Introduction to the Accordion
The accordion is a reed instrument that can be used both as a soloist and as an accompaniment. It can not only play beautiful single-part melodies, but also multi-part music. , you can also play rich harmonies with both hands like a piano. The accordion has a grand sound, rich timbre changes, and the ingenious combination of fingers and bellows can play a variety of different styles of music. In addition to playing independently, you can also participate in ensembles and ensembles. In addition, the accordion has a fixed pitch, is easy to learn and understand, is small and easy to carry. Therefore, the accordion is very suitable for players of different ages to entertain themselves, and can also be easily carried to school. , theater to participate in performances.
Accordion playing requires both hands to participate at the same time, and when practicing, the fingertips are constantly in contact with the keyboard and keys at different speeds and for different times, which increases the transmission of information between nerve endings and the brain. Opportunities, the control ability of finger muscles will also be improved accordingly
Over time, the information processing capabilities of the left and right brains will be greatly strengthened, the reaction ability will be improved, and the fingers will be more flexible. Regular practice will improve the performance of both hands and Body coordination. When reading music and sight-reading at the same time, concentration will also increase accordingly. As concentration improves, memory ability will also increase. In addition, when the piano makes a sound, the ears transmit the sound signal to the brain. The brain needs to make quick judgments on whether the sound is correct, whether the volume is appropriate, whether the length of the notes meets the requirements of the music score, etc., so while practicing the accordion, It also makes the synchronous reaction ability of the eyes, brain, fingers and upper limb muscles gradually become faster, and the speed of thinking also accelerates. As the level deepens, the expressive ability, imagination and expression ability will be correspondingly enriched.
The development and classification of the accordion
The accordion is a live reed instrument. It is formed based on the pronunciation principle of Chinese sheng reed.
In the second half of the 18th century, the Chinese sheng was introduced to Europe, and then some predecessor instruments of the accordion began to appear in Europe, but most of them were eliminated before they took shape. The real hand-operated organ was created by the German Friedrdch Buschman (1805-1864) in 1822, and was later developed by the Austrian Cyrillus Demian (cyrillus Demian 1772-1847) in Buschman's piano. On the basis of this, he successfully improved and created the world's first accordion named Accordion by integrating the various predecessor instruments of the accordion at that time. To this day, the name Accordion is still used in Europe and America.
There are many types and specifications of accordions. In terms of structure and shape, they can be roughly divided into four categories, namely diatonic accordions, chromatic accordions, button accordions and keyboard accordions.
The structure of the diatonic accordion is very simple, which is equivalent to adding a bellows to the harmonica; there are a dozen keys on the right hand part for playing tunes, and two chord keys on the left hand part for accompaniment; on the same key button , the push-pull bellows emits two tones of different heights (similar to the pronunciation of the harmonica); there is no strap on the instrument, and the instrument is completely supported by both hands; the biggest disadvantage of the diatonic accordion is that it cannot change the key. If the key is changed, another instrument needs to be played.
The chromatic accordion first brings convenience to modulation; the number of keys on the left and right parts has increased, and the push-pull bellows of this instrument have different articulation heights, so this instrument has a very wide range; chromatic scale The accordion also has no straps and is still played with both hands.
The button accordion (also known as the new chromatic accordion) is equipped with straps, which is a great liberation for the hands; in addition, the pronunciation of the bellows is highly consistent when pushing and pulling it, so that the bellows can be changed and used It also gained a lot of freedom; the number of buttons on the left hand part of the button accordion was greatly increased and the arrangement was quite scientific, so it is still used today.
Piano-type accordions began to appear in the 1960s
Since then, accordions have been divided into two categories: button-type and keyboard-type, and the two have developed in parallel. The structure of the left hand part of the keyboard accordion is exactly the same as that of the button accordion, except that the buttons on the right hand part are changed to a piano-style keyboard. Probably due to the piano, this improvement made the accordion, a European folk instrument, the most widely popular in the world.
Through the changes in the above-mentioned types of accordion structures, we can roughly see the main stages that the accordion has gone through in its development.
Today, button accordions are mainly popular in the Soviet Union and some Nordic countries. In other countries and regions, keyboard accordions are the most popular.
Since the creation of the accordion, there have been great and transformative developments in manufacturing technology, playing skills and professional accordion music creation. Today, the 185-bass high-end accordion produced by the West German Holland Instrument Factory has become a treasure that is admired, admired, and coveted by the international accordion community. The modern accordion can not only serve as an accompanist, soloist, participate in ensembles, ensembles, and concertos, but can also play alone the original works of large-scale musical works by classical music masters. With the continuous improvement of the accordion as an instrument and the rapid development of playing skills, professional music creation for the accordion has attracted the attention of many composers, and more and more works are written specifically for the accordion. In short, in more than a hundred years, the accordion has developed from its original prototype into the perfect and exquisite instrument it is now. The speed of its development is quite amazing and is rare in the history of musical instrument development.
The accordion is one of the most widely used musical instruments in the world. In contemporary times, the accordion occupies an extremely important position not only in the professional music scene, but also in popular music and cultural life. As early as 1931, Germany established a professional accordion school in Trossingen. In 1948 the school was changed to the State Accordion College. In the UK, the accordion is regarded as an indispensable and important tool for the development of music education. In 1936, the "British Accordion Players Academy" was established, which made important contributions to the development of the British music industry. It also made the UK one of the countries with the most prosperous accordion music creation and the richest documentation. Now the international music organization has established the International Accordion Association, and often holds international accordion competitions. Accordion departments have been established in some famous music schools in the West, and accordion majors are also established in some ordinary universities.
