Rosi Polka – Hey Rosi (F. Gressenberger) [Sheet music] [Tutorial video]

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Über das Lied

“Rosi Polka” or “Hey Rosi” is an energetic instrumental polka featuring just 2 sung words: “Hey Rosi!” and some challenging keyboard runs. It was written by Felix Gressenberger from Austria, who recorded this song with Die 5 Rosentaler in the late 1980s, and with Friedl Lazarus und seine Original Mooskirchner (also known as Mooskirchner Quintett) in the 1990s.

This polka has become a staple of Austrian folk music and Oberkrainer music groups’ repertoires, covered in a variety of folk styles such as Echte Volksmusik through to Oberkrainer style trios and quintetts, and performed on either chromatic button accordion, diatonic button accordion (Steirische Harmonika) or the piano accordion. The song continues to be covered and recorded by different ensembles to this day, including Original Zillertaler who played it in the key of F. Piano accordion players seem to play it in whichever key suits them best, usually either D (original) or F which can be a little easier to play (eg. Original Zillertaler), so I’ve arranged sheets and tutorial videos in both keys.

The original was performed on the chromatic button accordion by Gressenberger, and his playing of the very challenging section (part B) is very fluid, no doubt partially owing to the layout of the chromatic button accordion, and also to his high calibre of playing as evident in all of his recordings. I’ve attempted to make part B more achievable on the piano accordion by somewhat simplifying it, while maintaining the intended feeling and full sound of the (crazy) chords.