Button accordion

Erich von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs categorize it as a free reed aerophone in their classification of instruments, published in 1914.

All accordions and concertinas have three main components: the reeds, bellows, and buttons or keys.

Pushing or pulling the bellows slower or faster makes the sound softer or louder, respectively.

In modern accordions, the free reeds are generally made of tempered steel.

[2] Some button accordions have 'stops', which change the tone and are called things like "Organ" or "Trumpet" or "Tremolo".

[2] The German four-stop is preferred by Cajun musicians and has one bass, one piccolo, and two tenor stops.

[5] Button accordions are found with a wide variety of keyboard systems, tuning, action, and construction.

[2] The German melodeon was a popular, later version of a diatonic button accordion, especially in Scotland until around the 1920s.

The chromatic button accordion is traditionally used in a concert setting,[3] and is more popular in jazz and classical music because it can be freely played in any key, usually with identical fingering patterns.

[2] At first, the button accordion was too expensive to be very common among the lower and middle classes, but as it lost its novelty (around the 1860s[4]), it became more widespread among these groups, too.

[2] The button accordion was ideal for dance music of many cultures, because one could play both the melody and accompaniment at once, and still be able to sing or tap his or her feet.

[8] Later, a new, higher quality version of the button accordion was made in Louisiana, which became and remained popular with Cajun and Zydeco players.

[2] Starting in the 19th century, the button accordion has played a part in sub-Saharan African music.