www.accordions.com Editor Rob Howard has written several fascinating books on the accordion. Any of them would be a wonderful holiday gift this year for an accordion lover.

Rob has written six books about the accordion. He is presently working on another book, “Accordion Anthology” which is a successor to all the previous books. The project is ongoing and he hopes to release it sometime in 2016.

Rob Howard began playing the accordion in 1968 while doing teacher training at Christ’s College, Liverpool. He has also played other instruments, including piano, guitar, harmonica, English concertina, and the bodhran.

He plays in the Stockport Accordion Band, does wartime sing-alongs at the Stockport Air Raid Shelters, ceilidhs with the band Fiddlesticks, and a variety solo gigs requiring an accordion.

He has previously played for Irish and Polish dancing teams, in a folk group, in a Bavarian Band, held a residency in an Italian restaurant, and appeared in the stage version of the BBC TV comedy show ‘Allo Allo’.

His books include: “Accordion, A Pictorial History”, “An A to Z of the Accordion” Volumes 1-4, and “Vintage Accordions”.

From www.musicforaccordion.com: “‘Accordion: A Pictorial History’ tells the story of the accordion, from its origins in the early 1800s up to the present day. The book is fully illustrated throughout with over 300 color photographs, each with information, plus several articles.

The articles include: What’s in a name?; Busson – first of the great accordion builders; Significant developments in the 19th Century; Concertinas; Pietro Frosini, Guido and Pietro Deiro – the Big Three of their era; The 1930s – The era of the accordion bands begins; The 1940s – Revisiting the Uniform keyboard; Italy, Hohner, and East Germany – the post-war era; Syd Lewis…and the end of an era (written by Steve Roxton); Recent Times; Helmi Harrington’s ‘A World of Accordions’ museum. 

Most of the pictures come from the huge Ken Hopkins collection in Northern Ireland, with others contributed by The Accordion Shop, Ron Bennett, Gary Blair, Tony Compton, Colin Ensor, Edwin Erickson (Canada), Skyler Fell (USA), Jean Hanger, Helmi Harrington (USA), Reza Hasani (Iran), Caroline Hunt, Roy Magna, Gordon Pattullo, Danielle Pauly (France), Barry Smith, Heather Smith, Bernard Wrigley, Alan Young, etc. 



This book is a sequel to “Vintage Accordions (2011)” and is similar in format, but adds much new information, and has different articles and photographs. “Accordion: A Pictorial History” is a high quality production, A4 sized hardback, and makes an ideal present for any accordion enthusiast!”

You can read more about each of the books by visiting the website and clicking on the photo of the book.


For information on ordering: robaccord5@hotmail.com