Derek, I brought a G/C diatonic accordion with me to Over The Water last year. It worked really well for playing C major tunes as you can get C, G, and F major really easily. If I was playing with someone with a D, Berry-style HG, a D/G model would be better.
Minor tunes were a lot harder because the HG usually just diminishes the 3rd of the Major to play easily in a minor (C major to C minor) while the diatonic accordion goes a full step higher to get a minor scale (G to A minor). If I had to pick one diatonic accordion to get which would give you the most satisfaction in playing with a C/G hurdy-gurdy, I'd choose a 3 row, G/C/F. You can play along with the C major and G major tunes, then get easily down to G-minor. C-minor would be a bit hard, but at that point, just rock some chords for a little variety in your set. For a beginning instrument, check out a Hohner panther or other entry-level Hohner model (Buttonbox.com usually has some as well as Ebay). Come to OTW next year and I'll give you some pointers! -Ian Portland, OR. Derek Lofthouse wrote: > Given that depending on the tuning (C/G or G/D) most french HurdyGurdy music > is going to be in C,G,D, cmin,gmin and dmin, what tuning do accordion players > use. Actually, what type of accordions are used. 2 row diatonics, 3 row > diatonics, 2, 3 or more row chromatics? > > I checked a few cd's and they are no help, Cyril Roche (trio Patrick > Bouffard) plays "Accordeon Diatonique", as does Frederic Paris. Alain Bruel > (from tour a tour) plays "accordeon chromatique", > Irish players use b/c or c#/d 2 row chromatics, english musicians tend to g/d > diatonics but i have no clue what french music would use. > > any ideas anyone? > > thanks > derek > > and yes, i am suffering from 'Multiple Instrument Aquisition Disorder'..
