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I've mentioned (in quite a few other threads) I don't have a great feeling about 'Polkas'. I think it's mainly because I can't quite shake a feeling of wanting to fight against some stereotypical 'Lawrence Welk'/'Weird Al Yankovinc' indoctrination as a kid.
Wikipedia says:
Irish polkas are typically played fast, at over 130 bpm, and are typically played with an off-beat accent.
'Off-beat' should be something for me to love! ...maybe too much of one kind of beat(?) ALL way too much happy (for me)!
Some tunes I've learned say 'Polka' on The Session, but they don't feel like one. A tune like 'Raggle, Taggle, Gypsy' just doesn't feel like a 'Polka' to me. The Session site tune selection is limited - and 'Air', 'Ballad', etc... are just NOT options. So what may 'say' Polka there, may really be another type of dance tune, or song type.
...what to do about it?
Well, I'm trying to be open-minded - and a different perspective can help me change how I feel. I've watched many tutorials, but jumped at the chance to watch a recent Liz Carroll video tutorial!
'What's the story with Polkas (Irish)?' Liz Carroll does play & compose many Polkas - and I love her playing!
Okay, so now I see there's more room for expression in a Polka than I originally thought.
🤔... many people do DANCE polkas, but on the other hand, I still feel like I get more enjoyment/mileage out of playing a reel.
I do like Reinländers/Rheinländers - they're similar, but slower than Polkas... AND some are not so happy-feeling!
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oh i see what youre doin here... the ol' bait and switch... get'em with the polka topic to tell them about Reinländers/Rheinländers.
i like the slurring version she played at 3:00. really like that style.
i know what you mean about lawerence welk. as a kid at my grandmothers on Sunday...used to hate it in the winter when that would come on. seems like right after wild kingdom or mutual of omaha wild kingdom.. CAREFUL DAN.. or JIM.. cant remember his name...lol
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@ABitRusty -
Yeah, have to admit I've been favoring Schottisches & Rheinländers (sp?) more than Polkas... not sure why.
I'm still not completely sure what definitive features a 'Polka' has that's different from so many other 2/4 dances/dance music (maybe even some 4/4)! ...tempo can be a factor, where the 'pulse' is, but it's kinda weird that I feel some similarity with hornpipes (2 pulses per measure, some dotted notes, and some phrases ending with tonic played twice).
OMG... (feeling really stupid, now) just found what I was MISSING!!! A discussion at The Session helped - 'Polka vs Hornpipe' (so I'm not the only one). Mark M said:
Try tapping both feet, one at half speed. On hornpipes you’ll find that the slow foot taps on 1 and 3, on polkas 2 and 4.
ARGH! I'm obviously still locked into a 'melody-driven' mindset (even though I've been warned before). 😔 ...yep, it's hard to tell if it's the off-beats that are emphasized, if there's no reference to 'on-beat' rhythm! 🥴
Figured out something else bothering me...
How much "oom-PAH, oom-PAH, oom-PAH, oom-PAH" is TOO much?
There are some very famous Classical 'Polkas', but 'Polka Op. 123, No. 6', by the French composer Charles Dancla - is THE kind of rhythm that gets on my nerves! The 'oom-PAH' totally dominates the music, like a metronome - would drive me nuts to play this!
🤔... maybe that's why I don't like metronomes - tempo domination! 🤣
I do happen to LOVE listening to Rachmaninov's Italian Polka.
It's crazy, I found some great tunes today (and some strange ones I'll share later) - Polkas, and other 'Polka-type' 2/4 dances... danced all over the World!
Guess I still have to watch for tunes changed/accepted as another dance form, too. Jessie from Club Ceoil - has a 'Pulling Bracken' polka tutorial on fiddle & tin whistle (also have seen others play it as a Polka). But, I learned THIS SAME TUNE as the strathspey, 'Cutting Bracken', from Fiona Cuthill (so using a Scottish Snap)! ...btw, since I have my choice, I'd MUCH rather play it as a strathspey. 😊
Now, I have to start getting ready for FIDDLE HELL!
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wow!
that looks sophisticated and difficult jidging by first screen. havent watched though.
egans more my speed 
hornpipes vs polkas...sounds like you got the counting figured out for yourself! that helps and excited for you!
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So, related to Polkas, Schottis & Reinlender (found several different spellings of each, depending on Country) - might be slower, also played in 2/4 time, but I'm not sure if the off-beat is emphasized. ...if it is, are they no different slower polka music?
The confusing thing... finding many written/played in 4/4. It's hard to learn about these tunes if I'm listening to music in 2/4 and 4/4 - thinking they're supposed to be the same.
