Propelled by the Industrial Revolution, manufacturing of the accordion quickly spread in Europe.

In the year 1828, the accordion was introduced from Germany to Britain initially, it was not viewed favorably by the British audience, nevertheless, it soon became quite popular. The first instrument named accordion was patented by the Austrian-Armenian inventor Cyrill Demian in Vienna however, unlike the modern versions that are popularly used now, this accordion only had buttons, rather than a keyboard and the right hand operated the bellows. Russian researchers claim the earliest simple accordion was first made by Timofey Vorontsov in Tule in 1820 and Ivan Sizov in 1830. The contemporary form of the accordion is believed to be first created by Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann in Berlin in 1822 however, there is some dispute about that. The instrument was called “sheng” and looked like a mouth pipe organ. 'And when I play it, even my blood gets hot.The accordion originated from free-reed instruments, the first of which is believed to be created in China sometime in the 2 nd millennium BC. 'Merengue is a very warm type of music, like the Caribbean,' La India Canela says. One of her most popular songs is 'Aprietame Asi,' which in both Spanish and English is a delightful play on words: 'Squeeze Me Like That.' In NPR's Studio 4A, she performed her original song solo.Īs the song ended, Seabrook commented on the percussiveness of the accordion, and how it almost suggests rhythm. 'Oh, yeah, I believe I came from my mother's womb with that inspiration,' La India Canela responds, laughing. Host Andrea Seabrook asks, 'So you come with that inspiration?' 'There is no formal education for an accordionist.' 'Accordion is very profound, and you feel it probably from the moment you are in your mother's womb,' she says. La India Canela performs in the more traditional style, which was updated when Germans came to the country and brought the accordion. Most merengue music heard on mainstream Latin stations today is of the pop variety - glossy and major-label-driven. When La India Canela began to play clubs in Santiago at the age of 15, she decided to build up her repertoire by including pieces typically performed by men. At the time, only two other women in the Dominican Republic played the instrument.

Her biggest challenge, however, involved overcoming the stigma of the accordion as an instrument for men. Then, when saxophonist Juan de Dios discovered her, it became another ordeal to convince her father to let her perform in the city. So, like many children driven by artistic passion, she practiced in secret. First, her father didn't want her to play the accordion, because it was not something girls do. Three things got in the way of La India Canela's success right off the bat. Now, Smithsonian Folkways has released her album, Merengue Tipico from the Dominican Republic, in the U.S. The accordionist has won the Dominican Republic's highest prize in the arts (the Casandra) twice and is famous country-wide for her hit dance songs. La India Canela.'' The name translates to 'The Cinnamon Indian' - 'Indian' for her color and 'Cinnamon' for her flavor. Her original songs have her home country of the Dominican Republic dancing.īorn Lidia Maria Hernandez Lopez, she once met a radio host who looked at the young musician and said, 'Your name is 'La India. The fleet fingers of accordion player La India Canela stand out in the world of merengue music.

Chromatic accordion