In my interview with Frédéric Paris, he referred to adapting the repertoire of various instruments to the diatonic accordion. This was back in the seventies when the "tradition" of French diato was being mapped out by the likes of Paris and Jean Blanchard, et al. What struck me was how apt the word "adapt" is to the process of taking a tune found on vielle or cornemuse and making it work on the diatonic box. About a year ago, I started paying attention to this mazurka, "Bec à bec," on the La Chavanée recording, Rage de danse. Here it is:
Just listening back to it now, as I write, I am stunned at just how perfect a piece of music this is. It is heartbreakingly beautiful. Everything I love about French music is there.
But it's not very accordéon-ish. How to make it work on the box? La Chavanée gives us two bagpipes playing single, entwined melody lines -- of all folk musics, I think it's fair to say that tradFrench is the lord of the counter-melody -- and no chords, per se, though a harmony could be sketched out. That's not what I did, though. Rather, I got my hands around the melody, and worked out the bass and chords according to my ear. Here's what I came up with:
Not nearly as majestic as the pipes, but what is?
Click to enlarge
Meanwhile, in Alsace, the doyens of the biannual Pique-diatonique gathering had chosen "Bec à bec" as one of the three new tunes for the October 9 gathering. The sheet music they posted, which included tab and dots, showed that they had "adapted" the tune differently than I did. For example, in the third bar I play an F chord over the "D"-based melody phrase. In the Pique-diatonique transcription they use a "G"-chord. Again, in the third bar of the b-section, the Pique-diatonique transcription uses a G chord, which, with the "F"-natural suggests a G7. I chose an F chord, which, with the "D"s hints at a D minor. Either works. But they're different.
I'm not making any arguments here, other than this: there are any number of choices you make when you adapt a tune to the box. Another example, I notice that in the fourth bar of the Pique-diatonique transcription, they play across rows, rather than down the one row, as I do. I think my playing sounds a little galumphy at that point. Time to try it their way.
