Book of Polkas

[Thomas Maurice Booth]

I am interested in learning the art of the "oom-pah" and I know one way to learn is to just listen to a lot of polkas and figure it out for myself. But, I was hoping there was some sort of book the contained a bunch of the standard tunes so that I can begin to become familiar with, so when a gig comes up I can accept and feel more comfortable in that type of ensemble. Thanks for any help.

TMB

[Chuck(G)]

Brown's Music still carries the old V-E and "Whoopee John" books for sale. Note that you have to place your order via email--I don't think they accept phone orders:

http://www.brownsmusic.com/bandbk.html

[eupher61]

First thing to remember: in a "standard" polka format, you don't play the pah. Just the oom, usually. There are exceptions to that rule, of course.

listen, listen, listen. for one source www.live365.com and search for "polka" under "genre".

Theory. Know your triads, 7th chords, major/minor/diminished. Work around the circle of 5ths doing arpeggio exercises.

Articulation. Gotta be clean and crisp for much of the polka tunes. Some will want the bass notes longer or shorter, but you have to have the good clean attack.

Time. Gotta be metronomic.

Pitch. Match to the accordion. (I know, I know...) That's against the normal, but you can adjust, the squeezer can't.

Beer. Not recommended until you've mastered all the others.

Fun. If you aren't enjoying the music, the audience probably won't.

[Chuck(G)]

I should probably ask the first question that came to my mind when I saw the original post.

What kind of polkas?

Polish? Lithuanian? American? Slovenian? Mexican? Texan? Cleveland? (Frankie Yankovic), Scandanavian? French (they exist)? Bavarian?...the list is very long.

All have differences that will influence your playing style.

[ParLawGod]

http://www.wrjqradio.com/

Wow, I'm from Wisconsin and didn't even know of that site. Thanks - I'm sure I'll be listening to it a lot!!!

[Art Hovey]

There was a very good article in the ITEA (T.U.B.A.) Journal about polka playing, maybe two or three years ago. One thing I remember was advice from a very experienced polka tuba player: he said the duration of a tuba note should be about like the sound of a ping-pong ball bouncing off a table. That is crisp tuba playing! I urge my students to think about that when they are working on marches.

[Alex F]

For a "one man band" operation, that WRJQ sounds like a pro station. While his FCC Part 15 AM transmitter gives him about a 1 mile radius, that porbably covers a good chunk of Appleton, WI. Most of his listeners come via the audio stream.

Thanks Duckskiff. Fun stuff.

[iiipopes]

There was a very good article in the ITEA (T.U.B.A.) Journal about polka playing, maybe two or three years ago. One thing I remember was advice from a very experienced polka tuba player: he said the duration of a tuba note should be about like the sound of a ping-pong ball bouncing off a table. That is crisp tuba playing! I urge my students to think about that when they are working on marches.

That also describes what some folks have said about a "Geib" cupped mouthpiece.

Having played polkas from one of the all-time sources of polkas, the Welk band for one season, and having a pretty authentic Octoberfest celebration in the small historic German settlement town of Freistatt, Missouri, a reasonable drive from here, you're all missing something: dynamics. Yes, you have to be almost metronomic and razor clean. People are usually dancing and singing to a polka after substantial imbibing, so you have to be the one to keep it straight. You have to know your music theory, especially your dominant/subdominant relationships cold. And there are differences in national styles. But the best polkas have lots of dynamic variation throughout to carry not only the melody, but the emotion and drive of the polka as well. And you do have to tune to the accordion.

[iiipopes]

And when in doubt, no one will notice if you stick to I-V, but EVERYONE will notice if you go for a flourish and flub it.

As Doc said, the notes need value and heft, even if they are of short duration. Remember, YOU ARE THE FOUNDATION. Only when you are right on it can the accordion and clarinet trade trills and frills. Also, you will have, especially in the connecting measures between strains, little bits of unison parts here and there, especially if it's going into a change of key.

Again, I can sit here and consume bandwidth all day long. Buy some music, buy some recordings, go sit in with a group and PLAY. That's the best way to learn anything -- a combination of all the above.

[MaryAnn]

Huh. I hate to say it but this sounds like it's right down my silly alley. Never considered it before; have done huge amounts of improv performing in other kinds of music, on other instruments including bass, but never tuba. I was also surprised at the instrumentation of the "orchestras" on that web site that sells the music....one violin, bunch of saxophones. Is it the violin that makes it an "orchestra?" Otherwise methinks I'd call it some kind of "band."

I wonder how one gets this kind of group going, and if it's possible to play in one without having to stay up until all hours. Anybody know of a polka band in Tucson?

MA

[iiipopes]

When I show up to small gigs and I'm the only tuba, you bet I improvise as I go along, especially on some of the quasi-Dixieland pieces. If I don't like the way it's written, or there is not a full balance of parts, I'll be the first to change something to help the texture along. Improvising is an integral part to small ensembles, whether polka bands, parade float bands, etc., to make up for the sometimes bad writing of small arrangements, to make up for outright missing parts in small groups using full concert band arrangements, to keep things going if you have to repeat, and sometimes just to get the crowd's attention and make a good show of it.

[Norlan Bewley]

You can order an Octubafest book from Bewley Music. Get the Tuba 2 book, which has the bass lines. Many polkas, etc in the book. Go here for details:

http://www.tubachristmas.com/bewley.html

These were written for Harvey Phillips' tuba ensemble events over the years.

[LoyalTubist]

When I was a kid, back in the days before 60 Minutes became the main Sunday night TV fare in most American homes, there was a local TV show in Los Angeles called Polka Parade, hosted by Dick Sinclair. I think Dick is still hosting polka shows on cable/Internet radio stations.

http://www.cableradionetwork.com/defaul ... 7264&pid=4