Cajun music | |
---|---|
Stylistic origins | Ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada |
Cultural origins | Late18th century Cajuns in Louisiana; German culture |
Typical instruments | Cajun accordion, fiddle, steel guitar, guitar, triangle, harmonica, bass guitar, upright bass. In the 1930s string band era: mandolin, banjo. |
Subgenres | |
Black Creole | |
Fusion genres | |
Swamp pop, Zydeco |
Cajun fiddle music is a part of the American fiddle music canon. It is derived from the music of southwest Louisiana and southeast Texas, as well as sharing repertoire from the Quebec and Cape Breton Island traditions. It is one of the few extant North American folk music traditions rooted in French chanson. According to Ron Yule, "Louisiana fiddling had its birth roots in Europe, with fiddling being noted as early as the 1400s in Scotland".Zydeco music is a geographically, culturally, and musically related style.
Cajun music, an emblematic music of Louisiana, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the Creole-based, Cajun-influenced zydeco form, both of Acadiana origin. These French Louisiana sounds have influenced American popular music for many decades, especially country music, and have influenced pop culture through mass media, such as television commercials. It is an aural tradition dating past the Acadian conquest of southwest Louisiana after their displacement from Nova Scotia, from whence they brought a rich musical tradition.
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 influences from early American balladry.