Good Oktoberfest tunes?

[Alan Polivka]

According to Google Translate, "moja dekle" means "my girlfriend".

And hey, while we're on the subject of Slovenian accordion music, you can't go wrong with pretty much anything by Slavko Avsenik. Okay, so he's not German, but he was/is pretty popular over there--a lot of his tunes are possibly better known by their translated German titles ("Trompetenecho", "Auf der Autobahn", etc.)

Yes, in fact, most of the small polka combos in Germany nowadays pattern themselves after Slavko's band, rather than the older original large brass om-pah style. Slavko wrote over 1,000 polkas and waltzes that have been played by many other bands.

Moje Dekle is a popular Slovenian polka, BTW.

 

[Alan Polivka]

Pretty much, as I’ve noted before, here if you don’t play Beer Barrel you might as well just pack up your cordeen and go home. Sad but true!

The Germans wrote their own lyrics to Beer Barrel Polka. They call it Rosamunde. You can find the lyrics easily via Google if you want to sing it authentically at an Oktoberfest.

 

[Alan Polivka]

curious to me.. i would have never considered the Chicken Dance an
Oktoberfest song at all

to me it is one of those silly Wedding party type songs for the Kids
and drunk Uncles and Aunts to have fun with.. like the Macarena..

i don't think i have ever played it at an Oktoberfest gig, which around
here has always been more Euro and less Chicago Polka focused
with the Food being at least as important as the Bier and occasionally
including a few of the open-air specialties i fondly remember
like Zwiebelkuchen and Mushroom Soup and DampfKnodlen..
i look forward to some Nuremburger Brats and Purple Slaw and
all those treats and think of them while i practice the music and
find a few new songs to include in this season's setlist

one year i got some slightly yet fermenting Wine from BIll Loew to bring along,
as the "noiwein" is sipped and discussed at the more country located German
Oktoberfests and good naturedly argued over.. good for digestion too !

Amazing that you've never played Chicken Dance at an Oktoberfest. I usually get so many requests for it that I have to play it multiple times at each Oktoberfest. That is based on my experience playing for Oktoberfests here in Colorado for 22 years and in Florida for 24 years before that. As you say, in your area they may want something different.

When I lived in Florida, a band from Germany happened to be touring there during Oktoberfest season one year. So, our local Oktoberfest hired them. They were a large brass band that played beautifully. Unfortunately, at the end of every song, the crowd would yell "Chicken Dance, Chicken Dance." So, they played it every 2nd or 3rd song. That was very disappointing to me because the band could have played more of their beautiful renditions of polkas, waltzes, etc.

 

[Alan Polivka]

Well if it helps, "Too Fat" is basically just the Village Polka with new words. So play the Village Polka and let the audience draw their own conclusions. I usually do it as a medley with the Lindenau Polka, but you can string any number of similar old polkas together to make things interesting.

Some other German and German-adjacent folk/trad tunes that I've played on these sorts of gigs:

• Ein Prosit (this one is pretty much mandatory)
• Du Liegst Mir im Herzen
• Der Fröhliche Wanderer
• Clarinet Polka
• Freut euch des Lebens
• Trink, Trink, Brüderlein Trink
• Lustig ist das Zigeunerleben
• Zillertaller Hochzeitmarsch
• Waldeslust

And some of the more modern/poppy Oktoberfest tunes to consider:

• In München steht ein Hofbräuhaus
• In Heaven There Is No Beer
• Edelweiss
• Pennsylvania Polka
• Who Stole the Kishka
• Fliegerlied
• Country Roads (Very popular at the "real" Oktoberfest for some reason)
• Hey Baby! (Yes, the old Bruce Channel song. Also very popular in Munich, believe it or not, thanks to a modern remake.)

Now I could be reading too much into your post, but I get the sense that you might feel a bit of disdain for a lot of this music. Which I sort of get. Some of it is simplistic and not very musically interesting. Maybe even stupid. And definitely clichéd (I mean, that's the point, isn't it? That's what Oktoberfests hire accordion players for--the whole stereotype.)

But you know what? I like playing them! More to the point, I like playing them for people who like hearing them. Kids going absolutely ape$hit for the "Chicken Dance". People swaying back and forth with their beers to Edelweiss, singing along. Even people not really paying close attention to the music but nonetheless enjoying the whole atmosphere.

There are lifelong memories being made at these events. And there are troubles being forgotten, at least for an hour or so. How fortunate to get to be a part of that?

