Polka Music

**Eddie Sheehy** · Jul-25-2012, 2:30pm

Looking for Polka Music - standard notation or tab. Our Contra Band is branching out...

**JeffD** · Jul-25-2012, 3:12pm

I cannot over recommend the book "Ireland's Best Polkas & Slides. My copy is published by Waltons, but I think Mel Bay publishes it now. Just wonderful stuff.

I started with the Fiddlecase Book of 101 Polkas. I don't think its available anymore. A lot of overlap.

Last of all let me recommend A Little Couples Dancemusic, which has mostly waltzes but a lot of great polkas too.

**Eddie Sheehy** · Jul-25-2012, 3:24pm

No, not IRISH SLIDES... I know a ton of those... think OKTOBERFEST Polkas - The Beer-Barrel Polka, etc.

**JeffD** · Jul-25-2012, 3:39pm

Ahhhhhh. Run away.

Well find an accordion player. After Lady of Spain, the next tune will be a polka of the sort you are threatening us with.

**WELSrev** · Jul-25-2012, 6:38pm

Try this one. (If I can get it to post) Learning just a little Croation Tamburitza music can't hurt.

It's a Skertich Brothers song that we learned out in Montana thanks to Zondra and Wayne Skertich and Doctor James Allison.

This is the basic melody. When the dancers are too pooped to polka (or the band has had enough) go out after the second "A" part.

It is a Montana tradition to smack the bass before you head back to the top of the tune. The last two measures then become 1 2 1 Whack and away you go. Lacking a doghouse base a large unabridged dictionary dropped from an appropriate height works nicely. We forgot to warn the guitar players about that one night when we were playing at the house and poor old Charlie almost didn't get to see his 78th birthday.

**Jim Garber** · Jul-26-2012, 8:50am

There are lots of polkas throughout many ethnic musics. It sounds like you are looking only for Polish ones? Yes, Irish, also Italian, Ukrainian, Czech, German, Klezmer, Romanian, etc. I have a few tune books at home I can look at and scan.

**JLewis** · Jul-26-2012, 9:12pm

Originally Posted by Jim Garber

There are lots of polkas throughout many ethnic musics.

I know that's right. Been listening to Brave Combo for years and always amazed at the varied origins of their songs.

**homejame** · Jul-31-2012, 1:34am

Dave Mallinsons 100 Irish polkas ( or some such title). they were being sold cheap ( £1 a throw) at Whitby. One thing about Mallys books are they are in nice clear typesetting- easy read on stand etc.

**Jim Garber** · Jul-31-2012, 7:37am

I have a few polkas on this page: Trottolina, Polka Brillante, Calabrisella Mia, Bizzosa, Polka Studio.

**Eddie Sheehy** · Jul-31-2012, 10:35am

Thanks guys, that'll get me started... Zum Wohl!

**Anglocelt** · Jul-31-2012, 11:06am

I second homejame's recommendation of Mally's '100 Irish Polkas'. Great tunes and published a year or so before the Walton's polka book, some of the tunes settings in which are remarkably similar to those in the Mally book!

**Martin Jonas** · Aug-07-2012, 9:38am

Eddie,

Sheri Mignano has a nice arrangement of the Beer Barrel Polka for two mandolins and guitar. I got it directly from her as a PDF, but it may also be in the latest edition of her book "Mandolin Melodies" (it's not in my copy of the first edition, although it has many very nice Italian polkas). I've played the first mando part in this Youtube clip:

Link

There are many good Northern Italian polkas in an ABC file I found a while ago, discussed in this thread, with link to a PDF conversation in standard notation here.

Finally, if you're looking for German or Austrian polkas, there is a HUGE site here, with hundreds of German and Austrian folk dances, all in standard notation with two voices plus MIDI file plus dance description (in German), and for many (most?) also MP3 and even a Youtube video showing it being danced! Unfortunately, the site is in German and slightly difficult to navigate. The link above has 20 semi-officially selected "basic dances" (including five polkas) which form the foundation repertoire of Austrian folk dance groups. The other main pages on this site, linked in a slightly confusing way from the main page above, are:

Dances from Lower Austria, A-F (click on the "Weiter" button on top for other letters)
Dances from other parts of Austria and from Germany, plus a few international ones

Martin