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Lesson - The Back Door (Part I) |
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I picked up a few techniques in my recent trip to Lake Fausse LA Balfa Heritage that I'd like to share with y'all! There are several ideas that I’d like to convey in this session. First off, the song is: “The Back Door”. It’s a classic DL Menard Cajun number that you’ll hear at just about any jam session, so that makes it a nice candidate for others to play along with you! I’m also demonstrating a subtle but effective right hand rhythm style that’s used in part of the tune. I was shown this technique by Paul Daigle in a recent Lake Fausse LA Balfa Heritage weekend. But, instead of just concentrating on the right hand melody as is commonly done, I’d like to talk about the left hand for a while. I‘ve received a few emails about “how do you keep that left hand going?” type question. I’ve also seen many people who get quite adept at right hand, but aren't very smooth with the left hand, so, let's study box rhythm for a while. This lesson’s tune is a two-step, or 2/4 type feel. (Definitely not a ¾ time waltz!) The most common rhythm figure for a two-step is something like, bass-chord-bass-chord, etc. I’d hazard to say that you’re playing quarter notes when
you do this.
The timing of the right-hand-played melody may be quarter
notes too .. but frequently, they are eight-notes. Which means
two-for-one. That is, two notes are being played on the right side while
only one is being played on the left. No real problem .. yet. But, here’s the rub! If you’ve been working on some of the other lessons, you probably know by now that the bellows direction is completely directed by the requirements of right hand melody. If you godda pull to get the note you want .. so be it! (Same rule for a push.) And sometimes, those direction changes fall smack dab in the middle of a chord, or bass note that the left hand is playing! And that’s harder to do than to just synchronize left & right. So, let’s examine an example of bellows reversing in the middle of some chords.
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