# Please help me identify this french sounding accordion piece **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 6, 2010, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-french-sounding-accordion-piece/556226 "2010-10-06T07:06:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rusalka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecd19e/32.png) [@Rusalka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rusalka)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-french-sounding-accordion-piece/556226/1 "2010-10-06T07:06:26Z")
[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fGghPkWaqHE/hqdefault.jpg "Rob Torres -Street Performing") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGghPkWaqHE) The music is in the first minute or two of the video. The video maker did not answer a previous comment by someone asking the name of the song. ---
**Author:** ![Rusalka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecd19e/32.png) [@Rusalka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rusalka)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-french-sounding-accordion-piece/556226/2 "2010-10-07T20:47:56Z")
Any idea how I can find this out. Is there an online tool that analyzes music? We’re probably not there yet, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2010, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-french-sounding-accordion-piece/556226/3 "2010-10-07T23:21:14Z")
There are programs to help you identify songs (like [Shazam](http://www.slate.com/id/2232914/)), but I don’t know if they can recognize a hit song performed in a different way (e.g. if someone played “Bohemian Rhapsody” on the piano) - I think Shazam can recognize a hit song if the hit song is in its database, but wouldn’t recognize another version of the same song played by someone else unless that other version was also in their database. ---
**Author:** ![Rusalka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecd19e/32.png) [@Rusalka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rusalka)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-french-sounding-accordion-piece/556226/4 "2010-10-08T03:56:36Z")
Shazam sounds really cool, and it doesn’t sound like it’s version specific. (song is distilled down to an pattern composed of a few signature indicators per measure) Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-french-sounding-accordion-piece/556226/5 "2010-10-08T04:00:47Z")
I can tell you that this genre of music is most commonly referred to as “Bal Musette,” or some variant thereupon. If you listen through enough tracks of that, you’ll find something at least comparable to this track! ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-french-sounding-accordion-piece/556226/6 "2010-10-08T10:06:45Z")
You’re welcome, Rusalka. By the way, have you ever read the C. J. Cherryh book with the same title as your username? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-french-sounding-accordion-piece/556226/7 "2010-10-08T13:31:43Z")
To me, it sounds more Italian than French, if that’s any help.