Aly Bain & Phil Cunningham video clip
Anyway, makes me think I've heard more than a few 4/4 tunes actually played in 2/4, and vice versa. Jeez, feeling strathspey-ish!
Schottis e. Rättviks Spelmanslag - pdf notation for a Schottis from Boda. Looking at this notation, the emphasis is on the 2nd beat.
I can appreciate the HUGE benefit of playing for dances, but I'm sure I'll just have to listen more!
Hope to end up better than guessing at what I hear - like I can tell the difference between a waltz and a mazurka (just don't ask me what 'kind' of waltz 🥴).
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Been watching/listening to many more Polkas - mostly Bavarian/Austrian, some in Denmark & found some new groups I want to follow!
A couple of really BIG Polka Parties...
Cool to see 'chopping' used on the fiddle for a polka - seems a perfect fit!
Polka Loca (Violin and Guitar) Thread - some surprises!
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Back when the Nordic Threads were started, I fell in love with the Ievan Polka (5 Levels of Ievan Polkka: Noob to Vibing) - it even became an earworm.
Liz's video (in the OP) showed me there could be much more to Polkas than I originally thought, so I set out to find ones that suit 'me'. It's been worth it, because I've run across some great tunes & some that still puzzle me.
The Gortnatubrid Polka - composed by Séamus Creagh (also wrote the Connie in The Pool Polka). There's a video of Séamus playing both polkas if you follow the 1st link to The Session notation settings. Here's a tutorial by Benoit Volant.
Polka for Violin and Piano - from the incidental music to "The Census List" arranged for violin and piano by Alfred Schnittke.
Okay, now I'm really fired up!
...no surprise, I like tunes that ditch the major key & vary in tempo. 😁
Anyone want to share a favorite Polka? I'd love to know what others like about Polkas!
Anyone DANCE a Polka?
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Still searching out Polka features (rhythm, articulation). Think there may be more kinds of Polka dance music than I can deal with - Slovenian/Cleveland style, Polish/Chicago style, Sliabh Luachra style, Paraguayan style, Bavarian (Boarischer)/Austrian Bayrische style, Tex-Mex style, Dutch Hop style, etc... and more!
And what about Schottisch?
There was a poor translation of Polka <=> Scottish (volkstanz) on The Session (Germans), but I got a better one going directly to google translate - here's an exerpt:
Another interesting observation can still be made today regarding Polka and Schottisch. This can be verified using modern media, such as the Internet, by accessing relevant information from Austria and Switzerland. Even within German-speaking countries, the interpretation of Schottisch and Polka varies. (Incidentally, Austrian folk dance has an extremely good presence on the Internet. Anyone without their own literature or access to relevant books can download entire folk dances and their descriptions from the Internet.) Comparing the corresponding descriptions for Polka and Schottisch, they differ from each other in Austrian and Swiss dances, as well as from the German ones. Horak discovered this problem in his field research even before the Internet era and makes a corresponding comment and statement: 'The basic Swiss folk dance collection clearly describes the Closed Schottisch : "With two step changes, a full turn, with the free leg swinging forward on the 4th eighth note." The same step movement, but with the free leg raised at the knee on the fourth eighth note, is called a polka step. The above-mentioned Closed Scottish is the same as what is called a Polka Round Dance in Austria.
This would be equivalent to Swabian Scottish.
Back to our German situation.
With the above statements, Horak recounts an experience that not only relates to the area mentioned below and applies to himself, as he self-critically states, but is valid in general. What did all the folk dance recorders actually see? What did they write down? Did they write down what they saw or what they were told they would see? Or did they note down what they wanted to see? Horak's self-critical remark on this: 'During my field research in southern Germany and Switzerland, I noticed then and still notice today that in Swabian-Alemannic the term Schottisch is used for the round dance section of a dance in even time. What I saw, however, I perceived and described as a polka. The relevant literature, which was used for preparation and comparison, could not dispel my uncertainty. These difficulties increased as I evaluated dance publications for my typology work.'
In the further course of his presentation, Professor Karl Horak also discusses the origins of the polka. However, this is not the subject of this article. Nevertheless, I would like to quote a sentence from this section: 'This origin story of the polka was presented as a fairy tale and explained in detail by Rudolph Voss, the Royal Court Dance Teacher in Berlin.'
On the same page, Horak mentions two different polka forms in his article that are also popular in southern Germany. We have the polka that has a hop on the fourth eighth note. But there is also a dance form that is well known in southern Germany, the so-called polka with an upbeat. It is danced with a hop on the first eighth note and then the change step. I don't know whether this form came to us later, perhaps through folk dance courses or visits abroad where this form is known. Horak points out that Richard Wolfram refers to these two polka forms as the German and Czech polka.
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