Texas Schottische – Fiddle Tune a Day – Day 229

I don’t know where I learned this tune, but I’ve known it for a long time. It wasn’t one of our family band tunes, so I probably heard an older player play it when I was a kid. That is one of the coolest things about fiddling to me.

Fiddling provides a connection between the older and younger generations. It creates a reason and a conduit for the music, and the wisdom of the generations to be passed on to the youth.

I have to be honest with you. I don’t really know exactly what defines a Schottische. I know they are a syncopated tune, and I’m guessing that the name might reference Scotland, but I am going to look it up to try and get a better definition.

Here are some of the better definitions I’ve found:

1. a 19th-century German dance resembling a slow polka
2. a piece of music composed for or in the manner of this dance [from German der schottische Tanz the Scottish dance]

So, it’s a dance that’s like a slow polka that is based on the German word for Scottish. That’s a good start.

Texas Schottische according to Fiddler’s Companion

TEXAS SCHOTTISCHE. AKA and see “Military Schottische.”

Military Schottische according to Fiddler’s Companion

MILITARY SCHOTTISCHE. AKA and see “Pretty Baby,” “National Schottische,” “Russische Polka,” “Texas Schottische,” “Doppelpolka.” American, Schottische or Polka. G Major (‘A’ and ‘B’ parts) & C Major (‘C’ part) {Ford}: D Major (‘A’ part) & A Major (‘B’ and ‘C’ parts) {Phillips}. Standard tuning. ABCA (Ford): AABBC (Phillips). An international tune known either as a polka, schottische or barn dance. The melody is part of a very large tune family, with the exception of the third part which appears to follow the early 19^th century convention of many marches and other martial tunes in that it was added as a contrast, or filler, for the main melody(s). Many of these third parts, usually in different keys, are called ‘trio’ parts. The German collector Boehme (1886) gives the note “known in 1842, very popular up to 1860.” Kerr’s also gives the tune a German provenance, as it is listed in vol. 1 of Merry Melodies (c. 1880’s) simply under the title “German Schottische” (where it is the second part of a duet, paired against “Home, Sweet Home”). The ‘A’ part of the tune “Snyder’s Clock” is also the same. The first two parts are also closely related to the “Glenbeigh Hornpipe” family of tunes. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 160. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; pg. 86.

More info on the Schottische from Wikipedia

The schottische is a partnered country dance, that apparently originated in Bohemia^{[citation needed]}. It was popular in Victorian era ballrooms as a part of the Bohemian folk-dance craze and left its traces in folk music of countries such as Argentina (“chotis” and “chamamé”), Finland (“jenkka”), France, Italy, Norway (“Reinlender”), Portugal and Brazil (xote, Chotiça), Spain (chotis), Sweden, Denmark (“schottis”), and the United States, among other nations. The schottische is considered by The Oxford Companion to Music to be a kind of slower polka, with continental-European origin.

In general, the standard schottische is made up of two short runs and a hop followed by four turning hop steps: step step step hop, step step step hop, step hop step hop step hop step hop. Steps alternate one foot to the other, hops are only on one foot, so the leader’s footwork would be: left right left hop on left, right left right hop on right, step on left hop on left, step on right hop on right, step on left hop on left, step on right hop on right. In a basic step, the running steps are done in open position (follower on the right side of the leader) and the turning steps are done in closed position; but many variations exists to play with those positions (including parting during the running steps to slip around a slower couple, or the leader genuflecting during the turning step and letting the follower circle around). The first part can be a simple progression with a hop/lift on the last beat of the four, or simply as steps (perhaps with turns); the second part can be turns, but could also be a straight progression, perhaps with variations (e.g., holds). The key to how it should be danced in each tradition is, of course, is the music.

Schottisches danced in Europe (in the context of a bal folk), where they originated, are different from how they are danced in the United States. The European (or Continental) version (often called “skoteesh”), is typically danced to faster music and is quite restrained in its movements. The American version is often large and open, with the first part expressed equally as promenades, individual or led twirls or similar moves, and the second part most often expressed as a close pivot. It seems to be mostly referred to as a “shodish”. These days the general chottische step pattern fits perfectly with the flow of reggae (and many ska songs).

Other Countries info is in the Wikipedia Article, but since this is the Texas Schottische, here’s the info on the USA:

United States

The schottische came to the USA from Europe and there are countless variations of the dance. After 1848, a number of old ballroom variants of schottische were danced in California. The “Five-Step Schottische” and a Highland Schottische with modifications were included on lists of ballroom dances of the period. Four of the variants had quite striking similarities with the second half of each dance described as turning with two-step. This is similar to the old “Glide Polka” (step-close-step, with no hop) or the galop (glide,change,glide).^[2] In Texas alone there have been schottische-like dances with names such as Drunk, Blue Bonnett, MgGinty, and Douglas.^[3] Schottische variations include a straight leg kick, a kick-hop and a standing hop. Both include the traditional hop that is part of the schottische.^[3]

In the southern United States at the start of the 20th century the schottische was combined with ragtime; the most popular “ragtime schottische” of the era was “Any Rags” by Thomas S. Allen in 1902. In New Orleans, Buddy Bolden’s band and other proto-jazz groups were known for playing hot schottisches. It is also danced as a Western promenade dance in Country and Western dance venues, oftentimes after the Cotton-Eyed Joe.