In the classical world, works have been written for the accordion by Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Shostakovich, and the music of Bach and Scarlatti along with many others has been transcribed for the modern accordion. Increasingly, composers are writing classical music for the accordion and including accordion parts in orchestral scores and group compositions.
For the purposes of this chapter, accordion refers to the piano accordion. The accordion is defined as a hand-held free-reed aerophone, in which the sound is produced by tempered steel reeds that vibrate when air is forced through them by a set of bellows. On one side of the bellows there are rows of buttons or a keyboard on which the melody is played, while on the other side there are buttons for the bass notes and chords (Wade-Matthews and Thompson 2002).
The accordion is held close to the player’s chest, supported by means of straps. The accordionist’s right hand plays a piano keyboard, usually (but not always) the melody. The left hand plays a series of buttons producing single bass notes, chords or a combination of single notes and chords, usually a bass accompaniment.
Most people are aware that there are rock, classical, Western, jazz and folk-style guitars but few realise that there are at least as many types of accordions. Just like the guitar, accordions are built for different styles of music and have a variety of temperaments or tuning schemes.
Accordions are usually classified by the number of bass buttons they have, ranging in size from small, simple 8- or 12-bass instruments to complex accordions of 120 basses or more.
Figure 2.1 The piano accordion
In addition, most accordions have switches or couplers that allow the use of different combinations of reeds (rather like the stops on an organ), and these can give the player great scope in pitch range and quality of sound. The larger models, although superior in sound quality, can be heavy and unwieldy, while a smaller instrument might not give a satisfying enough sound, or enough musical scope for the therapist.
Accordions are also classified according to their timbre:
•Musette accordions have a characteristic shrill timbre, which is produced by a particular tuning of the three middle-voiced reeds of the instrument. The two outer reeds are tuned slightly off-key (one slightly sharp and one slightly flat of the perfect pitch reed) to produce this typical accordion sound, favoured by players of traditional French, Scottish and Irish music.
•Dry-tuned or straight-tuned accordions have the reeds tuned to produce a purer, more harmonious sound required for modern music, and particularly tango and other Latin styles. It is also used for playing classical music.
•Chambered or Cassotto tuning gives the particular mellow accordion sound preferred by jazz accordionists. This is achieved by engineering the reed blocks into chambers, which add tonal warmth. This is very distinctive and a development that has contributed greatly to the maturing of the accordion as a classical musical instrument. However, accordions with tone chambers are much more expensive to buy and are also much heavier instruments.
These different mechanisms allow the accordionist great musical scope in terms of pitch and quality of sound (by means of the reeds and couplers) and also dynamic control, touch, phrasing and musical expression (by means of effective use of the bellows).
The accordion has always been close to my heart
Dawn Loombe
The piano accordion is my principal instrument and provides my identity as a musician. It is therefore the instrument with which I am most likely to communicate effectively. I am passionate about the accordion, having played since I was ten years old. My school friend had pestered her parents to buy her a small accordion, having seen an accordionist playing Irish jigs and reels. I was already learning the piano and violin and I became intrigued by her fascinating instrument, which seemed to me to be alive and so different. After trying her small piano accordion, I too was hooked. My father bought me a small second-hand instrument and I began taking lessons. I also played bass accordion and then first accordion in the Norwich Accordion Orchestra in the 1970s and 1980s. My friend and I grew up together playing accordion and we still get together to play now. I have been performing as a solo accordionist and community musician in various bands and ensembles for around 40 years.
There is something special about the way the accordion becomes part of me and moves with me as I wear it and the way that the bellows can be used to express exactly what I want to say with a piece of music; it is literally always close to my heart.
I am often asked to play musette accordion pieces for French-themed events, traditional Neapolitan tunes for Italian weddings, with ceilidh bands for Scottish or English traditional dancing, at outdoor carnivals and village festivals, in local pubs and folk clubs, European folk and classical music with a multi-instrumental trio, Klezmer tunes (together with clarinet and violin), Piazzola tangos, German drinking songs with an ‘oom-pah’ band, polkas, Russian folk songs, Cajun, Tex-Mex, jazz standards, or to accompany singers. Many of these styles of accordion music and particular techniques I have learned have – at different times and in many diverse ways – found their way into the music I play with clients in music therapy sessions and influenced my work as a music therapist.
Of course, I do use a variety of instruments in my clinical work and I make choices depending on the needs and likes of the clients with whom I work. However, I have found that there are some unique aspects of the accordion that can be particularly useful in music therapy, and since training at Anglia Ruskin University in 2003 I have been thinking about these features. My MA dissertation (Loombe 2009) explored the use of the accordion in music therapy through my own casework in various settings, as well as a literature review and interviews with other accordionists also using their instruments in music therapy.
Figure 2.2 Music therapy with the accordion at the Child Development Centre, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge
As other music therapists have found, I have a therapy instrument, which I use in sessions rather than risking the use of my more precious performance accordion. However, there is always a compromise, and it can be a challenge to find an accordion with good-quality reeds and a satisfying sound that is small enough and suitable for music therapy use, yet not too expensive or heavy.
Another challenge when using the accordion in music therapy results from the wearing of the instrument on my body: it can sometimes be difficult to remove quickly and safely. The bellows straps need to be fastened top and bottom, to prevent the bellows opening as I take it off, and there is usually a backstrap to unclip before putting down the accordion safely. For this reason, I never use my accordion where I might be physically compromised in a session, where either the instrument or I might be at risk or where a client has challenging behaviour (for example where I need to be physically ready to respond to prevent a child from harm).
My music therapy accordion is a medium-sized, straight-tuned accordion (without the shrill musette sound that typifies French or Scottish accordion music). This is mainly because it is my preferred accordion tuning and also because I find that it is the single reed sound that most resonates with people; the accordion sound that allows me to respond immediately and most effectively. I rarely use the tremolo reeds (unless I want to produce a particularly strident sound for dynamic effect), as I find the single-reed couplers much more responsive and useful for a variety of musical styles.
Accordionist Santilly (2009) uses a 120-bass accordion that has both straight-tuning and musette-tuning,