Cajun accordions don't have the flat 3rd and flat 7th unless you play in a key one whole step above the key of the accordion.

On a C box, if you play in the key of C, you have a C major scale, no flat 3rd or flat 7th. If you play in the key of G, you have a G mixolydian scale (mode), with the 7th flatted from F# to F natural. If you play in the key of D, you have a D Dorian scale (mode), with the 3rd flatted from F# to F natural and the 7th flatted from C# to C natural.

Bryan is correct but I should have been more clear on the question. The 3rd and 7th are "flat" but not a half step flat or lower. I don't know the exact amount of cents but whatever Bryan says is fine with me.

Still, was the accordion originally tuned this amount flat, in just temperament? Did Joe Falcon play an accordion with this tuning? Amadee Ardoin? I'm going to guess that this tuning was intentional to achieve the specific sound the early musicians were after?

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'm not sharp enough to stand flat-footed and understand all this. And that's my 15 cents worth on the subject.

Just play me a Cajun song, Mister.

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!"

ken

Man,.....that stuff went over my head faster than a Russian meteor! Bang! :)

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.

Lache pas!