Napolean Gould's Polka.wmv

Comment by rick Ceballos on May 19, 2011 at 7:06am

Good tune and very well played but it seems this new wave of banjo tunes were written to highlight technical prowess and ignore the dance aspects of the rhythm. I think it would be hard to polka to this tune. While the fretted banjo opened up more of the fret board, all the jumping around seems to alter the rhythm. Curious as to your thoughts

Comment by Tim Twiss on May 19, 2011 at 7:17am

I would pretty much agree with you. The terms describing most banjo pieces are tossed around rather loosely (jig, reel, etc.). A piece like this is intrinsic to the banjo, and a showcase for what can be done with pull offs on a single string. I think it exists to do that more than it does to support a dancer. Tunes that were adaptations from the fiddle reperetoire could be held to a higher standard of  dance character.  

Comment by John Masciale on May 19, 2011 at 8:44am

Look at what was going on in this time period.  Chopin wrote a number of waltzes, most of which I would not want to dance to.  You had folk dances, mazurkas, polkas, etc. written more for the concert hall rather than for actual dance.  This falls right into that category.

Comment by Tim Twiss on May 19, 2011 at 10:39am

Yes John...great point. It helps to look at all the early material in that way, knowing that it was never static at any given point. It was always moving forward.

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