Interested in Folk Music?
At Pakachoag, you can choose to take lessons on the following instruments with an emphasis on learning music of the Folk tradition.
- Fiddle / Violin – with Amy Matherly or Marilyn Butler
- Accordian – with Sam Politz
- Folk Guitar – with Josh Goldman or Jeff Dostal.
- Recorder – with Sarah Smongeski
For more information regarding schedules and teachers, please contact our program director Kristjon Imperio at Kristjon@pakmusic.org
Cajun Music
If you are interested in exploring different types of folk music, you might wish to consider Cajun Music.
Sam Politz (Jazz Piano and Accordian) plays and performs Cajun music in and around Worcester. Cajun music, if new to you, is a specific American genre that falls within the ‘folk’ category. Email our Program Director for more information at Kristjon@pakmusic.org
Cajun music as we know it today can be traced back to early Acadian, French, Creole, and Anglo-Saxon folk songs. Cajun music is routed in Louisianna, Sam Politz’s birth place. This is, in part, why Sam knows his Cajun music so well!
The early ballads and lullabies from which Cajun music evolved were typically concerned with troubles and hard times and were often sung a cappella. The music was usually performed at home and passed down orally from generation to generation; however, the singers of these traditional songs were eventually accompanied by simple instrumentation. Cajun music is, of course, meant for dancing — one-step, two-step, and waltzes. Traditionally, the Cajun dance (“Fais-do-do” in Cajun) was the major social function in Cajun society. The principal instrument in Cajun music is the diatonic accordion, preferably in the key of C. Although it is a German instrument, the Cajun people adopted it in the 1870s. To a lesser degree, the fiddle is also a favorite instrument in Cajun music.