the clarinet with specific events
The clarinet was often specifically chosen by clients and in some cases associated with clear events, such as an activity involving walking around the room. Clients and relatives took pride in this definite choice. In one case the clarinettist was able to link into the child’s past interest in becoming a soldier by marching around the room playing the clarinet. In another case the client had a particular preference for a famous piece of clarinet music, which the therapist was able to explore in the session.
Accompanying breathing or breathy sounds
This was mentioned as a special feature of the clarinet, enabling the clarinettist to follow the client’s breathing and use a combination of breathy clarinet tones and vocalisations to play with clients with very limited abilities.
Eliciting responses through special effects
Playing with the mouthpiece on its own, glissandi, bending notes and squeaks were all mentioned as ways to surprise, engage or be humorous.
Characteristic tone colour of the clarinet
The fact that the clarinet has a very distinct sound allows music therapists to accompany chaotic synthesiser music or weave a melodic line under a sung melody. One music therapist wondered whether the distinct clarinet sound made it easier for children with a weak sense of self to distinguish between themselves and the therapist. The specific clarinet sound was also used as a contrast to the violin sound in a music therapy group to encourage children to listen, and follow either one or the other.
References
Oldfield, A. (2006a) Interactive Music Therapy, A Positive Approach to Melody. London, UK: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Oldfield, A. (2006b) Interactive Music Therapy in Child and Family Psychiatry – Clinical Practice, Research and Teaching. London, UK: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Rogers, C. (1957) ‘The Necessary and Sufficient Conditions of Therapeutic Personality Change.’ Journal of Consulting Psychology 21, 2, 95–103.
Salkeld, C. (2008) ‘Music Therapy after Adoption: The Role of Family Therapy in Developing Secure Attachments in Adopted Children.’ In A. Oldfield and C. Flower (eds) Music Therapy with Children and Their Families. London, UK: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Stern, D. (1985) The Interpersonal World of the Infant. New York, NY: Basic Books.
CHAPTER 2
The Piano Accordion
Contributors: Susan Greenhalgh, Dawn Loombe
(introduction and case vignettes – these case vignettes
also include case material by Harriet Powell,
Bert Santilly and Michael Ward-Bergeman)
Introduction
Accordions and their close relatives, the harmonica, melodeon, concertina and bandoneon are all descendants of the Chinese sheng – an ancient mouth-blown free-reed instrument consisting essentially of vertical pipes and dating from around 2700 BC.
Early accordions first appeared in Europe in the 1820s and in the USA slightly later in the 19th century, though there are conflicting accounts as to exactly where, when and by whom the original accordions were built. The first accordions to arrive in Britain were actually melodeons (button accordions, each button producing two different notes on the push and pull of the bellows) and were used by music hall performers, Scottish folk musicians and later by English Morris dance musicians.
Accordions with piano keyboards were developed in 1852 by Parisian Jacques Bouton and by the beginning of the 20th century the accordion’s bass keyboard had been developed sufficiently to provide accompaniments in all keys. These relatively new piano accordions gained popularity in the UK from the late 1920s, when they began to be imported from Italy and introduced into dance bands to produce more authentic-sounding tangos. Pianist George Scott-Wood imported a piano accordion from Italy in 1927 and became Britain’s first professional accordion player. The 1920s and ’30s also saw the rapid expansion of cinema, with accompanying organ entertainment – usually on a Wurlitzer or Compton organ – and ‘the arrival of the piano accordion in Britain’s music stores in large quantities from 1927 onwards…allowed the possibility of owning and playing what was virtually a small-scale theatre organ capable of playing all the popular songs and tunes of the time’ (Howard 2005, p.16).
However, from the mid-1950s the accordion’s popularity began to slump and it quickly became a very unfashionable instrument. Rock and roll music had introduced the guitar to popular culture, and the guitar was ‘cool’, relatively inexpensive (especially compared to the accordion), accessible and easy to play; learning to strum a few simple chords allowed the playing of many pop songs of the day. Young people were keen to emulate admired guitar heroes and a different kind of pop music emerged. At the same time, there was a general decline in the popularity of variety shows, and the accordion became very passé, generally an object of ridicule in the world of music.
In recent years, though, the accordion has seen a rebirth of interest, with an increasing prevalence in pop and rock music, television themes, advertisements and film scores, as well as becoming a more accepted instrument in the classical world. In addition, the interest in World music has provided new and eclectic styles of accordion music, which have brought new audiences to the accordion.1 The resurgence of ballroom and Latin dancing, particularly from television series such as Strictly Come Dancing, has raised awareness of traditional dance styles and also the use of the accordion for tangos, waltzes and polkas.
In the classical world, works have been written for the accordion by Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Shostakovich, and the music of Bach and Scarlatti along with many others has been transcribed for the modern accordion. Increasingly, composers are writing classical music for the accordion and including accordion parts in orchestral scores and group compositions.
For the purposes of this chapter, accordion refers to the piano accordion. The accordion is defined as a hand-held free-reed aerophone, in which the sound is produced by tempered steel reeds that vibrate when air is forced through them by a set of bellows. On one side of the bellows there are rows of buttons or a keyboard on which the melody is played, while on the other side there are buttons for the bass notes and chords (Wade-Matthews and Thompson 2002).
The accordion is held close to the player’s chest, supported by means of straps. The accordionist’s right hand plays a piano keyboard, usually (but not always) the melody. The left hand plays a series of buttons producing single bass notes, chords or a combination of single notes and chords, usually a bass accompaniment.
Most people are aware that there are rock, classical, Western, jazz and folk-style guitars but few realise that there are at least as many types of accordions. Just like the guitar, accordions are built for different styles of music and have a variety of temperaments or tuning schemes.
Accordions are usually classified by the number of bass buttons they have, ranging in size from small, simple 8- or 12-bass instruments to complex accordions of 120 basses or more.
Figure 2.1 The piano accordion
In addition, most accordions have switches or couplers that allow the