A couple of other super-popular tunes at the original Oktoberfest in Munich (and here) are:
- Liechtensteiner polka
- Sweet Caroline
- Sierra Madre (actually a German song with a Spanish name)
- Lili Marlene

People attending the original Oktoberfest (as well as those here) like to sing along, especially after having a few beers. So, you'll want to play some songs that Americans all know and can sing along. Sweet Caroline and Country Roads are great for that, because people at the original Oktoberfest know and sing them and people here know and sing them. BTW, in Munich, they sing these two songs in English, not German.

And even though not German, you'll likely get requests for Beer Barrel polka and Blue Skirt waltz.

 

[Alan Polivka]

Here's a "cut sheet" of a Slovenian polka I found -- I don't know where I got it. I don't even know what the name means. It's a very simple tune. You can add 1/8" notes, different right hand patterns, etc. I love it. I never play it the same twice. For me it's one of those tunes you just have to "feel", get into a polka beat rhythm, and play what comes out. Then it's the best.

An interesting thing about this Slovenian polka, Moje Dekla, is that there are two different melodies for it. Some bands play the one you've attached, other bands play the other melody. Both are familiar to most Slovenian-American polka fans.

 

[Alan Polivka]

I swear that I'm going to get a duck mask and play the chicken dance in an Oktoberfest this year or later.

I think I'll get one, but make some other band member wear it ... perhaps as a penalty for the first person to make a mistake !!! (-:

 

[JerryPH]

Why let someone else have the fun?

 

[Ventura]

around here we have so many Military and Govt. people who
rotated through Europe and everywhere else we have military
bases too, so they fall in love get married to a local and bring
them back here

next thing you know here is an enclave of Vietnamese and there
are the Filipino's populating the medical support fields and next
thing you know Germantown pretty much really is like Chinatown
in many cities and nearby suburbs.. we have an old "Miracle Mile"
highway in Northern Virginia that literally has every Asian country
in control of about 1/2 mile of it, with all the retail and food places
reflecting their culture and traditions.. you can even get legit DimSum
on Sunday at one end of that highway

this all is leading up to saying that because of this dynamic,
the actual number 1 legit stop them in their tracks every little girl
and her mom suddenly jump up to dance and sing to each other
and get crazy at local Oktoberfest events song is

drum roll

Dancing Queen

period

end of story

 

[Alan Polivka]

around here we have so many Military and Govt. people who
rotated through Europe and everywhere else we have military
bases too, so they fall in love get married to a local and bring
them back here

next thing you know here is an enclave of Vietnamese and there
are the Filipino's populating the medical support fields and next
thing you know Germantown pretty much really is like Chinatown
in many cities and nearby suburbs.. we have an old "Miracle Mile"
highway in Northern Virginia that literally has every Asian country
in control of about 1/2 mile of it, with all the retail and food places
reflecting their culture and traditions.. you can even get legit DimSum
on Sunday at one end of that highway

this all is leading up to saying that because of this dynamic,
the actual number 1 legit stop them in their tracks every little girl
and her mom suddenly jump up to dance and sing to each other
and get crazy at local Oktoberfest events song is

drum roll

Dancing Queen

period

end of story

Cool. Do you play Dancing Queen instrumental (solo) or do you sing it?

 

[Ventura]

lol

THEY sing it.. i just play it

my Oct. Vocals are limited, but i learned a verse of Mussiden phonetically
for "Wooden Heart"
Just another Polka
Lets have a Party
Just Because
Kishka
and i sing "Winds of Change" for Silkie.. it still makes her cry
( she is the cook for one of the Fests..
you bet i want to stay on her good side ! )
but they know i am Italian so if i sing "Nel blu, dipinto di blu" late in the evening
it's all good, though for a Fest i do the high energy Gipsy Kings arrangement
because it is more danceable while in a club setting of course gonna go with
Dean's smiling, laid back version

 

[accordionmaniac]

Since a few people mentioned it in this thread, I thought I'd just re-iterate that there's absolutely nothing wrong with playing Slovenian polkas and waltzes (that is, ones from Slovenia) which are known to German speakers as 'Oberkrainer' music. There is an overlap between Oberkrainer and Austrian popular folk music (Volksmusik), as a lot of the modern Volksmusik style has taken inspiration from Slovenia (bass guitar or baritone, short gypsy-swing-like rhythm guitar, and piano accordion or diatonic button accordion/Steirische harmonika), and bands from both Slovenia, Austria and Bavaria will play at each other's concerts and festivals.

