Björn’s polka

Alright, I know, second parts and all that stuff. I wanted to give it just that one try here. I well know how harmony, usually the fault of ‘wind’, that type of instrument, whistle, flute or recorder and the ‘bag and bellows’ that blows them, or a piano accordion - and usually so syrupy and overdone that it detracts from the melody - but sometimes it can be fun. I couldn’t quite figure out how to do some of the things I do, drones and the like, rather than a mirrored harmony. I also tend to do such things sparingly, but - this is another version I’d been given in old sytle ABCs, one part on top of the other. I just hope it works. I put the tune straight first, then with chords, then with two parts or harmony, and then by itself again.

This might have worked better in 4/4, as the tune is not ‘manic’ in my mind buy rolls along, closer to that family - ‘barndances’. However, I got the ABCs as 2/4… Maybe Gard will know another name for this. I have several. There is also a dance I’m trying to remember that was part of this tune. I’ll be back with that breakdown. I remember it was a fun dance.

Bjørn’s, cool!

It shall be 2/4, I think it’s a halling.

……should we be kenning it as Bjørnhallingen etter ceolachan?

😉

-Pádraig

Hmm, now when I heard it, I’m not so sure what tune it is, but we can just call it Bjørnslåtten etter ceolachan!

I can’t keep blaming that bloke Dyslexia, maybe his old sidekick Age could be in league here. I missed out, maybe on purpose, the second way with that last bit, where I start to make some playful suggestions in the A part - but missed the follow through on the cut and paste - anyway, you’ll understand the madness, as here it is as an intended mutilation of the rhythm, trusting there’s a cittern, bouzouki, mando-cello, cello, guitar helping to hold this mayhem together. So Gard, let’s see what you think of this. “I’ll be back!” - with a dance for it…

|: B/c/ | dB/c/ dB/c/ | dB GB/c/ | dB/c/ dg | f2- ff/g/ |
az/.f/ az/.f/ | a/g/f/e/ d>e | dz/c/ BA |[1 G2- G:|[2 Gg f=f||
e2 c2 | Gg g/f/e | dz zB | Gg fg |
az zf | da ^ga | bz zg | dg f=f |
e2 c2 | Gg fe | dz zB | Gg fe |
de/d/ cd/c/ | EF/E/ FG/F/ | GA/G/ GA/G/ | Gg g/f/=f |
ez zc | zG zg | dz zB | zG zg |
az zf | zd za | b_b a_a | gf =f2 |
ez zc | zG zg | dz zB | zG zg |
d2 c2 | E2 F2 | G2- G2 | G2 G ||

Is Bjorn a name of a person?

Are you supposed to be able to do the double stops on the fiddle? If you are, can someoen please give me a few tips on how to do them?

Fear not Aaron, anyone that could pull that last bit off as ‘double stops’ would be the spawn of the devil for sure, black fiddle and all. They are two parts. While I shy away from ‘harmony’, as it tends more often to distract from the dance in a tune than to contribute, there are exceptions. Too often ‘harmony’ is akin to percussion, like the bodhran, someone takes to it because they can’t be bothered to learn the melody, the music, the dance in it, and the consequences reflect that, all over the place, smarmy, detracting from melody, phrase and rhythm… Like the bodhran player that plays the same incessant rat-a-tat-tat for every tune form, ‘harmonizers’ tend to be stuck in major. Both tend to steam roll over everything. Now there’s something they could more constructlvely put their time to - road building? Ass-fault? Nah, that requires skill too… ;-P

Forgot to add to this one, that generally, whatever the influence, I now tend to play this as 32 bars, not repeating the B-part as given here. As notated here it is 48 bars, the B-part, 16 bars, repeating…

Promoted and taught in many places by Gordon Tracie,
a wonderful person and a great and generous teacher…

This one is believed to originate in Norway and have gone through changes as it moved Westward and crossed the Atlantic and was ‘Americanized’. Some believe it originates from the Norwegian “Parisarpolka”, but hey, by the title, it likely moved North from Paris via that fine city’s influences on the world’s ballrooms in the 1800s. It found it’s way into the oldtime dance scene in North America and mixed with quadrilles, oldtime squares and contras and the like as well as finding time in the Norse Halls across the continent.

Music: 2/4 polkas, ‘andante’ = 110 - 135 bpm.

Formation: Couples in a circle. all facing forward around the dance space/hall anti-clockwise (ACW) - he on her left/she on his right (or two men or two women)

Hold: This can be a simple hand-hold at approximately shoulder height, man’s right/woman’s left
- or -
open waist-shoulder hold, man’s right arm around the woman’s back, her left hand on his right shoulder…

Steps: walking, polka, pivot/double/dreher…
The ‘polka’ step can be a straight ‘3’, such as LRL, or it can be with a ‘hop’, hop123. The ‘hop’ is best not ‘exaggerated, a simple ’heel lift and down‘ will do, or as in a ’skip’…
The ‘pivot’ can also be straight or with a ‘hop’, for example, the woman’s step, R, L, R, L, or hop-R, hop-L, hop-R, hop-L…

8 bar introduction

SINGLE VERSION = 8 bars / waist-shoulder
(-similar distinction made, ‘single’ and ‘double’, for other couple dances.)

BARS/MEASURES

1 - 2 Beginning on outside foot walk forward three steps in the Line of Direction (ACW) =
Man-L,R,L/Woman-R,L,R, turn in toward partner to face back the way you’d come (CW), taking hold and stamping outside foot, M-R/W-L, without changing weight ~

3 - 4 Beginning on outside foot walk forward three steps CW = M-R,L,R/W-L,R,L, drop hold and turn to face partner, clap own hand together twice and take a ballroom hold (choice of possibilities…)

5 - 6 In a waltz hold turn as a couple CW while traveling around the hall ACW, once round ~ alternately just dance on on the spot = M-to his L/W-to her R = M-LRL,RLR/W-RLR,LRL…

7 - 8 Four pivot/double/dreher steps…

Variations:

1 - 4 With the other hold, simply inside hands, you would walk forward, do the stamp for bars 1-2, then you’d turn and walk forward and do the claps for 3-4.

5 - 8 can be eight pivot/double/dreher steps…

1 - 4 Partners, without taking a hold, for 1-2 can turn outward from one another and moving on ACW in the LOD, M-turns ACW/W-turns CW, and stamp, and for 3-4 reversing the turn and direction, finishing with the two claps.

1 - 4 Holding hands the man can walk forward as the woman turns to her heart’s content under the joined hands, first ACW then back CW, with stamp and finishing with the two claps…

Couples can choose to mix these variations…

DOUBLE = 16 bars…

1 - 8 For this the moves, in whatever combination, of 1-4 are repeated… As an example, 1-4 could be as given, walk ACW, one stamp, walk CW, two claps, then roll away ACW, one stamp, roll back CW, two claps…

9 - 14 Polka around the hall ACW, 6 X 123, or hop123
15 - 16 Four pivot/double/dreher steps…

There are a number of tunes on site here this dance would work well with, but here are two recent additions:

The Hawk Polka
https://thesession.org/tunes/4649

Elmer’s Tune
https://thesession.org/tunes/4657

that “harmonized” part really seems an Enrico Polo study!

& another one that would likely be a good match for this dance ~

“Hm?”
# Added by ceolachan - July 13th, 2013 (C: ‘c’) 😉
https://thesession.org/tunes/12830

https://thesession.org/tunes/15198
# Added by ceolachan - 8/2/2016

This is another we played and danced to for “The Seattle Polka”.