# Cajun fiddle > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Cajun_fiddle > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Cajun_fiddle.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cajun_fiddle > Source revision: 1307867190 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{further|Cajun}} {{Infobox music genre | name = Cajun fiddle | stylistic_origins = [Ballads](/source/Ballads) of the French-speaking [Acadian](/source/Acadian)s of [Canada](/source/Canada) | cultural_origins = Late 18th century [Cajun](/source/Cajun)s in [Louisiana](/source/Louisiana); [German culture](/source/Culture_of_Germany) | instruments = [Cajun accordion](/source/Cajun_accordion), [fiddle](/source/fiddle), [steel guitar](/source/steel_guitar), [guitar](/source/guitar), [triangle](/source/Triangle_(musical_instrument)), [harmonica](/source/harmonica), [bass guitar](/source/bass_guitar), [upright bass](/source/upright_bass). In the 1930s string band era: [mandolin](/source/mandolin), [banjo](/source/banjo). | derivatives = | subgenrelist = | subgenres = Black Creole | fusiongenres = [Swamp pop](/source/Swamp_pop), [Zydeco](/source/Zydeco) | regional_scenes = | other_topics = }} thumb|Michael Doucet '''Cajun fiddle''' music is a part of the [American fiddle](/source/American_fiddle) music canon. It is derived from the music of southwest [Louisiana](/source/Louisiana) and southeast [Texas](/source/Texas), as well as sharing repertoire from the [Quebec](/source/Quebec) and [Cape Breton Island](/source/Cape_Breton_Island) traditions. {{cite web | last1 = Dôle | first1 = Gérard | last2 = Vadunthun | first2 = Marie-Paule |author3=D. S. Smith | title = Bayou Memories: Louisiana French Folk Songs and Dance Tunes | year = 1982 | url = http://media.smithsonianfolkways.org/liner_notes/folkways/FW02625.pdf | publisher = Folkway Records | oclc = 51479374 | access-date = 2011-09-11}} It is one of the few extant North American folk music traditions rooted in French [chanson](/source/chanson). {{cite book | last1 = Reiner | first1 = David | last2 = Anick | first2 = Peter | title = Old Time Fiddling Across America | publisher = Mel Bay Publications | year = 1989 | location = Pacific, Missouri | isbn = 978-0-87166-766-3}} According to Ron Yule, "Louisiana fiddling had its birth roots in Europe, with fiddling being noted as early as the 1400s in Scotland". {{cite web | last1 = Yule | first1 = Ron | title = Louisiana's Living Traditions: Fiddling in Louisiana | year = 2005 | url = http://www.louisianafolklife.org/LT/Articles_Essays/LFF_FiddlingInLouisiana.html | publisher= Louisiana Division of the Arts: Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism | access-date=2011-09-11}} [Zydeco](/source/Zydeco) music is a geographically, culturally, and musically related style. ==Cajun music== {{Main|Cajun music}} Cajun music, an emblematic [music of Louisiana](/source/music_of_Louisiana), is rooted in the [ballads](/source/ballads) of the French-speaking [Acadian](/source/Acadian)s of [Canada](/source/Canada). Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the [Creole](/source/Louisiana_Creole_people)-based, [Cajun](/source/Cajun)-influenced [zydeco](/source/zydeco) form, both of [Acadiana](/source/Acadiana) origin. These [French Louisiana](/source/French_Louisiana) sounds have influenced [American popular music](/source/American_popular_music) for many decades, especially [country music](/source/country_music), and have influenced [pop culture](/source/popular_culture) through [mass media](/source/mass_media), such as [television commercials](/source/television_commercials). It is an aural tradition dating past the Acadian conquest of southwest Louisiana after their displacement from Nova Scotia, whence they brought a rich musical tradition.{{cite video | people = Aginsky, Yasha; producer | date = 1983 | title = Les Blues de Balfa | medium = 16 mm film | publisher = Aginsky Productions with Les Films Cinetrie and Les Films d'Ici | url = http://www.folkstreams.net/film,152 | oclc = 24289884 | quote = We are here to tell you a little bit about what a Cajun is. A Cajun is a person who his homeland was France. Went into Nova Scotia, at the time Acadia, and settled there and was there for about a hundred years, and afterwards the British took over the territory and then the French-speaking people, the French descendants, known as the Acadians, came down to the South-Western part of Louisiana, and that was back in 1755. So over all of these years, your language, and your music has been preserved from daddy to son or daddy to daughter or momma to daughter. | accessdate = 2011-09-11 | archive-date = 2010-01-09 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100109012515/http://www.folkstreams.net/film,152 | url-status = dead }} [Blues fiddle](/source/Blues_fiddle) has been directly influential in the development of Cajun fiddling, as with all music in the New Orleans music scene, and even proto-[bluegrass](/source/Bluegrass_music) influences from early American balladry. {{cite web | last1 = Balfa | first1 = Dewey |author2=Tracey Schwarz | title = Cajun Fiddle Old and New with Dewy Balfa | year = 1982 | url = http://lfs.alexanderstreet.com/liner/1bec61b997cfe8b4fe23a9856f2ae937/FW08362.pdf | publisher = Folkway Records | oclc = 51479374 | access-date = 2011-09-11}} ==History== According to Bill Malone and David Sticklin, authors of ''Southern Music/American Music'', Cajun music was first discovered commercially in the 1920s with release of ''[Allons à Lafayette](/source/Allons_%C3%A0_Lafayette)'' (Let's Go to Lafayette).