Piano Accordion

A Piano accordion is a musical instrument with a small right-hand keyboard similar to a piano or organ. The sound is produced by pulling and squeezing a bellow-like acoustic mechanism which produces sound based on air flowing past a vibrating reed in a frame.

The first accordions were invented in 1829 and were of the ‘chromatic button’ type, with buttons being used to vary the sound. The use of a piano style keyboard was introduced by Bouton of Paris in 1852, although that distinction was also claimed by Munich company (Allegemeine Deutsche Industrieausstellung) in 1854. It became a featured item of the musical instrument maker Mattaus Bauer and rapidly became serious competition for the chromatic button accordions, despite being harder to play and having less range.

Guido Deiro, a Vaudeville artist who, with his brother Pietro, introduced it to the stage, radio and recordings, coined the name ‘piano accordion’ in 1910.

It became very popular in the United States between 1900 and 1930 because it was a uniform instrument that was understood and could be played by all European immigrant groups without the need for different styles and types.

The instrument has become a very popular addition to many folk music traditions especially those in the English speaking world (North America, Scotland, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand) as well as in Eastern Europe and parts of Italy. The button style accordion has remained popular in France, Belgium, Scandinavia and the former Soviet countries.