Accordion Vignette
Video
Oral History Information
Accordions make a sound when the bellows are expanded or compressed with air, while pressing keys causing the pallets to open. The air moves across the strips of reeds, allowing them to vibrate. Often people associate the accordion with polka-type music, but really they can be heard in a variety of genres. A few that come to mind are jazz, classical, popular, folk, and dance-pop. Listen to Art Van Damme (1920-2010), Dick Contino, Larry Larson (1933-2016), Weird Al Yankovic, and Harry Osiecki (1928-2015) talk a little bit about the accordion.
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