{{sfn|Malone|1979}}{{page needed|date=September 2011}} By 1928 Cajun fiddle had already diverged into variegated styles. The most prominent proponent was [Leo Soileau](/source/Leo_Soileau) of [Ville Platte, Louisiana](/source/Ville_Platte%2C_Louisiana), who started recording in 1928 with Mayuse Lafleur, accordionist, who "met his death from a stray bullet in a tavern brawl in October of that same year".{{sfn|Malone|1979|p=61}} The fiddle was the central instrument in Cajun sound until the twenties when it was somewhat eclipsed by the accordion, both in Canada and the United States. In the early 1930s strings once again dominated. [Mandolin](/source/Mandolin)s, [piano](/source/piano)s, and [banjo](/source/banjo)s joined fiddles to create a jazzy swing beat strongly influenced by the [western swing](/source/western_swing) of Texas.{{sfn|Malone|1979|p=62}} ==Repertoire== Cajun fiddle includes [quadrille](/source/quadrille)s, [jig](/source/jig)s, [hornpipe](/source/hornpipe)s, [reel](/source/reel_(dance))s, [one-step](/source/one-step)s, [two-steps](/source/Two-step_(dance_move)), [airs](/source/air_(music)), [mazurka](/source/mazurka)s, [schottisch](/source/schottisch)es, and [waltz](/source/waltz)es. "[Jambalaya](/source/Jambalaya_(On_the_Bayou))" is based on a Cajun melody and has been covered by musicians of all genres, including [Aldus Roger](/source/Aldus_Roger), [Jo-El Sonnier](/source/Jo-El_Sonnier) and even a 1971 rock version by the young [Bruce Springsteen](/source/Bruce_Springsteen){{cite book |last=Marsh |first=Dave |date=2006 |title=Bruce Springsteen on tour, 1968-2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tUeNOsoA1qoC&q=ti:Bruce+Springsteen+on+tour,+1968-2005 |location=New York |publisher=Bloomsbury |page=45 |isbn=1596912820}} Hank William's recording of the song is so influential it is covered in and of itself, as by [Dwight Yoakam](/source/Dwight_Yoakam).{{cite video | people = Yoakum, Dwight | date = June 4, 2000 | title = Dwight Yoakam – Jambalaya (On the Bayou) | url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRkTseiLcbw&NR=1 | accessdate = 2011-09-11}} ==Prominent proponents of the style== * [Dewey Balfa](/source/Dewey_Balfa) * [Al Berard](/source/Al_Berard) * [Breaux Brothers](/source/Breaux_Brothers) * [Hadley Castille](/source/Hadley_Castille) * [Harry Choates](/source/Harry_Choates) * [Varise Conner](/source/Varise_Conner) * [Sady Courville](/source/Sady_Courville) * [Luderin Darbone](/source/Luderin_Darbone) * [Michael Doucet](/source/Michael_Doucet) * [Wade Fruge](/source/Wade_Fruge) * [J. B. Fuselier](/source/J._B._Fuselier) * [D'Jalma Garnier](/source/D'Jalma_Garnier) * [Doug Kershaw](/source/Doug_Kershaw) * [Gundula Krause](/source/Gundula_Krause) * [L'Angélus](/source/L'Ang%C3%A9lus_(band)) * [Dennis McGee](/source/Dennis_McGee) * [Rufus Thibodeaux](/source/Rufus_Thibodeaux) ==References== {{reflist}} ==Bibliography== {{refbegin}} *{{cite book | last = Malone | first = Bill C. | title = Southern Music, American Music | publisher = University Press of Kentucky | location = Lexington | year = 1979 | isbn = 978-0-8131-0300-6 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/southernmusicame00malon }} {{refend}} ==See also== {{Portal|Music|United States}} {{Wikiquote}} * [History of Cajun music](/source/History_of_Cajun_music) * [Cajun French Music Association](/source/Cajun_French_Music_Association) * [List of festivals in Louisiana](/source/List_of_festivals_in_Louisiana) * [List of people related to Cajun music](/source/List_of_people_related_to_Cajun_music) * [Cajun accordion](/source/Cajun_accordion) * [American fiddle](/source/American_fiddle) * [Canadian fiddle](/source/Canadian_fiddle) * [Scottish fiddling](/source/Scottish_fiddling) * [Irish fiddle](/source/Irish_fiddle) {{Louisianarootsmusic}} {{Americanrootsmusic}} {{Country music}} {{authority control}} Category:Cajun fiddlers Category:American folk music Category:Country music genres Category:Louisiana Creole culture Category:Music of Louisiana Category:North American folk music Category:19th century in music Category:20th century in music Category:19th century in Louisiana --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Cajun fiddle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cajun_fiddle) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cajun_fiddle?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.