Instrument Quiz
Accordion
Sounding big with its bellows, you take on the whole accompaniment for singing and dancing, all on your own.
The accordion makes sound by pushing and pulling bellows to send air through thin metal strips inside, called reeds, which vibrate. For its size it's loud, and it carries a long way even in a town square or the middle of a crowd. You express yourself — your voice and your actions — in a way that clearly reaches the people around you.
You can play the melody with your right hand, but the accordion's real strength is that a single button under the left hand sounds a bass note or a whole chord. Thanks to that left hand, one player can cover the entire accompaniment for singing or dancing. You, too, often take on a supporting role all by yourself, without waiting for a big group to get organized.
Because you can sling it over your shoulder and carry it, the accordion goes anywhere. But with its loud sound and generous chords, it can crowd the sound when it plays with other instruments. Just as you'd ease off on the bellows, try turning your own volume down a notch when you team up with people, and their melody will come through.
Strengths
- Before anyone asks, you can lend a hand in a way that fits what they want to do
- Even on your own, once an idea strikes, you can head out and get moving right away
- Even somewhere noisy, you speak in a voice that's easy to hear
Where you may stumble
- You take on a supporting role so loudly that you end up taking the other person's moment too
- You take on requests so easily that your own schedule fills up
- When you team up with someone, your way and theirs overlap, and it throws you
Sounds familiar, Accordion?
- You've started helping with someone's task before anyone asked
- Even carrying a big pack on your back, you walk as if you're traveling light
- When someone starts singing, you're clapping along right away
Where you shine
When a big gathering needs warming up, when someone has just started something, when extra hands are suddenly needed.
Tips for “Accordion”
- Before you help, ask once: “Which part should I help with?”
- While the other person is talking, keep your “uh-huh”s one notch quieter
- Put time for yourself into your schedule, just as you do with helping out
Matches
See every match in the Instrument Quiz compatibility chart →
Ocarina — Because an accordion's volume can be adjusted by how you work the bellows, it can lay down an accompaniment to match the Ocarina's small sound. Both are portable, so they can easily team up wherever they go.
Tuba — In dance music like the polka, accordion and tuba often play together. When the Tuba takes the bass, the Accordion can focus on keeping the chords going.
Piano — Both can play melody and chords, so when they play together, their parts easily overlap. Unless they decide up front which one will play the accompaniment, they tend to clash.
Close neighbors
These differ from this one on just 1 of the 3 axes. If one of your axes was near the middle, you may have their side too.
Which one are you? 18 everyday situations, about 3 minutes.
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