Types of accordions, or, What is the difference between lame and turtle?

The accordion is one of the favorite musical instruments of the Russian people. It is believed that the very first accordion was invented in Germany, but the Germans themselves are confident in the Russian origin of this keyboard-pneumatic instrument. In this article we will look at some types of accordions that are popular in our country.

Khromka: will it be possible to play a chromatic scale on it?

It is with lameness that many Russians associate the word “accordion”. Some “savvy” people from a musical point of view are surprised by one fact: the sound range of the harmonica is based on the major scale, while the harmonica is called chromatic. You can’t play all the flats or sharps on it, but there are still 3 semitones in the upper right corner of the keyboard.

There are several varieties of khromka, the most famous of which are Nizhny Novgorod khromka, Kirillovskaya khromka and Vyatka khromka. They all have the same design, but each of these varieties has its own, unique sound. Therefore, they are very easy to distinguish by ear.

Tula single-row: it turns out that the sound is not the same when the bellows are stretched and compressed…

If we take all the types of accordions that exist today, the Tula single-row one clearly stands out from the general series; it is everyone’s favorite folk instrument. The sound capabilities of most harmonicas are determined by the intervallic structure of the scale, but in the case of “Guest from Tula” the determining factor is the correlation with the movement of the bellows.

The Tula single-row keyboard has many varieties, the main difference between each of them is the number of buttons on the right- and left-handed keyboard. The most popular option is considered to be an accordion with 7 buttons on the right-hand keyboard and 2 buttons on the left-hand keyboard.

Yelets accordion: accordion-semi-accordion?

Some types of accordions are not such “in their pure form”; one example of such an instrument is the Yelets accordion. It cannot be called a “purebred” accordion, since it is considered the direct ancestor of the accordion. The right keyboard of the instrument has flats and sharps, that is, the full chromatic scale. The left keyboard can be called a remote neck with chords and bass keys.

Over the entire period of its development, and the first Yelets accordion appeared back in the 19th century, its functional part and appearance changed. But one thing has always remained the same – excellent musical and technical capabilities.

Turtle: for lovers of small accordions

The main feature of the tool is its compact size. The first versions of the Turtle had no more than 7 keys, the range of more modern options has increased due to the expansion of the keyboard to 10 keys. The structure of the accordion is diatonic; when the bellows are compressed and unclenched, different sounds are produced.

There are several varieties of Turtle: “with four keys”, “Nevsky Turtle” and “Warsaw Turtle”. The last option is considered the most modern; all the keys corresponding to the reeds and melodies have been moved from the left keyboard to the right one.

These and other types of accordions, such as the Russian “vena”, talyanka, Pskov rezukha and others, were, are and remain the favorite instruments of Russian residents, despite the fact that more than 150 years have passed since the appearance of accordions!