An Experienced Accordionist Explains Why There Are So Many Buttons on the Instrument

British accordion expert Leslie Thompson gave a really wonderful explanation about the instrument, specifically why there’s such a large range of bass buttons available. Being that the number of reeds are the same whether there are 48 or 120 buttons, its the size of the keyboard that dictates the size of the accordion.

The weight of an instrument largely depends on the size of the keyboard – that dictates the size of the body, that’s where most of the weight is. The buttons themselves weigh very little, and there is minimal weight difference between a 48 bass mechanism and 120 bass as there are the same number of reeds and most of the linkage system is the same.