The accordion is a European invention of the early 19th century that used free reeds driven by bellows. The basic form is believed to have been invented in Berlin in 1822 and an instrument called the ‘accordion’ was first patented in 1829 by Cyrill Demian in Vienna. It bore little resemblance to the modern instrument, as it only had a left hand button-board with the right hand operating the bellows. Further innovations have followed with various button-board, keyboard systems and with different methods of internal construction to improve tone, stability and durability.

The accordion’s popularity spread rapidly and has been associated with the common people and was spread by Europeans who emigrated around the world. The accordion in both button and piano forms became a favourite of folk musicians and has been integrated into traditional music styles all over the world.

The accordion appeared in popular music from the 1900’s until around 1960 and this is often called the ‘Golden Age of The Accordion’. During the Great Depression theatres closed but the accordion was often heard on the radio and the accordion later received great exposure on the television. In the late 1950’s and early 1960’s the accordion declined in popularity.

The accordion has been traditionally used to perform folk or ethnic music, popular music and transcriptions from the operatic and light classical music repertoire. Today the instrument is sometimes heard in contemporary pop styles such as rock.