I hear what Larry is saying here; there are a lot of repetitive grooves in zydeco. And if you're not using the bass/left side of your box, it can sound like really thin. And if you're a fresh beginner... pshaw! It's gonna sound like just that. It takes practice, practice, and more practice to make progress. Additionally, it takes listening to both Cajun and Creole music to understand the differences in not only how the accordion is being played, but the instrumentation and rhythms. Immerse yourself in BOTH styles and your horizon will be much broader. It's stone sharpening stone, I tell ya!

BUT... check it... the notion of setting out to learn zydeco without an ensemble in your back pocket is surreal. You gotta do some serious homework before stepping on stage and frontin' a band. Now you may cut your teeth on sitting in for a song or two with an already established band -- I can see that. I just don't agree with zydeco sounds like nothing outside of a band. There's plenty of solo accordion recordings that are killer. Chris, Sean, Corey, Dexter, Cedryl, Preston, Danny Poullard, come to mind.

The majority of zydeco accordionists can play grooves that stand alone, outside of a band situation. It's like anything, it takes practice, and moreover, it takes creativity -- invention is important in the zydeco arena.

I think zydeco is more of a challenge to cop than Cajun. Cajun music may have more imbellishments and ornamentation, but zydeco has some left-field rhythm tricks that do just the opposite of what feels natural. Plus, a lot of the "zydeco meat" is played on the lower register (top buttons), whereas Cajun tunes utilize more of the upper register. Mind you, this is a generalization and is by no means the rule. There are tunes and grooves that make this a moot point.

As far as the correct key for zydeco... man it's in every key; all over the place. There's no rules -- it just depends on your creativity and what key you like to sing in. Certain tunes and grooves sound better in one particular key, perhaps. The whole C for Cajun and Bb for zydeco is an okay analogy, but that held true 15 years ago and not necessarily today. I've been writing heavily as of late, using a high E & F accordion -- zydeco grooves.

But as far as attempting to play zydeco without a band... If that were the case, zydeco music would never leave the couch. In my opinion, yuh gotta know yuh onions to front a band -- which includes being able to play without your dawgs and still make 'em bounce!

~R!CK

Hello Loretta ..

And welcome!

Yes, I agree with Larry .. Zydeco can be difficult
to pull off without a solid rhythm section.

Actually, you could probably pull off more old-school
Zydeco (blues, as Clifton used to play) on a piano
accordion than a diatonic accordion.

If you want to see more about playing the diatonic
before jumping in, check my web page for a *free*
overview.

http://www.bignick.net/BoxLessons/boxlesson_Index.htm

Do you already play an instrument, or would accordion
be your first instrument?

--Big

Where are you, and what kind of budget are you working with for the acquisition of an accordion?
The budget will dictate what kind of accordion you could get.