I'm going into this blindly, it's a little strange after playing a one row for 6 years.

Any suggestions, tips, etc?


Jim

Jim,
Here are a few, in no particular order:
- have fun
- try playing songs you already know on all 3 rows (experiment with finding notes on other rows)
- Some new songs to try, which require 3 rows (in my opinion anyways): Motordude Zydeco & 41 Days (Boozoo), Cornbread (Beau Jocque), Don't You Worry Bout Me (Zydeco Force) (all have passages which require crossing down to the bottom row to get a note here and there)
- try different reed combinations / useful to get different sounds for different songs
- learn more songs
- repeat
Hope this is helpful.

I'm having no trouble playing Cajun songs and even switching/crossing over rows with them, strange, but it truly adds some detail to them. I've never played zydeco..

I'm thinking of getting Cory's DVD. I don't think there are any other instructional vids out there for triple row, right?

I know he does at least one song with a GCF.

How's that video anyway?

Jim

Man..I'd love to get hold of a full-on 3 row..Baffeti or whatever....internally miked ....just to have a lend of it for a month or two...see if I could handle it.
Regrettably, even with the Aussie Dollar within 4 cents of parity with the Greenback I think those high-end 3 rows are still outa my reach!..and I'm pretty sure there aren't ANY here in Australia....

BTW , Jim...that issue you mentioned a way back of playing Zydeco vs. Cajun on a single row has always been one of life's great mysteries for me ..until now.

I bought the late, great Zydeco Joe's CD Black Cat...and on it's opening track ( Caroline Riding in the Buggy ) it became clear to me that I could do all of Joe's single row runs on my C box playing along to the track..the accordion 'riff'is so repetitive but so groove driven....I could feel myself really getting into it.

The trick to it all is..it's Classie Ballou and all those experienced Zydeco musos in the Backing band just laying down a groove that's so good to play to...that bass line..that drum beat....etc.

I tried a similar thing with my band at a recent jam..guys who have no Blues or Reggae..or grass roots Zydeco background , but plenty of Rock and Country experience..and that groove proved VERY elusive..we still ain't got it. ,,,and when they ain't got it..you 'n me..we can't get it!!..and it sounds lame when you don't!..get it ?

Anyway...the point of it is that , in my humble opinion, you can play great Zydeco on a single row..in ANY key....it's who ya got backing you up that's THE issue.
The same may also apply to the 3 row experience...but costing a whole lot more money.

Our band works up material fairly quickly these days..as long as it reasonably straight in structure...and there's plenty of Country, Country Rock, Cajun, Bluegrass material...even some old LaLa Zydeco is fairly straight.

I'm convinced that to develop Zydeco properly, we'd have to drop a lot of our time and input to the playlist structure we have ...then start from scratch developing a groove for Zydeco.....

I've left vocals input out of this discussion as that opens up a whole other can of worms.

So Jim...I know you can handle Cajun style easy..thats fantastic..and I'm envious...I just think for you to get full satisfaction out of pursuing Zydeco..on any accordion you like...it's gonna require an ensemble approach...and an ensemble that knows what it's doing!

My 2 cents worth..Darryl.

Darryl

I'm not sure what thread you mentioned about triple row vs. one row. Obviously Zydeco is played on both the one row and two row and three row, piano accordion, etc.

Seems to me that Cajun doesn't sound quite right on anything but a Cajun accordion (in my ears).

I just re-tuned my G Hohner an hour ago from 5 cents to 10 cents wet, and I'm not that my style of Cajun sounds very good on it. The chords sound like complete crap.

I'm beginning to wonder if I should vary how 'off' each individual reed is. I'm probably doing it wrong in the first place by tuning each reed exact.

Even with Cajun tuning, 10 cents wet on a low G accordion doesn't please my ears (yet).

I do, however, love the sound of 10 cents wet on my high F accordion.

I never took into account that a lower key might not sound as good for Cajun if tuned 10 cents.

Oh well, I sure as hell am not going through the tedium of re-tuning it for the third time!

Back to the conversation....

Zydeco is very simple sounding compared to Cajun, at least some zydeco is arguably is much easier. Problem is I've trained my fingers to the point that they don't want to follow the zydeco path. I need strict training, I believe, in order to learn.

Anyway, I'll leave it at that for now

Cheers

Jim

Darryl's comments are kind of interesting coming right after Joel's...I only met Joel once - Augusta 1999 - Joel: doubt if you remember.

Anyway, I had just purchased my frattoir from Larry Miller and sat down on a stone wall and started scrubbin'...along comes Joel, he whips out a squeeze box and starts up some zydeco, and the next folks along the path broke out dancing!

All of this is by way of saying: you don't need a whole band, but it's a good learning trick to take on the percussion part along with the recording. Even better to dance around to the zydeco (nobody's watching! Or are they...)

