7/26/2023 0 Comments Chromatic button accordion![]() ![]() The chromatic accordion, although it exists in all sizes, is generally more imposing and heavier. The diatonic accordion has the advantage of being smaller and lighter, ideal for frequent travellers! You can also find many models with more notes and options to enrich your sound and your repertoire in a relatively tight budget. The diatonic accordion can be found in most traditional music festivals. As a result, the diatonic accordion is often associated with more traditional music and sounds such as Breton or folk music. The diatonic accordion being smaller, it is the instrument destined for travel and it is the image of the accordion that is found in the popular imagery of sailors. The mechanical difference may seem slight, but it is of crucial importance in the demarcation of the repertoire of the two instruments. ![]() More simply by comparing with a piano, a chromatic accordion will be able to play with all the keys while the diatonic accordion will only play with the white keys.Ī physical difference to be taken into account If it is in C, for example, it can only play the notes of the C scale. This means that the chromatic accordion has the twelve notes of the chromatic scale, while the diatonic accordion only plays the notes of its key. The other major difference between the diatonic accordion and the chromatic accordion is in the harmonic structure of the instrument. On the other hand, on a diatonic accordion, these two blades are generally different and the sound will be different when pulling or pushing the bellows!įor this reason, when you look at a diatonic accordion versus a chromatic accordion, the diatonic actually has twice as many notes as buttons, while the chromatic has as many buttons as notes, and often even more buttons than notes! A note can be played by several different buttons. On a chromatic accordion, these two blades are identical and the sound produced is therefore the same whether you pull or push the bellows. One vibrates when the air enters the instrument by opening the bellows and the other when it leaves by closing the bellows. The mechanical difference between diatonic and chromatic accordions is simply under the valves, at the level of the blades. ![]() The principle is the same as that of the harmonica, except that here there is no need to blow into the instrument, it is the bellows that do the work. The air that can then pass under the valves opened by the previously activated buttons will vibrate the steel blades that will then produce a unique sound, that of the accordion. Indeed, the accordion, under its very mechanical aspect, is basically a wind instrument. ![]() The accordionist, in order to produce a sound, must activate the bellows at the same time. Each button activates a valve that opens or closes the air flow that will make the reeds vibrate and create the sound. The right keyboard is most often used for the melody while the left keyboard is used for the accompaniment by producing basses or harmonies that accompany the melody. In order to produce a sound, the accordionist presses a button on the right or left keyboard. Roughly speaking, the accordion can be divided into three large mechanisms working together, a keyboard on the right, a keyboard on the left and a bellows in the middle. If you are discovering the accordion, by simple curiosity or if you are thinking of starting it but you don't know what to choose, this article is made for you!įirst of all, let's remind ourselves of the way an accordion is built, absolutely necessary to understand the difference between diatonic and chromatic accordions. This is a trivial question for any accordionist but nevertheless, when you discover the accordion, it is easy to get lost in all this jargon. While talking to many people around us who didn't know much about the accordion we realised that the question that came up most often for musicians curious to know more was the difference between a diatonic accordion and a chromatic accordion. ![]()
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