Mission

Perpetuate our Knowledge, Skills and Talents of the Diatonic Accordion

Promote Slovene and other Balkan Music

Perform at Various Public and Private Events

Host the Far West Button Accordion Jamboree

Support the SNPJ Joe Umeck Scholarship Fund

History

The diatonic accordion was developed in Germany in the middle years of the 19th century, taking on pretty much its modern form in the 1890's. The development of a range of harmonica-type instruments and the concertina from the 1820s onwards clearly played a part in the development of the button box, which became one of the most popular instruments in the world in the early 20th century.

The early instruments had only one row of buttons on the treble (right hand) side, and two bass buttons or levers, giving two bass note/chord combinations - one when the bellows were pushed closed and another when they were pulled open. By the 1900s instruments with more than one row of treble buttons appeared, giving access to a wider range of keys, and the bass accompaniment was also expanded by the addition of more buttons. By the 1920s, instruments with up to five rows on the treble side, and a piano-accordion style bass system had appeared. Early boxes were fragile, with brass reeds which went out of tune easily and a mechanism prone to breaking. They were however quite cheap, which led to huge numbers being produced in Germany and Italy, and sold around the world.