I don't know for sure if the old Sterling and Monarchs were tuned like this, but pretty sure they were. There may be other reasons for it, but the main reason we tune that way is to have the partial chords (some call blends). It just wouldn't be Cajun sounding without that 3rd/7th pull (7/10, 6/7, 3/6). Is it not used in other genres mainly because they mostly play single notes?
I think you're right about the blends being particularly Cajun. In the Quebecois tunes I'm playing on the D accordion (Cajun-tuned by Bryan) its mainly single notes but with occasional blends. The tuning and the blends make my attempt at French-Canadian playing sound more Cajun than Quebecois. Or, as I've been told, "Now, that's the southern version!"
No it didn't Tim, you just didn't recognize the funny terms. That cool sound you get when you pull that 7 and 10 button together, that's the the B (7th on a C accordion) is flattened in pitch, and that cool sound when you push the 6 and 7 together, that's cause the E (3rd on a C) is flattened. Has to do with chords, or partial chords. Now why does flattening those notes make those blends sweeter? Well, that's over my head, too, and I ain't really worried about it.
Bryan,
Thanks a ton for that. I was confused by you guys saying 3rd's and 7ths. That's not the same as the #3 or #7 button. No music theory here, but you must be referring to parts of a whole chord?
You're right about the "cool sound" you get, for instance, when you pull the 3,6 buttons - instead of the normal push 3,6 for pure octaves in C (C box). I discovered that "sound" on my own (by my own mistakes !) because I failed to get to the 3,7 buttons in time for the pull. But I liked the sound of the mistake. Now I know why.
In my head, I call that, "dragging my feet." Whereas a good dancer would step precisely to the next correct position of a dance, I would drag my feet by staying on the same buttons as I switched from pull to push- or push to pull.
I know, I know. I'm crazy.
It's not impressive if you know human ability, but it's still heart warming that this music is passed from generation to generation just by listening and watching. No formal schooling needed.
The 3 and 7 is not the button, but the number of the note in the scale. The C scale is C D E F G A B, so in counting that, the E is the 3rd, the B is the 7th. I don't know music theory either, I just learned this basic stuff to know what people were talking about.
Pretty sophisticated nuance from a group considered to be "unsophisticated" by most standards. I find this, like so many other revelations of Cajun music, to be tokens of the art.
"Simple music from simple people on simple instruments," was a description given to me. However, it takes years to figure this simple stuff out.