-musical Joe, it means that accordions are in the same family as harmonicas, melodicas (that mouth-blown, piano-looking thing that Jon Batiste plays), and "those old organs that you pump with your feet."Īccordions come in a wide variety of flavors and personalities. "Accordions are not a single instrument, but a vast and varied sub-category of bellows-driven free-reed aerophones," Symons explained. Symons-accordion player, expert, technician/repairman/owner of Big Squeezy Accordion Repair, as well as co-founder of the New Orleans Accordion Festival-squeezed in some time to talk accordion to us. But where did this iconic instrument come from? What makes it sing, and what is it about accordion music that makes us want to two-step or tango every time we hear its characteristic wail?ĭavid C. It's making its way onstage with your favorite bands and reaching a broader range of ears, and accordion sales are now at an all-time high-although, in some cultures such as Cajun and Creole, it's always been at the top of the musical food chain. And, of course, we have a very strong accordion presence here in Louisiana, due to the prevalence of Cajun and zydeco music in Acadiana.įormerly relegated to the outer edges of the musical mainstream, the accordion is currently enjoying a major surge in popularity and coolness. An extremely eclectic and diverse instrument, the accordion is associated with everything from Parisian cafés to mariachi bands and Polish polkas. The accordion, affectionately known as a "squeezebox" due to the method of playing it, has become a worldwide cultural icon.
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