Depends on configuration: Right-hand keyboard Left-hand keyboard Hand-pumped: Bandoneon, concertina, flutina, garmon, trikitixa, Indian harmonium, harmoneon Foot-pumped: Harmonium, reed organ Mouth-blown: Claviola, melodica, harmonica, Laotian khene, Chinese shēng, Japanese shō Electronic reedless instruments: Accordions (from 19th-century German Akkordeon, from Akkord—"musical chord, concord of sounds")[1] are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed in a frame).

The essential characteristic of the accordion is to combine in one instrument a melody section, also called the diskant, usually on the right-hand keyboard, with an accompaniment or Basso continuo functionality on the left-hand.

The accordion is played by compressing or expanding the bellows while pressing buttons or keys, causing pallets to open, which allow air to flow across strips of brass or steel, called reeds.

In some countries (for example: Argentina, Brazil,[3][4] Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Panama) it is used in popular music (for example: Chamamé in Argentina; gaucho, forró, and sertanejo in Brazil; vallenato in Colombia; merengue in the Dominican Republic; and norteño in Mexico), whereas in other regions (such as Europe, North America, and other countries in South America) it tends to be more used for dance-pop and folk music.

These names refer to the type of accordion patented by Cyrill Demian, which concerned "automatically coupled chords on the bass side".

[5] The accordion's basic form is believed to have been invented in Berlin, in 1822, by Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann,[notes 2][6] although one instrument was discovered in 2006 that appears to have been built earlier.

By the 1880s, the list included Oryol, Ryazan, Moscow, Tver, Vologda, Kostroma, Nizhny Novgorod and Simbirsk, and many of these places created their own varieties of the instrument.

At the time, Vienna and London had a close musical relationship, with musicians often performing in both cities in the same year, so it is possible that Wheatstone was aware of this type of instrument and may have used them to put his key-arrangement ideas into practice.

Jeune's flutina resembles Wheatstone's concertina in internal construction and tone colour, but it appears to complement Demian's accordion functionally.

The bellows is located between the right- and left-hand keyboards, and is made from pleated layers of cloth and cardboard, with added leather and metal.

All but the smaller accordions are equipped with switches that control which combination of reed banks operate, organized from high to low registers.

Another factor affecting the price is the presence of electronics, such as condenser microphones, volume and tone controls, or MIDI sensors and connections.

The larger piano and chromatic button accordions are usually heavier than other smaller squeezeboxes, and are equipped with two shoulder straps to make it easier to balance the weight and increase bellows control while sitting, and avoid dropping the instrument while standing.

Digital accordions may have features not found in acoustic instruments, such as a piano-style sustain pedal, a modulation control for changing keys, and a portamento effect.

Some accordions have been modified by individuals striving to bring a more pure[clarification needed] sound out of low-end instruments, such as the ones improved by Yutaka Usui,[30][irrelevant citation] a Japanese craftsman.

Hohner still manufactures its top-end models[clarification needed] in Germany, and Weltmeister instruments are still handmade by HARMONA Akkordeon GmbH in Klingenthal.

[33] Today the instrument is sometimes heard in contemporary pop styles, such as rock and pop-rock,[34] and occasionally even in serious classical music concerts, as well as advertisements.

Later jazz accordionists from the United States include Steve Bach, Milton DeLugg, Orlando DiGirolamo, Angelo Di Pippo,[36][37][38][39] Dominic Frontiere, Guy Klucevsek, Yuri Lemeshev, Frank Marocco, Dr. William Schimmel, John Serry Sr.,[40] Lee Tomboulian, and Art Van Damme.

Norwegian jazz accordionists include Asmund Bjørken, Stian Carstensen, Gabriel Fliflet, Frode Haltli, and Eivin One Pedersen.

Included among this group was the concert virtuoso John Serry, Sr.[44][45][46] During the 1950s through the 1980s the accordion received significant exposure on television with performances by Myron Floren on The Lawrence Welk Show.

Tom Waits used the Accordion extensively (Dr.William Schimmel) in "Raindogs" and "Frank's Wild Years", folk metal subgenre, and are otherwise generally rare.

Full-time accordionists in folk metal seem even rarer, but they are still utilized for studio work, as flexible keyboardists are usually more accessible for live performances.

The Finnish symphonic folk-metal band Turisas used to have a full-time accordionist, employing classical and polka sensibilities alongside a violinist.

Sarah Kiener, the former hurdy-gurdy player for the Swiss melodic-death-folk metal band Eluveitie, played a Helvetic accordion known as a zugerörgeli.

Other composers, including the Russian Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the Italian Umberto Giordano, and the American Charles Ives, wrote works for the diatonic button accordion.

[53][54][55] In addition, the American accordionist Robert Davine composed his Divertimento for Flute, Clarinet, Bassoon and Accordion as a work for chamber orchestra.

The experimental composer Howard Skempton began his musical career as an accordionist, and has written numerous solo works for it.

[67] The accordion was brought to Brazil by settlers and immigrants from Europe, especially from Italy and Germany, who mainly settled in the south (Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná).

It is an important instrument in Sertanejo (and Caipira) music, which originated in the midwest and southeast of Brazil, and subsequently has gained popularity throughout the country.

[86] Prominent orchestra members included: Joe Biviano (President of the American Accordionists Association)[87][88] Carmen Carrozza,[89][90] Orlando Di Girolamo (President of the American Symphony Society),[91] Tony Mecca (who collaborated with Leonard Bernstein),[92][93] Angelo Di Pippo (jazz accordionist and arranger for Robert Merrill),[94][95] John Serry Sr.[96][97] and Alfonso Veltri (Director of the National Conservatory of Music).