Glenn,

What you are saying sounds right to me. I have heard some Cajun accordion players play in a Tex-mex style, but it was always on a triple row. Danny Collet comes to mind, and also the guy from File (can't remember his name).

I am no expert on Tex-Mex, but I have messed around with it enough on my triple row to have doubts that it would work out very well on a single row. One reason is that the style is highly dependent on playing harmonized melodies (in thirds, sixths, or whatever). These harmonizations are physically impossible on a single row because the necessary notes are often not available on the push or pull simultaneously. There are other technical reasons as well.

-David

You can't get too fancy but many thirds and sixths are available. You can't do this kind of thing in many keys...A song in the key of C would work best on a C accordion...the push key, in other words. It requires a LOT of bellow reversals and is hard to do smoothly, but it is possible to pull off a few simple licks...the faster the tempo the more difficult it becomes because of the bellow changes...when I do this kind of thing on the Cajun accordion, I stop my bass and treble reeds and use only the two middle sets...I have them tuned about 10 cents wet...It can definitely remind you of the Tex Mex sound...

Available thirds
on the push:
1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 7-8, 9-10

on the pull:
1-2, 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 7-8, 8-9

Available sixths
on the push
1-3, 2-4, 4-6, 5-7, 7-9, 8-10

on the pull
3-6, 4-7, 5-8, 7-10

Here is a possible "Tex-Mex" type run is parallel sixths 'is for pull
5-7, 4'-7', 4-6, 5-7, 4'-7', 4-6, 3'-5', 4'-7', 4-6
m-p, i -p , i-m, m-p, i -p , i-m, i -r , i -p , i-m
i=index, m=middle, r=ring, p=pinky

It's fun...your Cajun box can talk many languages!

You can check out:
From my former band--
http://www.geocities.com/kingfish1_2000/music.html
and click on "Cajun Honey" and "Frisco Zydeco" for examples of a single row playing a kind of mock tex mex sound. I don't remember how much the clips have of the accordion, but maybe enough to hear a bit of accordion. I did these on "Master" (Made in Lake Charles, LA)one row Cajun accordions tuned wet with the bassoon and piccolo reeds stopped.

Just what I have been looking for. I even ordered the CD. Sounds like Tex-Mex to me, especially Frisco Zydeco. I sincerely thank you.

Thanks for all the great info Chris! That one row can indeed speak many languages...

-Karlos

Hi Chris, Just wondered about your one row. Do you have 3 sets middle reeds and no piccolo because you mentioned closing off the bass and treble reeds and using only the middle reeds which are the same as the treble reeds. I have seen instruments like that and they sound good.

Hi Joe,
No, I have a regular Cajun set-up...lmmh, but the two middle rows are not dry like most Cajun boxes...on middle reed set is tuned about 10 cents sharp. Since most of the Tex Mex boxes are two reed boxes...(2 middle sets tuned wet) I shut off the low and high reeds to mimic that tone.

I know that there are some of these intervals on a single row, but not enough to play complete harmonized melodies in the same way as on a triple row (or a piano accordion or CBA for that matter). On a triple row, you can harmonize every single note. On a single row, there are many notes for which that is impossible. I would need to have my accordion to verify this precisely, but I am thinking that more than half of the harmonized scale is missing on a single row.

How much is lost by that is a subjective question. One could just harmonize the notes for which it was possible and just play the melody note for the rest. Whether that would sound OK or not is up to the listener, I suppose. My opinion is that it wouldn't sound right, but that is merely my opinion.

But it begs the question of why bother doing that in the first place? Why go to heroic lengths to fit a style of music to an instrument that is unsuited for it? I guess if you don't have a triple row, then it is necessary to resort to such things. But if you have a triple row, why bother? My feeling is that this is a case of using the appropriate tool for the job. For example, a cross cut saw and a coping saw are both saws, and they will both cut wood. But, they each have their uses for which they are better suited than the other. It doesn't mean that one is better than the other or anything like that. A skilled wood worker would have one of each, and use them appropriately.

-David

A skilled, professional woodworker, that is...
not the weekend warrior woodworker hobbyist. And there is a BIG difference in the price of a coping saw and an accordion!

The original question was of the POSSIBILITY...not PRACTICALITY. The original poster got the answer he was looking for, "yes, you can play a little tex-mex sounding stuff on your one row for variety's sake in a gig without buying a whole new box for one or two songs." He listened to the recordings I referenced and liked what he heard and was satisfied.

You are right you can not do EVERY third like on a triple row, but by "mixing" the thirds and sixths I posted you can sound pretty dang convincing on a very simple song in the key of the box. I played in TX with Kingfish when I was kind of dabbling with the tex mex sound in our music--but I did not have a triple row. A triple row player in the audience asked to see my accordion...he asked "Where's the other buttons? You're making all that noise with one row?!" He said, "It is much easier with more rows!"

Since a friend loaned me a triple row, I can see how right he was. But the triple row is a monster in many ways because you can play the same notes in so many different ways!

I would not start a Tex Mex band with only a single row accordion, don't think I would get very far! What I was trying to say or to demonstrate is possiblities of playing a tune on the single row that suggests a tex mex sound or style.

Let me know if you find the time to try out all the intervals I demonstrated. I think it is "cool" because it might inspire someone to come up with some new licks for Cajun tunes!