Some thoughts on modified accordions.

Every accordion is a modified accordion.  I rarely see two that are alike.  Diversity is the norm for us, not the exception.  Despite this great asset, there are many opinions on the usefulness, risks and even ethics of modifying the accordion.  The finest players in the world are modifying their accordions all the time.  So, the issue isn't whether to modify the accordion, it is how and how much.  I don't think there's much to be gained from those debates because I think that all approaches have their merits and their place, since good players make good music on all of them. I think there's room for many styles of instruments and many styles of playing.  To paraphrase an eminent accordion pedagogue, "We're beyond systems".  Another renowned artist has published his opinion that the accordion's manuals can not be said to be ideally constructed for the human anatomy.  Moreover, if it is nothing else, the accordion is diverse.  Thus, it is to be hoped that we are beyond espousing any particular design as "the accordion" and embrace our diversity while staying open to improvements.  

I remember in the USA in the 1970s, many good people who loved the accordion were concerned about chromatic button accordions. This was an old issue already at that time.  Anyway, the young players, such as myself, all played piano accordion but we were seeing button accordions at the world competitions, and the button players were winning.  They were also playing pieces that couldn't be played on piano accordion and some had the same system in both hands.  Back home in the US, though, people were concerned about confusing the public and the composers. They thought the button accordion looked too "foreign".  So, there was a lot of resistance to switching students to button accordions. There was concern that players who switched to button wouldn't be able to make a living and that the public wouldn't accept the strange-looking instruments. In time, many of the more serious accordionists did switch to button. And everything was all right and none of these fears came true.

The same issue arose surrounding chin switches.  Chin switches were slow to catch on in America because they were different.  It was difficult to assess them impartially, based on their musical usefulness, because some people thought the players might look like monkeys with their heads bobbing up and down.  Today, players use chin switches tastefully and the music benefits.  They are now as accepted as toe studs are by organists.

It's normal to fear change, but my experience has shown that there is nothing to fear. Musical values will prevail and those things that assist in making music, such as chin switches and chromatic button keyboards, will be welcomed and will seem normal after a short time. If an idea is without merit, it will simply go away. And, of course, there is room for many different approaches simultaneously. The guitar is a great example of a very successful instrument that is very diverse. Its diversity is an asset and allows the guitar to appeal to a wide variety of musicians and listeners. The accordion is the same way with diatonic, chromatic, piano accordion, bandoneon, bayan, etc. all filling different needs among musicians who love the accordion.

The current bayan design is very playable and, if the player is relaxed and flexible when playing, it can obviously be played very well. There is no question that great music can be made without using the left thumb or changing the keyboard angles. Even so, the current state of affairs is a bit like the state of keyboard technique in 1600.  The thumb was considered "vulgar" and rarely used. Once, however, Bach and Beethoven and others wrote great music that required the use of the thumb, everyone's attitude changed and now we smile at the notion of not using the thumb on the piano, organ or harpsichord.  Another example:  for a time, organists avoided using their heels.  Lemmens proposed modifying the pedalboard (the radial concave design that is now the AGO standard) in the 19th century.  It took awhile, but now radial concave pedalboards are the norm, although there are many straight pedalboards still made.  Neither is "better" and both are still part of "the organ".  The public and composers barely notice at all.  The una corda and sostenuto pedals on the piano went through similar acceptance processes.

The right hand keyboard of the accordion went through the same psychological issues in the 20th century. Many, many players hardly used the right thumb at all (mainly on button accordions). Then, as more music was written that required it, gradually players' technique (and attitudes) adapted to using the thumb. Accordion educators now laugh at the idea of not using the right thumb.  Even with this experience, we are still going through the same slow acceptance, this time with the left thumb. It seems only a matter of time that we will look back on this time also and wonder why we ever would have been reluctant to using the left thumb or terracing the left hand keyboard.

It is simplistic to think that instruments other than the accordion are somehow static and unchanging.  They, too, went through their rapid development phases and today their evolution continues. Innovation is common to all instruments and endeavors.  The accordion has matured but that doesn't mean that it has stopped growing.  As a successful accordion maker said, "The accordion never finishes."