New Bass-Harmonium: step 1

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• published: 26 Jun 2016
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This is a new instrument to play also with only one finger, for beginner or a new musician, who may even be disabled or elderly. Hi, my name is Luigi Ioverno and I am a doctor and psychotherapist. I would like to bring to your attention my invention of a new instrument that I have called BASS-HARMONIUM because the instrument derives from the transformation of the accordion into an Indian harmonium. The idea for this new instrument came to me whilst playing bhajans (devotional songs from India), as I realised that there is a considerable rhythmic difference that can be created with the accordion than with the harmonium. As I am sure you know, the harmonium has a continual and more controlled sound as the reeds are simple and the sound is only created when air enters. However, since the accordion has double reeds, the sound is produced when air both enters and exits, thus the harmony is not only created with the right hand that presses the keys (like with the harmonium), but also with the left hand that governs the bellows. In reality, there are two instruments that you can take from the accordion: the Accord-Harmonium A that uses a keyboard and greatly resembles the Indian harmonium, and the Accord-Harmonium B or the BASS HARMONIUM that instead uses a control panel and becomes a completely new instrument waiting to be discovered. I believe that there is considerable potential for both of these two instruments, but for the time being I would like to concentrate on only the BASS HARMONIUM. As already mentioned, the BASS HARMONIUM uses a control panel, and since every key corresponds to a chord, this allows even those who do not know how to play the instrument to accompany a bhajan or another piece of music with little practice and also with only one finger. To clarify this, as any song (therefore not only bhajans) needs three or four chords to be accompanied, with the BASS HARMONIUM a beginner or a new musician (who may even be disabled or elderly with arthritis in the hands) can use only one finger to press three or four keys in sequence to accompany their favourite song. To further help you understand what I am saying, I have uploaded onto YouTube several videos of myself playing the instrument to demonstrate for example how a beginner or a less able person (psychologically or mentally) can use it, also from the perspective of a music therapist or by a yoga teacher preparing for meditation etc. I repeat with only one finger. It can also be played by more skilled or experienced musicians who are able to use the instrument to its full potential. Below is the link to my You Tube channel where you can find all the videos that I have uploaded: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCxtgu98WkigDZR9englbBA Dr. Luigi Ioverno