What makes a song a polka?
SHeld007
I happened across a station playing polkas, but some of the songs sounded
like waltzes. All of the songs were played by polka orchestras. What
makes a song a polka?
Toby Hanson
In article <19970201055...@ladder01.news.aol.com>,
shel...@aol.com (SHeld007) wrote:
Polkas are in two-four time like marches. Waltzes are in three-four time
and have a gentle swaying feel to them. Polka bands generally play music
from the polka genre-polkas, waltzes, and the various attendant ethnic
dances: obereks, schottisches, laendlers, krakowiaks, and the Chicken
Dance. Lately many people have been pushing the envelope of what the
polka genre encompasses by playing country, rock, jazz, and easy listening
along with polkas. I like the Macarena, but I feel it's best left to DJs
spinning in clubs.
--
-Toby Hanson
jtha...@halcyon.com
http://www.halcyon.com/jthanson/main.htm
"Remember趴e may not all be Scandinavian, but we're all Smilin'!"
KJ ANTHONY
The oberek is in 3/4 time but instead of the accent being on beat one (as
in a traditional waltz) the accent is on beat three then one. And,
generally speaking,.the thaditional oberek phrasing is in two section of
four bars.
KJ Anthony
sli...@spectra.net
Obereks are in 3/8 time!!, At least the last time I looked at the
music.
Steve
Steve Litwin
Polka Editor
Polish American Journal
sli...@spectra.net
sli...@aol.com
on the web at:
IMATPTPLYR
BRAVO STEVE! Yes indeed the oberek is in 3/8 time. Whenever I arranged
them for Eddie though I still wrote them out in 3/4 time. It just seemed
to make them easier to read. Do you s'pose a band that plays their polkas
too fast for dancing plays in 2/8 time? hmmm...
Kevin Adams
Toby Hanson
In article <19970204061...@ladder01.news.aol.com>,
imatp...@aol.com (IMATPTPLYR) wrote:
One of my big pet peeves is people who insist on writing polkas in 4/4
time. Polkas are in 2/4, not 4/4. Unfortunately, most of the people
around here don't care. They either write them as two measures of 2/4 in
a bar of 4/4 or as cut time in 4/4. Either way, it's incorrect and it
bugs the heck out of me. Maybe that's just my conservatory training
talking.
Jim Johnson
In article <19970203111...@ladder01.news.aol.com>, kjan...@aol.com (KJ ANTHONY) says:
>
>The oberek is in 3/4 time but instead of the accent being on beat one (as
>in a traditional waltz) the accent is on beat three then one. And,
>generally speaking,.the thaditional oberek phrasing is in two section of
>four bars.
>
>KJ Anthony
>
=======================================
Is it me??? I'm lost here. An Oberek and a Waltz have the same time
signature....3/4 time. The only difference is that Obereks are played
faster than a waltz.
I'm a bass player, and if I accented the 3rd beat of an Oberek, my ass
would be out in the street! LOL!
Maybe for dancers....but even then......
Later,
Jim
sli...@spectra.net
On 5 Feb 1997 09:43:08 GMT, jjfi...@buffnet.net (Jim Johnson) wrote:
>Is it me??? I'm lost here. An Oberek and a Waltz have the same time
>signature....3/4 time. The only difference is that Obereks are played
>faster than a waltz.
>I'm a bass player, and if I accented the 3rd beat of an Oberek, my ass
>would be out in the street! LOL!
>Maybe for dancers....but even then......
Jim
All oberek music (published) that I have is iin 3/8. I'll let Kevin
jump in on this one, because I'm simply an amateur, but it's always
been 3/8 time as far as I know. Many bands write it out in 3/4,
however.
TNTRAZZ
sorry, you can never play a polka too fast...
KJ ANTHONY
Oooo. Touchy subject there. I met the leader of a defunct polka band in
Dearborn, MI and he said that the formner band played polkas too
fast...Jeez. I have the old LPs and they don't seem fast to my ear. Is it
possible that the drummer played the same song in different tempos? We'll
never know.
KJ Anthony
IMATPTPLYR
It's no easier to read one way or the other... it's just that if you're
used to reading waltzes in 3/4 then I guess 3/8 just looks kind of busy.
There's more ink... more flags on the notes... more beams connecting the
notes.
One thing though can't be denied, it sounds the same either way. One
band reads the chart in 3/4 then reads the same song with the music
written as 3/8, and you'd never know the diff.
I'm no purist. Yes, there is a correct way... but as long as the band
plays it well, what's the difference?
IMATPTPLYR
Sorry I forgot to sign that last post.....
it deserves saying one more time though... What's the difference as long
as the band sounds good.
Kevin Adams (IMATP...@aol.com)
sli...@spectra.net
On 5 Feb 1997 12:33:59 GMT, tnt...@aol.com (TNTRAZZ) wrote:
>sorry, you can never play a polka too fast...
Now this is where we disagree! I like Eastern but don't like dancing
to "fast" Eastern. Sorry, I can't dance to Bernie anymore. I guess I'm
just a Chicago(Buffalo) guy at heart!
sli...@spectra.net
Kevin,
I agree! The discussion here has been good, however! It brought
out some good points and interesting comments.
I checked some of my music last night and found obereks "signed"
both with 3/8 and 3/4. Some of the older Vitak Elsnic music was
signed 3/8, yet I "did" find some signed 3/4 for obereks.
Same with some of the new stuff in the Sajewski books. But, all the
Lush books I have from the late 60s have 3/4 for obereks.
It doesn't make a difference, but it is a good topic and generated
some good dialogue here! It gets this newsgroup "going."
Toby Hanson
>On 5 Feb 1997 12:33:59 GMT, tnt...@aol.com (TNTRAZZ) wrote:
>
>>sorry, you can never play a polka too fast...
>
>
>Now this is where we disagree! I like Eastern but don't like dancing
>to "fast" Eastern. Sorry, I can't dance to Bernie anymore. I guess I'm
>just a Chicago(Buffalo) guy at heart!
You most definately can play a polka too fast. The dancers around here
are all in their 60s and 70s and they complain about any polka that's too
fast. They like their polkas right around 112 bpm. For my taste, I like
them about 120bpm.
TNTRAZZ
you and signing....what's up with that? You're a nut!!
TNTRAZZ
actually there's no bands around that can play as fast as Bernie did...
therefore, I don't have to work about dancing that fast!...otherwise we'd
all have a problem regardless of age!
sli...@aol.com
In article <19970207125...@ladder01.news.aol.com>,
tnt...@aol.com (TNTRAZZ) writes:
I really didn't begin dancing until a night a Chopin's Club rooms and the
musician's wives dragged me to the floor. They got tired of standing
around while the band played. OF course it was Buffalo/Chicago style then
and I've stayed with that.
S