Google Doodle celebrates the anniversary of Accordion’s 1829 patent | Lifestyle

The Google Doodle celebrates the anniversary of the Accordion patented on May 23, 1829. The name of the instrument comes from the German word, “akkord”, which means chord.

The Doodle pays tribute to the free-reed instrument with bellows. Accordion impacts different music genres like jazz, pop, folk and classical. The versatile instrument left a lasting impact on the music industry.

Speaking about the history of the Accordion , the Google Doodle mentions that throughout the late 1800s, manufacturers in Germany increased their production of the accordion as its popularity was growing among folk musicians across Europe.

Initially, accordions came with buttons on just one side. However, each button creates the sound of the entire chord. Another impressive feature of this musical instrument is that it produces two chords with the same button; when the bellows expand and another when the bellows contract.

The Google Doodle also added that as Europeans migrated globally, the accordion’s presence in music also grew.

Google also informed that the instrument has gained popularity over the years and it was played in different types of music like cajun music, folk music, and others.

Today, the instrument can be heard in folk music, the tango, cajun music, folk music, the Latino polka and more. One event that the accordion is always present at is Oktoberfest. The lively festival is full of carnival music, fun and traditional clothing such as Dirndl dresses and lederhosen.

The Google Doodle further adds that with the melody maker in hand, “everything goes accordion to plan!” The traditional sound continues to influence German celebrations and music all over the world 200 years later.

Accordion History

The basic form of accordion is believed to have been invented by Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann in Berlin in 1822.

The earliest accordion history is poorly documented in Russia. Russian researchers claim that earlier known simple accordions were made by Ivan Sizov and Timofey Vorontsov in Tula, Russia, in 1830. The instrument had already become popular by the end of the 1840s. The factories of two masters were producing around 10,000 instruments in a year. The number surged significantly over the year and by 1874, the yearly production was over 7,00,000.

First Published: May 23 2024 | 11:41 AM IS