How does the accordion work?
The accordion is a free-reed instrument. It means the reed moves back and forth in a slot when air passes across it. The reed produces sound when air passes across it, setting it into vibration. In a free-reed instrument, each reed produces one pitch, depending on its length and thickness. Two distinct reeds are required for each key, one activated when the bellows are pulled, one when the bellows are pushed. A full-sized accordion can have as many as 448 reeds since there may be 4 reed-blocks for the right hand and 5 for the left. Read more...