The groove is elusive to the non-Louisianan, but you can find it

Steve Blais

Hello Steve,

You're right, I don't remember things as clearly as you, but do remember playing with someone (was it on the hill) and having people walking by and then start dancing. But I remember very well how camp that year, my first ever, blew my mind and took my playing to another level. That said, I'm new to this forum, and am hooked. It's like camp every day in that us accordion freaks can stay in touch more than just one or two weeks a year, and have those communications that one can only have with fellow freaks.

Back to the original subject, I'm so greatful for those who bring up these questions, in that I've learned a lot on this one and can't wait to try some of the suggestions about 3 row playing. But I fully agree with your and others comments on the groove and the band being very essential to playing zydeco.

Yeah you right.
JJ

The most important thing that gets added to the mix with a triple row is the ability to play the flat 3rd.

If you have a G-C-F, and you are playing in G on the middle row, find the root G note on the push on the middle row. From there, go the the adjacent button on the inner row, diagonally up the keyboard on the pull (up as in toward the ceiling). That's the flat 3rd in the key of G.

It opens up all kinds of possibilities.

I suggest that you make a keyboard chart, showing all the notes on the push and the pull, and also marking where the root notes are for various chords.

One thing you will notice is that many notes are repeated on the keyboard, but in opposite directions (push vs. pull). Take careful note, because this can be very, very useful.

One thing you can do is get the root notes for chords on the pull. Say you are in G on the center row, just like on the single row, you can get the 3rd and 5th for the G chord on the pull. But you can also get the G root note on the inner row on the pull, which allows for the full G major chord. For that matter, you can throw the 7th in there too, and get a full dominant 7th chord. Or, you can go to the outer row, and get the full G chord on the push.

In general, if you hunt around, the scope for playing chords is massively increased.

Another thing you can do with repeated notes that go in different directions is that you can play note combinations more smoothly if you want to. What I mean is that you can play notes in combination in the same bellows direction and avoid the staccato effect of changing bellows direction. This is handy for bluesy songs.

Lastly, notice the notes at the top of each row. These are weird non-key accidentals that allow for playing totally chromatic runs. They are awkward to get to, but worth the effort.

That barely scratches the surface, but it will give you some stuff to think about.

-David

Get it. It is the only thing out there. The Tex-Mex videos are worthless for Zydeco. You can adjust the DVD and have it in GCF or FBE. Once you get Zydeco Boogaloo you can build on that and figure out lots of stuff.You tube is a great resource too. Watch Corey and Jeffey Brousard. Yu can figure out the licks by watching their hands.

and Chris Ardoin too. Motor Dude is a little tricky. It is done in the F position. Horace
Trahan's DVD also from Wilson has him playing Zydeco a pas Sale on a triple but it is virtually the same as Motor dude. He does it one row over on the inside row to begin but you can see the fingering very clear.
The other thing to do is try and get a feel for the relationship between the rows. Try some blues progressions and work the 1,4,5 chords as many diferent ways as you can can. All of a sudden you will get the whole geshtalt of the thing and then you will be on your way to doing your own thing.

Dave,

Many thanks for the info, I'm going to print it out right now.

I've noticed that playing notes on the pull and then the same on the push on another row is really handy with songs. More to work with, definately.

I'll study what you've written. I definately will get Cory's video now

Thansk

Jim

I started to play on a two-row accordion.
That was very wrong for Cajun because I never get the right sound. It was also difficult to handle all those 21 buttons. So I decided to buy a one-row and also the 10 buttons weren't easy at all. When I see the big guys play on a Fat-Gabanelli or something similar, I don't understand how they do it.
Allways pulling that box and at the end the are out of air and they close the bellows very quick.
It's look like magic !!!!

My suggestion would be to download the Sr. Maestro program ( Windows only ) from the Reyesaccordions.com site.. they show scales, in singles, thirds and sixths..and have all fingerings for chords .. the works.

I would play on a Mic'd triple row for anything close to zydeco sound.. ( or mic'd single row for that matter)..lower key the better..

I'd practice with a casio or something backing me up ( drums or whatever ).. to get used to playing with a band.. ( anyone know of zydeco kareoke ??.. songs with no accordion to play with? )..

I would play with an LMM reed set-up at least.

I have a big black DINO triple row in FBbEb with handmade reeds and a pro mic.. if anyone wants to buy it for $2,750 plus shipping ( from Italy ) .. like new condition.

I am playing my Corona IIIR's mostly ( in GCF,EAD and ADG ) .. for zydeco fun.

Glenn

I agree. I got the dvd after I got my Panther. It really helped, although I was a little disappointed with the DVD itself. It could have been done a little more profesionnally (you'll see what I mean when you watch it).
A great song to play on the triple-row is "If tears were diamonds., beautifully interpreted by Jeffrey Broussard here on link #2.
Amuse-toi bien!

Glenn is on the mark. Senor Maestro will have the scales, progressions, and chords. How you put them to use depends on the music you want to play.