 | tcadien says:
6/19/2012 12:16:45 PM
Sorry for the delay Gents, been out of the country for a couple of weeks and just returned. Ahh.. the age old question of Cajun tunings. Well, tuning is a matter of preference in cajun music really. Some would hotly disagree with me, but their mere disagreement would prove my point. Old school fiddlers would mostly tune standard because that is how the instrument should be tuned to achieve its potential, however all rules are meant to be broken. Just like in old time music, cajun fiddlers would know several songs in several different tunings, including the whole step down tuning, before accordions were even in the picture. Dennis McGee for example used about 7 different tunings.
So, to say "cajun tuning" is ... well it doesn't exist really. Alot of cajun fiddlers, including myself at times, will tune their fiddles down 1 whole step so they can play with C accordions while still getting the old school left hand ornamentation by playing in A and D positions.
Here is how it got popular... the Balfa Brothers made the tuning down a whole step very popular, while most cajun fiddlers of that time maintained playing in standard tuning. Just listen to any cajun record around 1950s-70s, most of the fiddlers are tuned up. Its just that the Balfa family became so famous and their style was so smooth and beautiful, that many others wanted to imitate it. They were one of the first bands to implement tuned downed fiddles ALL THE TIME, and not just with accordions, they also implemented vocal harmonies, blues, and so forth. They were able to capture a wide audience because of this. Dewey Balfa greatest influence, besides his immediate family, was Harry Choates. Dewey implemented that long bow style with his cajun and mixed with tuned down twin fiddles=some damn good fiddling. Oh and also Dewey even used an alternate "black mountain rag tuning" for his song Indian on a Stump, and the Fiddle Sticks tune.
So to answer your question is "cajun tuning" down one whole step. NO. It is a popular tuning, but most of the guys that are gigging, recording, teaching, and are musical ambassadors of Cajun music are playing standard.
Is it safer to go to a jam with a tuned down fiddle? Well that depends on whether or not you feel comfortable playing Cajun music in C, G, and possibly F on a standard tuned fiddle. I would encourage you to learn both. You could always do like me and have two fiddles :) That way I always have the option to play tuned down if I feel like it!
There isn't really a rule on it. If you show up tuned up, no one will scold you and vice versa.
Great questions !!!
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 | scmeyer says:
6/20/2012 12:24:24 AM
Because of where I live (Alaska), Cajun jams are a pretty rare thing. I do play in a Cajun/Zydeco band. Our accordion player has a C and a Bb box, so I always tune down do i can play in D or A position when he's playing the C box, and C, G, or F position when he's playing the Bb box. I'm also an old-time player, so re-tuning is no big deal.
The comment about Dennis McGee playing in 7 different tunings intrigues me - I wasn't aware of that. I'd appreciate if anyone could give a few examples of tunes he recorded in tunings other than standard?
Thanks up front.
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| tcadien says:
6/27/2012 5:18:42 PM
I do the same thing scmeyer, and I have a tuned up fiddle because our accordion player uses several Accordions (D, A, C, and Bb). I'll get back to you later tonight about the Dennis McGee tunes. I'm not at home and I'd have to listen to see.
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| tcadien says:
6/27/2012 9:25:53 PM
Alright you ready for this scmeyer? Here we go..
1.) Standard Tuning (GDAE) A majority of Dennis' tunes were played in this tuning including most of his well known ones
2.) (FCGC) Valse de Vachers- from Album: Himself
3.) (GDAG) Myself- From T.C.E.R.O.D.McGee
4.) (GDGB) Reel du Sauvage Perdu and La Reel Fâchée- from Himself
5.) (GDGD) Vous M'avez Donné Votre Parole and Courville and McGee Waltz might be done in this tuning, standard tuning, or tuned down 1 whole step I can't tell for sure.
6.) (DADD)
7.) (ADAD)
8.) (ADAE)
Wow, theres a surprise I didn't suspect that. In some liner notes I have The last 4 tunings are mentioned by a fiddler that spent some time studying with Dennis, but I never heard them on the recordings. However, Vous M'avez Donné Votre Parole and Courville & McGee Waltz maybe very well done in tuning #5 (GDGD) It always seemed to me that the lead fiddle was tuned down 1 whole step though.
Anyway There you have it. We'll say 5 different ways of tuning for sure and 3 that we'll have to take someone's word for it. Dennis mentions on the album titled: Himself, that he uses 4 different ways of tuning. The album is really cool its just him sitting there playing fiddle and telling stories. He speaks french the entire time but he definitely says before he plays the Cowboy Waltz (Valse de Vacher), That he tunes 4 different ways cause its the name of the track.
Well boys I guess there's some more Cajun music history obscurity for you. We have a guy that spent time with Dennis to study his fiddling saying Dennis used 7 different tunings (5 of which we know he did for a fact because they're recorded), and I came up with 8. I guess the right number is in there somewhere. We can say with assurance that 4 were recorded with and a good possibility that a 5th was used as well. Hope you've enjoyed this adventure into discovering this little bit of information about old time cajun fiddle music, I sure have.
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