Cultural significance of the diatonic single-row button accordion in South Louisiana

Abstract

Musical acoustics are intimately bound up in culture. Musical instruments are vehicles for artistic expression in terms of visual design, timbre, and musical style for musicians who play them and sometimes for the artisans who make them. In complex multicultural societies, certain instruments can also become icons for group identity, similarly marked in visual, timbral, and musical terms. The case of the melodeon, known in Louisiana as the single-row button accordion or the Cajun accordion, richly exemplifies these possibilities. The instrument arrived in Louisiana in the mid-to-late 1800s and became the instrument of choice to play at house dances and dance halls by the 1920s, adopted by two neighboring ethnic groups, French-speaking Creoles of color and Cajuns. Local artisans began making single-row accordions when the supply from Germany ceased during World War II, creating a new, higher-quality version of the instrument with a distinctive appearance that continues to be the instrument of choice for Cajun accordionists and some zydeco players. This paper will elaborate on the history of the melodeon in Louisiana, the musical styles that use it, and its status as a regional and ethnic identity symbol.