Polka tips (for me, I have none to give!)

[cthuba]

Hello all!

Gonna be playing with a group soon. No idea of there a lead chart, music or if they play by ear, so I’ve just been playing with recordings to try and develop my ear.

Anyone have any tips or suggestions?

[Tubeast]

Hi,
I suggest You search this forum for Doc´s recently posted video clips of him performing that kind of music on stage.
Those show a great deal of what this is about, and I´d use them anytime myself as a reference / reminder of what tasteful treatment of this repertoire can do.

Do not play one note after the other.
Try and create an arc of musical expression / purpose in your Basslines, even though they`re mostly on the "ones" and "threes". Most of the time, these arcs of intensity should coincide with those shown in the melody.
That intensity is not exclusively expressed by volume, the "pocket" (acceleration and deceleration along the phrase, and in relation to what the drums are doing) plays a role as well.

Refrain from cutting off notes with consonants. This is NOT the way to create an impression of nimbleness and clarity.
You´re playing bass VOICE, not bass DRUM.
Staccato is not "one short note, ending with a "T", but "two notes, well separated from each other"

Less is more. Don´t overload your part with ad-libs.
But WHEN you insert them occasionally, make them count.

[bloke]

Root and fifth, if they have lead sheets, but a lot of bands these days for just reading written out charts.

Root and fifth will not sound ideal, but will get you through it.

[tofu]

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[bloke]

Yeah, the only people around here who play polkas are Jazz musicians, and that's the way it's always been around here.

[BRS]

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[cthuba]

Thank you all for your responses!

I have listened to Doc’s polka repository and some of his blasmusik playlist collection YouTube (real change of pace from Metallica/Lord Huron etc…). Really really talented players in this genre that I was completely aware of. That include Doc!

I can’t help but notice how some of these baseline riffs sounds suspiciously like Sousa March baseline riffs. Or I should say how Sousa riffs sound like polka riffs.

[bloke]

Yes, as long as you're comfortable with the changes and don't get carried away, you (you: the "everyman" polkatubaiste) can throw in few trombone and dog fight types of things - as long as they're not overdone, but it's better to play the changes (even if they're just root and fifth and even in the wrong inversions) than to jack around on the wrong chord, yes?

[bloke]

I just received a private message regarding this thread, which prompted me to type more blather...

Not all accordionists are equal.
Some (I'm sure, mostly American) accordionists might tend to play "cowboy" (simplified, and missing some of the transitory chords) changes to some (or many) of the polkas. If working with them, playing the correct changes (the bass notes which imply the in-between chords that they fail to play) can "grind". It's best to just go along with their "cowboy" changes.

OTOH, when an accordionist really knows their stuff, it's best to REALLY LISTEN to the changes, be on one's toes and (mostly, if not always) follow their bass buttons).

These comments may not be particularly helpful, because the vast majority of polka band gigs that I've done were with a remarkable (with remarkable ears) accordionist who played all the correct changes, there was NO sheet music, and - when we might slow things down even slower than a slow waltz and might just play a "ballad" - that guy would juice those up with "Nelson Riddle-esque" changes.

something else:
A ton of American accordionists/polka bands play polkas too fast (which discourages dancing).
I don't KNOW this but I SUSPECT that more northern midwestern polka bands MIGHT (??) play polkas closer to reasonable tempi.

[Doc]

Any idea if the music true blasmusik style (German or Czech)? There are a number of regional styles here in the US also.

Or it’s a hang-on-and-see-what-happens kind of thing?