I learned some lessons the hard way about accordion playing, which I gave up for lent two years ago, and my elbows feel better and my kids stopped hiding from me, so here they are just to save others some grief:
Don't learn songs without doing doubles from the start, wherever theoretically possible. Play the song on the middle four buttons before you start doing doubles.
It doesn't matter what finger you hit which button with. But accordion builders will slyly inspect your playing to ensure that, even though this is not necessary, you are hitting the right buttons with the correct fingers.
Learn the melody completely before you try the left hand. Don't finish learning the melody until you have integrated your left hand.
Don't worry about playing the left hand, it's never miked anyway. But, you must always play the left hand because it gives it the true cajun sound, even though it's out of key about half of the time.
Don't try to play blues on the diatonic accordion. You are missing too many flats and can't do bends, therefore it sounds foolish. However, Grande Bosco, Pine Grove Blues, French Blues, Carolina Blues, Blues de Crowley, Blues de Basille, Blacktop Blues, and Blues au Voyage are blues-based standards that must be played.
You must sing in Cajun French to play the accordion, but according to a rule set that varies from singer to singer. Standard French is forbidden, but Cajun French is not very different than Standard French. To say otherwise is offensive.
Cajun songs must be played precisely as presented on the original recording, including the timing errors and noises of dogs barking in the background. Improvisation and personalization of the songs are the basis of cajun playing. Therefore, you may improvise at leisure, as long as it sounds exactly like the original and has an authentic cajun "feel".
Dirk Powell plays all songs doubles and says that this is a necessity for getting the true cajun feel. Mark Savoy shows how to play every song on his first tape using only his right index finger. You must learn both ways simultaneously, while hitting all the buttons with the correct finger.
Tape numbers on the buttons so that it will be easier to learn the melodies. However, it is forbidden to look at the accordion while you are playing it, and it is impossible to see the numbers while playing anyway.
Zydeco is bad. Zydeco is good. It cannot be zydeco if it is cajun. If it is zydeco, it is by definition cajun. Cajun and zydeco are two sides of the same coin. Zydeco and cajun are only remotely related to one another. Like blues/rock, bluegrass/country, old timey/rockabilly, the two types of music are extensions of one another. Unlike blues/rock, bluegrass/country, old timey/rockabilly, the two types of music are as unrelated as the German and Mandarin Chinese languages.
There is a lethal version of accordion playing called Lafayette crawsspikken. If you hear only a few bars of it, you will instantly comprehend that everything you have learned on the accordion up to that point is infantile, vain, and pointless, and you must immediately begin to re-learn everything. Avoid this music at all costs. Only two people understand it, and only one of them knows how to play it.
While seated, you must anchor the accordion firmly on the right leg, directly behind the right knee. Tilt the box forward at an extreme angle. The thumb must be locked in the leather strap with the palm providing additional support. OR you can play standing up, with the thumb behind the keyboard. Either way is correct, although one way is more correct than all the others. The correct way leads to the nirvana of LaFayette style crosspicken, of which only two people can play. Avoid that style at all costs.
Also, play; slow.
Remember these simple maxims, and practice a lot and listen to cajun music constantly, and soon you will be playing well enough to entertain yourself.
The April 2011 Dewey Balfa Cajun & Creole Heritage Week
