How to Use the Air Release Valve on an Accordion

"AMANDA CLAIRE: So one of the most important things about keeping a quality accordion or to keeping an accordion in good shape is making sure that the bellows stay pretty airtight that they're not leaky. And the problem with that is, is there's a lot of times when you may need to open the bellows or close the bellows maybe to get ready to play or maybe to put the accordion away or maybe you just want to kinda get the bellows to a different position in its range but you don't want to be playing a note. The problem is, if you don't have any keys pressed then--to open or close the bellows, you're actually forcing air out through all the little cracks in the bellows and the cracks in the instrument and that makes it less airtight. So what I'm saying is, if I have some buttons pressed or piano keys rather, the air is flowing over those reeds so I've provided a way for that air to escape. But I never want to really move that bellows if I don't have some button pressed either--some key pressed on the right or a button pressed on the left because there's nowhere for the air to go except kind of through cracks in the bellows and cracks in the instrument. And over time, that can cause damage. So therefore, accordions also have a special button which is called the air release valve button and here it is, here. It tends to be near your thumb. And what this does is just basically opens a hole kinda inside the instrument, similar to what happens when you play a button or a key to let a reed sound, except there's no reed attached to this one. And this allows you to open and close the bellows, you can hear--it's allowing air to move in the bellows. So just an important thing about handling an accordion, if you're going to start playing and you want to start with the bellows open, don't try to force the bellows open. You really kind of push that air valve release switch and kind of get that open or close or let's say you've finished playing and your accordion is just sort of sitting on the ground or on your sofa like this, don't force it shut. Either press some keys to close it or go ahead and press that air valve release switch and just close it, and that will help keep your bellows nice and airtight and that's a good part of accordion maintenance."