Musical instruments have always demanded a lot of time, practice and mastery. A lot of people have practically given up their dreams of being successful musicians just because of the technicalities involved in playing most instruments. Fortunately, there is a musical instrument available that you can easily master without much practice and dramatic episodes of frustration. You can make yourself an accordion and see how easy it is to make good music.

Basic Accordion Info

An accordion is a cross between a wind and keyboard instrument. It has a keyboard on one side, which resembles a tiny organ, and on the opposite side are buttons that regulate the air intake of the instrument. At the middle, there are rubber bellows that capture air. The air resonates the bellows and makes the instrument produce musical chords, as the keys manipulate the air openings of the accordion.

The instrument may seem too complex to create but in truth, you just need to put together the parts with a little carpentry. The best part is some of the parts can be substituted with readily available items such as paper and plastic.

Materials Used:

• parchment paper (1 x 1 meter)
• plywood (2 x 2 meters)
• rubber lining
• 22 white plastic pegs (finger length)
• 15 black plastic pegs (2/3’s the length of the white plastic pegs)
• 96 black closed buttons
• 96 tiny springs (for the buttons)
• 96 plastic pegs (for the buttons)
• 2 used leather belts
• cutter
• super glue
• mechanical drill
• 51 thin metal strips (for the keys)
• screws
• box of nuts and bolts
• handsaw
• hammer
• chisel
• short nails
• paint
• paintbrush
• laminating plastic
• pencil

Picking Paper

The accordion is composed of a lot of materials, which is why you have to devote at least one whole day to shopping for materials. You can get parchment paper from a bookstore or an art store. Just ask the salesperson for parchment paper and they will show you quite a collection. Pick the sturdiest among the bunch and do not worry about the color of the paper, since you will be painting the paper later to suit the style of your accordion.

Wood, Straps and the Rest of the Materials

When you have secured the paper, go to a lumber shop and purchase plywood. If you have old wooden items such as cabinets, tables or cupboards in your home’s storage room, you can just use those items for the wood requirements of the accordion. You can also utilize used leather belts for the instrument’s makeshift straps.

Now, you can proceed to a music store to purchase the keyboard keys (white and black plastic pegs) and the buttons of your accordion. If you have an old and unused organ at home, you can simply get the keyboard and shorten the keys with a handsaw. Once you have the materials for the keyboard, head to a hardware store to purchase the rest of the materials and tools.

The Accordion’s Frame

Grab a pencil and outline the frame of your accordion on a sheet of plywood. Draw rectangles that represent the different sides of your accordion and rectangular frames for the inner surface of each side. When you have sketched your accordion, grab your handsaw and cut the plywood in accordance to your outline. You will have two frames and two wooden rectangles. Cover the frames with rubber lining then nail them to the wooden rectangles.

The Keyboard Side

Use your hammer and chisel to create openings and grooves on one of the wooden rectangles so that you can fit the plastic keys. Affix 44 metal strips to the inner surface with your drill and screws so that the keys of your keyboard will have air pockets. Once done, mold the shapes of your keys with your chisel. You can check the Internet for pictures of organs and accordions as reference. When the keys are ready, connect them to the openings and grooves provided.

The Button Side

Get the other wooden rectangle and bore 96 holes at the middle with your mechanical drill. The holes should be distributed in rows of six to make the playing more convenient for you. Once done, get all the buttons and affix a tiny plastic peg to each. You can bore a tiny hole for each button, fit the plastic pegs then reinforce the connection with super glue. When the glue dries, insert a tiny spring to each peg, then affix the pegs to the 96 holes on the wooden rectangle. Screw the remaining metal strips to the inner surface of the rectangle so that all 96 buttons will have air openings.

Paper Bellows

Normally, an accordion uses rubber for its set of bellows but that would be too pricey. You can instead use parchment paper as a worthy substitute for rubber. Get the strip of parchment paper and cut it according to the size of the wooden rectangles. Once done, fold the paper to create 15 equally-sized bellows. Use a cutter to manipulate the size and shape of your rubber lining so that it could fit each bellow.

When the linings are ready, attach the linings to the bellows so that the bellows will maintain their shape despite long hours of playing. Remember that the shape of each bellow plays a big factor in the sound that your accordion produces so you should be very precise with this step.

Put Your Accordion Together

With the keyboard, paper bellows, and the buttons ready; your next step is to put them all together to form your accordion. Use your mechanical drill to bore holes on the keyboard side and the first paper bellow, then connect them with your set of nuts and bolts. Do the same for the button side and last paper bellow. Once connected, paint the rectangles and the bellows to make your accordion look pleasing. Your new accordion will be ready when the paint dries.

The accordion is your quick ticket to making music. You can impress bystanders if you play in a park or a few music bars. Who knows, you might become the Eric Clapton of accordions once you get to compose your own accordion symphonies.