Some 'staples':
Trompetenecho by Avsenik (Slo: Na golici), Auf der autobahn by Avsenik (Slo: Na avtocesti), Am wochenende by Mihelic (Slo: Ob koncu tedna), Tante mizzi by Avsenik (Slo: V hrasah mam pa tetko), Tiroler Buam Polka and Zillertaler Schurzenjager popularised by Zillertaler Schurzenjager, Pretuler Polka (a traditional Austrian polka), Timple Boarischer by Zillertaler Schurzenjager, Bohmischer Traum, Bohmicher Liebe, Wir grussen euch by Die Molltaler, Gretl Boarischer (a traditional Austrian boarischer), and some waltzes like Seerosen Walzer by Avsenik (Slo: Cvetoci Lokvanj), Tam Kjer Murke Cveto by Avsenik, Gurktaler Walzer (a traditional Austrian waltz), La mula de parenzo (an Istrian folk song from Croatia which gets played in Slovenia and Austria as well) and the list goes on.

Some songs which might grab people's attention but might be a little more technically demanding and require more practice:
Polka Express by Burnik, Guten Morgen by Burnik (Slo: Dobro jutro), Mooskirchner Polka by Die Mooskirchner, Flott aufgspielt by Erich Moser.

This is of course in addition to older songs like the drinking/toast songs and Schneewalzer, etc.

 

[JeffJetton]

They were a large brass band that played beautifully. Unfortunately, at the end of every song, the crowd would yell "Chicken Dance, Chicken Dance." So, they played it every 2nd or 3rd song. That was very disappointing to me because the band could have played more of their beautiful renditions of polkas, waltzes, etc.

Reminds me of the movie Eurovision, where the (fictional) band's audience keeps demanding one particular song over and over: "Ja Ja Ding Dong".


Band Leader: "Tell me, when will it be enough for you?"

Insistent Fan (Yelling): "It will never be enough! I only want to hear Ja Ja Ding Dong!"

I guess every band has their own personal "Ja Ja Ding Dong". When I first moved to Nashville in the '90s and was playing in cover bands, we had to play "Achy Breaky Heart" at least once per set or people would riot.

 

[Tom]

“Free Bird!!!!!!”

 

[JerryPH]

I am going to date myself. There is one style of music that is just pure Octoberfest to me, yodeling. I was in Munich and had the pleasure many, many years ago of hearing this man sing. I firmly believe he was the best yodler in the world and nothing screams Octoberfest more than these styles of songs:


Though I don't listen to it very often, when I do hear a master yodler, I can listen to them for quite a while!

 

[EMan]

Great lists for the Oktoberfest season. I've been looking for some good lists. Thanks guys !

 

[JerryPH]

Also, Jeff has previously posted that he has a few songs available on his site!

Here's Some Free Accordion Sheet Music for Oktoberfest

FYI, for the past few years (mostly), Ive been celebrating the beginning of Oktoberfest by picking an Oktoberfest-appropriate song, whipping up an accordion arrangement of it (sometimes in two different difficulty levels), and including it in a blog post on my website for anyone to download and...

www.accordionists.info

 

[Giovanni]

Thank you for sharing the site details ........I've download one tune zillertaller ,many thanks Jerry and Jeff

 

[JerryPH]

The rule is if you download it from Jeff, you hae to post a video of you playing it... LOL. (kidding!!)

 

[JeffJetton]

Also, Jeff has previously posted that he has a few songs available on his site!

Here's Some Free Accordion Sheet Music for Oktoberfest

FYI, for the past few years (mostly), Ive been celebrating the beginning of Oktoberfest by picking an Oktoberfest-appropriate song, whipping up an accordion arrangement of it (sometimes in two different difficulty levels), and including it in a blog post on my website for anyone to download and...

www.accordionists.info

Ah yes, I used to put a new Oktoberfest-appropriate arrangement every season, but the blogging habit is an easy one to lose steam on, isn't it?

Okay, so I need to get back into the swing of it. Open to suggestions! (Public domain only please.)

 

[JerryPH]

Ah yes, I used to put a new Oktoberfest-appropriate arrangement every season, but the blogging habit is an easy one to lose steam on, isn't it?

Okay, so I need to get back into the swing of it. Open to suggestions! (Public domain only please.)

Totally.

I'm a bit of an odd duck when it comes to my blog... my blog is more about my stores and made for me, but if anyone gets anything useful or entertaining from it, I am happy.

My goal is super simple, once a month minimum, more if I have something of value that I want to save or had a nice story to add. If there is nothing, then there is nothing, but that's rare.