The Instruments of Cajun, Zydeco, and Swamp Pop Music

From the accordion and the fiddle, to the frottoir and tit fer, to the electric guitar

by Jordan LaHaye Fontenot

January 29, 2024 3:05 PM

From Ron Stanford's "Big French Dance" photo collection.

Brush up on your Louisiana French Music history with the following articles from our 2024 Music Issue:

The Origins of Louisiana's French Music

The History of Cajun Music, 1930s to Today

The World of Louisiana Zydeco

Swamp Pop Should Go On Forever

Let's Go Dancin': The Evolution of Louisiana French Music Venues

From the earliest records of violins arriving in the region in 1780, the fiddle was at the center of the Acadian and Creole social music scene at the bals du maisons. Traditionally, there were two of them—one leading with the melody and the other seconding with harmony. To be heard above the excitement of the crowd, performers developed a style of playing in which they bore down with their bows, creating an intense and enlivened sound over which they sang in a distinctly shrill voice that had an emphasis on amplification over quality.

The accordion arrived later with the German settlers, and is first documented in Louisiana in a daguerreotype from 1850 (only twenty-one years after the instrument was patented in Vienna) in the hands of a Black musician. It wasn’t until the 1920s, when single-row diatonic accordions in the keys of C and D (more compatible with the fiddle) became available, that the accordion began to earn its prominent place in Louisiana French music performance, relegating the fiddle to an accompanying role. Old songs were adapted to the new instrument, which also inspired the creation of a whole new repertoire. Before long, dance bands were adding in percussion from the triangle, the washboard, and spoons; as well as rhythm by the Spanish guitar. When the first Louisiana French records were made, though, standard instrumentation included an accordion and a fiddle with vocals, and occasionally a guitar.

The rise of Americanization brought on by the early twentieth century brought new influences to the genre, first eclipsed by the “Cajun Swing” era of the 1930s. During this time, the accordion was dropped from the typical Cajun band. Electric guitars, drums, and even horns became standard accompaniments to the fiddle in Cajun music performances. Amplification systems also allowed musicians the freedom to experiment with a lighter touch less focused on volume, and more dynamic approaches to vocals.

In 1948, Iry Lejeune arguably single-handedly brought the accordion back to the forefront of Cajun music. The genre had already expanded, though, and since then—and particularly over the course of the last fifty years—bands have brought various new instruments into the setup of a “Cajun band”. Still, the fiddle or the accordion, and often both, remain the centerpieces of most Cajun bands today.

During this time, the accordion mostly remained the lead instrument of choice for Black Creole musicians, as other instruments like drums, electric guitar, and horns began to become part of the R&B and blues-influenced performances that would become Zydeco—the fiddle eventually fading out of the genre.

In the 1950s, the “Father of Zydeco” Clifton Chenier popularized the use of the chromatic piano accordion, or the two or three row models—all of which were better suited to playing the blues. Chenier can also be credited with the invention of the frottoir, a corrugated metal adaption of the traditional washboard that hangs from the player’s shoulders. Other instruments that might be included in a Zydeco band today include drums, electric bass and guitar, saxophones, and horns.

Swamp pop, an amalgamation of both Cajun and Zydeco, but with greater draws from popular music and rock ‘n’ roll, is distinguished by yet another step away from the folk instruments—performing more often on a set-up of electric guitar and bass, upright piano, saxophone, harmonica, and drums.

Recommended Reading/Resource List:

Related

Swamp Pop Should Go On Forever

The History of Cajun Music, 1930s to Today

The Funeral Singer

The World of Louisiana Zydeco