History of the 8-bass Sanfona and Forró

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Sanfona de 8 baixos
8-bass accordion

The accordion, also popularly called accordion and harmonica, is an aerophone musical instrument of German origin, made up of a bellows, free reeds and two wooden harmonic boxes.

The 8-bass accordion is one of the founding instruments of forró, being the instrument that marked Luiz Gonzaga’s childhood and the basis of the northeastern accordion style.

According to musicologist Batista Siqueira from Paraíba, the 8-bass accordion replaced the wire guitar and became the main solo instrument at rural dances in the Northeast at the turn of the 20th century.

In this region, this small accordion of Viennese origin, made up of twenty-one buttons for the right hand and eight buttons for the left hand, would be better known as ‘harmonica de oito baixos’ , fole de oito baixos’, ‘pé de bode’ , ‘concertina’ or simply ‘fole’.

According to Luiz Gonzaga, his father, Januário, ‘had two skills: he played the bacamarte and the accordion, to entertain the cabroeira on Saturdays and Sundays’.

History of the 8-bass Sanfona and the  Forró

Consequently, it was also the king of baião’s first instrument.

In 1920, when he was just eight years old,  Luis Gonzaga bought his first accordion, an eight-bass bellows from the German brand Koch.

So, although this instrument spread throughout the Northeast, it was more precisely at Fazenda Caiçara, in the foothills of the Serra do Araripe, in Pernambuco, that the eight-bass bellows definitively entered the history of Northeastern music.

Old Januário was not only a renowned accordion player, but also a sought-after accordion tuner.

During his childhood and adolescence, the boy Gonzaga grew up among the small eight-bass bellows and their intricate button systems.

Luiz Gonzaga describes in his memoirs that he ‘took advantage of the old harmonicas’ that his father repaired and, little by little, he was already able to play ‘any brand, any type, be it simple, B-flat or semi-tonal’.

At that time, in the north-east, the modern accordions with piano keyboards for the right hand and 120 basses for the left hand, which would later become the main instrument of forró pé de serra, had not yet become widespread, especially with the phonographic and radio success of Luiz Gonzaga at the end of the 1940s.

1. Origin of the Sanfona

Almost 5,000 years ago, the most primitive ancestor of the accordion known today appeared: the Cheng, created in China. The instrument consisted of an air container, a blowing straw and bamboo tubes.

This intriguing invention caught the attention of many curious people, including the European instrument maker Friedrich Ludwig Buschman and the Austrian Cyrillus Demien. In 1822, Ludwig created a more elaborate wind instrument, still using the reed system; seven years later, Demien added the bellows to the invention and patented it as an accordion, due to the chords obtained by manipulating its four buttons.

The process of idealising the instrument in Europe, however, involved numerous characters: in Russia, Kratzestein’s Harmonium appeared; in France, Granié’s Organ, Pinsonat’s Typophone and Eschenbach’s Bagpipe.

To the dedication of these pioneers was added the work of major factories such as Italy’s Paolo Soprani and Scandalli and Germany’s Hohner, perfecting the accordion and making it capable of producing both popular and classical music.

2. History of the Sanfona’s arrival in Brazil

Almost 5,000 years ago, the most primitive ancestor of the accordion known today appeared: the Cheng, created in China. The instrument consisted of an air container, a blowing straw and bamboo tubes.

This intriguing invention caught the attention of many curious people, including the European instrument maker Friedrich Ludwig Buschman and the Austrian Cyrillus Demien. In 1822, Ludwig created a more elaborate wind instrument, still using the reed system; seven years later, Demien added the bellows to the invention and patented it as an accordion, due to the chords obtained by manipulating its four buttons.

The process of idealising the instrument in Europe, however, involved numerous characters: in Russia, Kratzestein’s Harmonium appeared; in France, Granié’s Organ, Pinsonat’s Typophone and Eschenbach’s Bagpipe.

To the dedication of these pioneers was added the work of major factories such as Italy’s Paolo Soprani and Scandalli and Germany’s Hohner, perfecting the accordion and making it capable of producing both popular and classical music.

The accordion was brought to Brazil by European immigrants, mainly Germans and Italians, in the 19th century, but its configuration and use in Brazilian popular music evolved over time.

2.1 8-bass accordion in the north-east

From the 1940s onwards, with the popularisation of forró and baião, the 8-bass accordion gained prominence, especially through artists like Luiz Gonzaga, who helped consolidate its place in the musical culture of the Northeast.

‘He bought his first accordionwith 8 basses, just like his father.’ This fragment portrays an important phase in Luiz Gonzaga‘s life: the acquisition of his first accordion.

The 8-bass accordion, also known as pé-de-bode, fole de 8 baixos, fole, harmônica or simply 8 baixos, is part of the musical and emotional memory of the Northeast and is a true cultural heritage of the sertanejo.

This instrument was extremely popular in the rural areas of the Northeast, present at all times of festivity and fun in the communities of the pés-de-serra, and was responsible for initiating the great icons of the Northeastern accordion: Luiz Gonzaga,  Dominguinhos, Sivuca and others.

Considered by accordion players to be one of the most difficult instruments to play, due to the obligatory set of bellows, the 8-bass bellows tradition is an art currently mastered by only a few.

In the Northeast of Brazil, this instrument has a different tuning, unique in the world, used exclusively by the 8-bass accordion players of this region. This tuning gives the instrument greater capabilities, expanding the possibilities for musical performance.

Dances and Musical Rhythms from the Northeast

History of the 8-bass Sanfona and Forró

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