Polka is a type of dance and genre of dance music; it originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia, and is still a common genre of Czech folk music; it is also common both in Europe and in the Americas. In classical music, many polkas were composed by both Johann Strauss I and his son Johann Strauss II; a couple of well-known ones were composed by Bedrich Smetana.
| Polka
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| Stylistic origins:
| Folk dance based on Czech and Polish sources; details highly controversial
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| Cultural origins:
| 1830s Bohemia
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| Typical instruments:
| Accordion, TubaThe tuba is the largest of the low- brass instruments and is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid- 19th century, when it largely replaced the ophicleide. There is usually only one tuba in an orchest, PianoPiano is a common abbreviation for pianoforte a large musical instrument with a keyboard (see keyboard instrument). Its sound is produced by strings stretched on a rigid frame. These vibrate when struck by felt-covered hammers, which are activated by the
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| Mainstream popularity:
| Formerly much, worldwide, now limited to small populations
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| Subgenres
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| Chicago dyno - Chicago honky - Chicago push - Cleveland style - Conjunto style - Dutchman style - Eastern style - Neo-polka - Polish style - Slovenian style
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| Fusion genres
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| Polka-mazurkaThe polka-mazurka is a dance, musically similar to the mazurka, but danced in a way close to the polka. Many polka-mazurkas were composed by Johann Strauss II and his family. However, it must be noted that Johann Strauss I did not compose any of this type - Polkasteady - Chicken scratchChicken scratch waila music is a kind of dance music developed by the Tohono O'odham people. The genre evolved out of acoustic fiddle bands in the Southwest United States. These bands began playing European and Mexican tunes, including the polka, schottis
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| Other topics
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| Polka Aid
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The polka (a 2/4-beat dance of Czech origin) should not be confused with the polskaThe Polska (plural polskor not to be confused with the polka) is the most common of Swedish folk music and folk dances. Its name originally meant "Polish dance", and it does have Polish roots (the name of the dance means Poland in Polish language). It is (a SwedishThe Kingdom of Sweden Konungariket Sverige in Swedish) is a Nordic country in Scandinavia, in Northern Europe. It is bordered by Norway on the west, Finland on the northeast, the Skagerrak and the Kattegat on the southwest, and the Baltic Sea and the Gulf 3/4-beat dance with PolishThe Republic of Poland a country in Central Europe, lies between Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, and the Baltic Sea, Lithuania and Russia (in the form of the Kaliningrad Oblast exclave) t roots); cf. also polka-mazurka. A related dance is the redowa.
There are various styles of contemporary polka. Of the US types, the North American "Polish-style polka" has roots in Chicago, and can be identified as 'Chicago honky' and 'Chicago push' styles. North American " Slovenian-style polka" is fast and features piano, accordion, and is associated with Cleveland. North American "Dutchman-style" features an oom-pah sound, often with a tuba, and has roots in the American Midwest. " Conjunto-style" has roots in Northern Mexico and Texas, and is also called Norteņo. In the 1980s and 1990s several bands began to combine polka with various rock styles, sometimes referred to as " punk polka", " alternative polka" or " San Francisco-style".
