What's your favorite IrishT polka?

LimuHead · Post by **LimuHead** » Sat May 03, 2003 11:50 am

I have several polkas that have been running through my head lately:

- Britches full of stitches

- Ballydesmond 1 & 2

- Din Tarrant's

- Ger the Rigger

It seems to me that polkas take a backseat to jigs, hornpipes, and reels, which is a shame because they're sooooo much fun to play.....

What other Irish polkas would you recommend?

lollycross · Post by **lollycross** » Sat May 03, 2003 4:22 pm

I love playing Polka's too. I think folks are afraid of them from
remembering having to play accordians as kids. But, Polkas ARE
fun to ply, and everyone should try them all!
Lolly

Rando7 · Post by **Rando7** » Sat May 03, 2003 6:36 pm

John Ryan's Polka is fun and pretty easy to play on the whistle.

Ridseard · Post by **Ridseard** » Sat May 03, 2003 6:44 pm

The Scartaglen Polka

Jayhawk · Post by **Jayhawk** » Sat May 03, 2003 6:45 pm

I'd vote for Ballydesmond's #1 closely followed by Britches full of stiches.

Polkas are a blast to play.

Redwolf · Post by **Redwolf** » Sat May 03, 2003 7:47 pm

Looks like my favorites are nearly everybody's...Ballydesmond 1 and Britches Full of Stitches. I like polkas...somehow they seem more "intuitive" to me than reels.

Redwolf

FJohnSharp · Post by **FJohnSharp** » Sat May 03, 2003 9:39 pm

I learned Morris Manley's Polka from the L E McCollouch book. Then I learned Ballydesmond 2 from my teacher and it was the same polka. I liked it both times I learned it.

SteveK · Post by **SteveK** » Sun May 04, 2003 7:39 am

There are some very nice polkas played on Kevin Burke's first Open House album. I don't know the names and I kind of think that he and Mark Graham made them up. All of the Ballydesond polkas that I've heard are very nice but I've never learned any of them. My favorite polka to play is Riding on a Load of Hay which is on Liz Carroll's first recording. Incidentally, there was an interview with Liz Carroll in a recent Sing Out. She was talking about bad gigs. One was playing in a hardware store in a Polish section of Chicago while the Energizer bunny was dancing with bad timing.

Steve

LimuHead · Post by **LimuHead** » Sun May 04, 2003 12:05 pm

Thanks for the recommendations! I've already 'googled' and printed The Scartaglen Polka, Riding on a load of Hay, and John Ryan's Polka.

The Whistle shop said that my L.E. McCollouch book is in the mail. Whoohoo more polkas on the way!

MacEachain · Post by **MacEachain** » Sun May 04, 2003 12:21 pm

Hi,
have you see the book "110 Irelands best Polkas and Slides"? you can get a double CD to go with it. It's one of a series from Waltons, the others being 110 Fiddle Tunes, 110 Session Tunes, 110 Tin Whistle Tunes and 110 Slow Airs.

Cheers, Mac

SteveK · Post by **SteveK** » Sun May 04, 2003 12:45 pm

Here's a convenient source for three Ballydesmonds all together.

http://www.celticmusic.com/cgi-localbin/tunes.pl

Steve

ChrisLaughlin · Post by **ChrisLaughlin** » Sun May 04, 2003 12:49 pm

And here I was, thinking that there was just one polka that everyone plays, and then you come along and tell me that I've been hearing more than one?!?!
Oh man, this is almost as bad as finding out that the Frickin' Recorder was actually a whistle.
Chris

Azalin · Post by **Azalin** » Sun May 04, 2003 4:33 pm

Once in a while, I play a very nice polka. I think it's called "The Last Chance" polka. I learned it from a great fellow in Ireland almost two years ago

Jens_Hoppe · Post by **Jens_Hoppe** » Mon May 05, 2003 1:59 am

Call me weird (I know my fellow musicians do!) but I just LOVE every single Irish polka I've ever heard, and I would be unable to choose just one as my favorite.

LimuHead · Post by **LimuHead** » Mon May 05, 2003 11:08 am

It's nice not to feel like the only one in the world who likes to play Irish polkas!

Azalin, I couldn't find The Last Chance polka through Google. Any clues where I might find the sheet music or a recording of it?

MacEachain, I am familiar with that book. Do you have the CDs? If so, are they listen-worthy or are they more instructional?