In the history of the world accordion, the development path of the Soviet accordion art is worth noting. As we all know, the accordion has long become a veritable Russian folk instrument in the Soviet Union. As early as the middle of the last century, shortly after the accordion was born, this new musical instrument spread to ancient Russia. The Russians' love for this imperfect instrument was expressed in a special way. They set off a wave of improvement and reconstruction of the accordion. For a time, various modified accordions appeared all over Russia, including Italian accordions, German accordions, multi-tuned accordions, double-row accordions, improved accordions, etc. These behaviors that may seem a bit too fanatical today are probably an important reason why the accordion can become a typical Russian folk instrument. Now, the Soviet Union can produce treble, alto, tenor, bass, and double bass accordions specifically for accordion bands, as well as accordions specifically for orchestras, as well as bassoons, tubas, bass tubas, and French horns. , trumpet, clarinet and other special tone accordion. The largest model of button accordion produced in the modern Soviet Union has a musical range from E1 in the big group to f 4 in the small group, covering all seventy-seven semitone levels, exceeding six octaves. This is also one of the few in the world of musical instruments.
The prosperity and development of the Russian accordion playing art, rooted in the living soil of Russian folk music, has also had a positive impact on professional accordion music creation. The great composers Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev both used the accordion in large orchestras. Nicholas Chaykin's sonatas for accordion and accordion concertos with orchestral accompaniment attracted the attention of the international accordion community. Currently, the accordion community in the Soviet Union is making unremitting efforts to secure a fixed seat for the accordion in the orchestra.
The accordion art in our country began to rise and develop after the founding of New China. From the early 1950s to the early 1970s, the accordion went through a long enlightenment stage in our country, and followed a unique route from the army to the local area, from the factory to the school, and from the city to the countryside. has gained extremely wide popularity. At the same time, various normal colleges at all levels and some music and art colleges have gradually opened compulsory, elective and major accordion courses. By the late 1970s, my country's accordion education and performance art had developed greatly. Accordion academic exchanges at home and abroad are increasing day by day, and the professional accordion playing team and teaching team are growing continuously.
In particular, the Beijing Accordion Professional Group of the Chinese Musicians Association was established in 1981, the National Accordion Academic Conference of Music and Art Colleges was held in 1983, the National Accordion Society of Higher Normal Colleges was established in 1984, and The establishment of the National Accordion Society in 1989 marked that the art of accordion playing in my country has entered a new stage, laying a good foundation for the prosperity and development of the accordion art.
With the prosperity of accordion art, my country's accordion manufacturing technology has also developed greatly from scratch. The three accordion factories in Tianjin, Shanghai and Yingkou have become an important foundation for accordion production in my country. Among them, Tianjin Accordion Factory and Shanghai Accordion Factory have successfully developed free bass advanced performance accordions with contemporary international advanced levels, and won the National Gold Medal and Silver Medal respectively.
However, compared with Western countries, our accordion art is still too young. Compared with the world's advanced level, we still have a certain gap. We are still blank in the basic theoretical research of the accordion. Professional accordion Music creation has just begun, and a higher-level accordion professional teaching system has not yet been formed, and the construction of complete and systematic teaching materials is an urgent problem that needs to be solved.
We believe that with the continued cooperation and efforts of the majority of accordion professionals and enthusiasts in our country, the flower of accordion art with Chinese national style characteristics will surely bloom more in our socialist garden. Fragrant and beautiful, the role of the accordion will also be fully utilized in developing my country's music industry, carrying out mass cultural and entertainment activities, and strengthening the construction of socialist spiritual civilization.
Basic Accordion Playing Skills
1. No need for visual touch.
As we all know, the keyboard plane direction of other keyboard instruments is upward. During performance, the accuracy and reliability of touch keys are provided by two kinds of touch senses of the human body: the first is visual touch, and the second is finger touch. The keyboard plane and key button plane of the accordion are different. They are facing away from the player and outward. It is generally required not to look at the keys during performance. Therefore, the accuracy and reliability of playing can only be provided by a touch feeling. That is, finger touch. This limited accuracy and reliability requires us to make sure to stick to the keys during performance, so as to improve the lack of touch provided by the human body during accordion playing. We know that many creatures in the world have poor visual sense or no sense of touch at all, but the unusual sensitivity of their other organs makes up for this innate deficiency. Such as the sense of smell of the nose, the sensitivity of the tentacles, the guidance of sonar, etc. Playing the accordion against the keys actually enhances the sensitivity of your fingertips.
2. The need for the influence of ground gravity.
When we touch keys on other keyboard instruments, the force of the fingers is exactly in the same direction as the gravity of the ground, and the gravity of the ground will not bias the fingers. When touching the keys on the accordion, the force of the fingers and the gravity of the ground are perpendicular to each other, so the gravity of the ground will have a biased influence on the fingers. certainly. Overcoming this biased influence mainly relies on self-regulation of arm strength. But if you play close to the keys, the friction between your fingers and the keyboard can also play a certain role in offsetting the influence of the ground's gravity. Improve the accuracy and reliability of accordion keystrokes.
3. The need to reduce the range of motion.
The structure of the accordion determines that its volume is not controlled by the strength of the right hand touching the keys, but by the bellows of the left hand. Therefore, any large finger movements are meaningless for volume control. Besides, compared with the hardness of other keyboard instruments, the hardness of the accordion keyboard is only slightly harder than that of the electronic keyboard, so it does not require a lot of force to press the keys. Moreover, the style of accordion playing should be light and gorgeous, and should not be cumbersome. If we play close to the keys, our fingers are closest to the keyboard, and we can press the keyboard with only a small movement. In this way, we can remove redundant movements that affect accuracy and reliability, and easily make the sound effect of the accordion feel light and gorgeous.