What is an accordion?

The modern day Accordion originates from a Chinese instrument invented about 4000 years ago, known as the Sheng. This was one of the first 'free-reed' instruments, and consisted of three main parts - a mouth-piece, some pipes (made from bamboo with copper or gold reeds inserted into them), and the base called a Gourd. The Sheng is played by blowing air into the mouth-piece, which travels through the Gourd and into the pipes. At the base of each pipe is a small hole through which the air can escape, however when this hole is covered by the player's finger, the air is then forced past the reed, creating a tone with a very distinct sound.

By the 1600's, the Chinese Sheng had found its way to Europe, where it went through several stages of development, adding bellows to pass the air rather than a mouth piece, adding a keyboard to control the valve which the player pressed rather than covering a hole, and removing the pipes to use the free reed alone. About 1810, Grenie of Paris created an instrument similar to what we call a Harmonium today. The Harmonium is the direct predecessor of the modern Accordion, however it had to be played on top of a table and used only the right hand to play the notes, with the other operating the bellows alone.

As the instrument became more compact and portable, the left hand was also used to play notes with the addition of keys to the other side of the bellows. As such, the instrument became mounted onto the player's torso, with or without straps, to more naturally fit the player's hand positions. From the combination of the two hands, and the arrangement of a melody (typically in the right hand) with a harmony (left hand chords), came the name Accordion which means to harmonise.