Polka

Originally a Czech dance and genre of dance music familiar throughout all of Europe and the Americas. The polka originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia. It remains a popular folk music genre and is performed by many folk artists. The Czech word půlka (half), possibly referring to the short half-steps featured in the dance, was widely introduced into the major European languages in the early 1840s.

One of the types found in the US is the North American Polish-style polka, which has roots in Chicago, with large Czech and Polish minorities; two substyles are the Chicago honky (using clarinet and one trumpet) and Chicago push featuring the accordion, Chemnitzer and Star concertinas, upright bass or bass guitar, drums, and (almost always) two trumpets. North American Slovenian-style polka is fast and features piano accordion, chromatic accordion, or diatonic button box accordion; it is associated with Cleveland. North American Dutchmen-style features an oom-pah sound often with a tuba and banjo and has roots in the American Midwest.

Conjunto-style polkas have roots in northern Mexico and Texas and are also included in norteño. In the 1980s and 1990s, several American bands began to combine polka with various rock styles (sometimes referred to as punk polka, alternative polka, or San Francisco-style). There also are classical polkas, Irish polkas, Nordic polkas, Curaçaoan polkas, Peruvian polkas, and Argentinian polca. 1830–    .