Accordion education began with the appearance of the 1st accordion method in 1831 by Pichenot, which was released by a publishing house in Paris. Then another book and method was written by Mikhail I. Imhanitsky, Russian including more than 200 publications of methods and books, e.g. The art of accordion playing by Friedrich Lips, Einführung in die Komposition für Akkordeon by Hugo Hermann, The accordion in classical music by Helka Kymalainen, Book of Accordionists by Akim Basurmanov and Repertoire lists for accordion by the RIM in Utrecht.
The accordion also became the number one instrument among the people in many countries. The accordion became extremely popular, especially in the Balkan countries, Russia, France, Italy and Germany. The accordion became a furore in America in the 1920s. Famous people who became accordion enthusiasts and played the accordion include: Elvis Presley, Richard Nixon, John Lenon, Charlie Chaplin, James Stewart, Weird Al Yancovik, Paul Simon, Duke Ellington, Cheryl Crow, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire, Clint Eastwood, Connie Francis and Grace Jones. Inspired by the instrument, well-known composers also started writing for the accordion, such as Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky (in 1883 for the diatonic accordion), Paul Hindemith (in 1921 for the chromatic accordion), Alban Berg, Charles Ives, Serge Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich, Darius Mihaud, Sofia Gubaidulina, Toshio Hosokawa, Ole Schmidt, Jacob ter Veldhuis and Wladislaw Solotarjow.
In this short sketch it is also important to mention that there was an accordionist and very inspiring teacher active in the Scandinavian countries, namely Mogens Ellegaard, who contributed a lot to inspiring Scandinavian composers to write new compositions for the accordion, including Ole Schmidt and Vagn Holmboe. The Russian bayanist and teacher Friedrich Lips collaborated with composers such as Wladislaw Solotarjow and Sofia Gubaidulina.
Very inspiring and probably the most successful accordionists of all time are: Richard Galliano, Art van Damme, Charles Magnante, Johnny Meijer, Friedrich Lips, Viatcheslav Semionov, Mogens Elegaard, Jerome Richard, Alexander Poeluev, Peter Soave, Ludovic Beier, Kimmo Pohjonen, Gisela Walther , Helka Kymalainen and Maria Kalaniemi.
Composer and bandoneonist Astor Piazzolla did not play the accordion but his music, tango nuevo, was played by accordionists all over the world. Between 1920 and 1950, the doors of music schools in many countries opened to accordion students. It was mainly training courses in Russia, France, Italy, Germany, Scandinavian and Balkan countries that took the lead.
From 1970 onwards, a new generation of accordion teachers emerged who set the tone for the development of accordion education, such as Matti Rantanen at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Frédéric Deschamps at the Paris Conservatoire, Ivan Koval at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in Weimar, Teodoro Anzellotti in the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Biel, James Crabb and Geir Draugsvoll in the Royal Danish Music Conservatory in Copenhagen, Professor Owen Murray in the Royal Academy of Music in London, Friedrich Lips in Gnesin Music Academy in Moscow and Vasovic Vojin in the Secondary Music Academy in Kragujevac. Typical accordion sounds and features developed in the 1970s: Vibrato with right hand, vibrato with left hand, bellows shake, ricochet, cluster, tone glissando, cluster glissando, a finger tone shaping technique in both hands, and bellows sound.
In addition to the development of accordion training, there are also many accordion organizations, museums and shops around the world, such as the Confederation Internationale des Accordéonistes, Center for the Study of Free-Reed Instruments, Finnish Accordion Institute, Intermusik from Kamen, Klank and Novam in the Netherlands, American Accordionists’ Association, Musée de l’Accordéon in Siran in Auvergne, Mirek Russian Accordion Museum, International Accordion Museum in Castelfidardo, Italy, Muziekhuis Gert Nijkamp in Apeldoorn and finally Music Unlimited in Zwolle.
