“Prost!” Source: Wikimedia Commons

Gruß Gott!

As I type this post, it is less than 24 hours until the opening of Oktoberfest in Munich!

And while the party there runs until October 4th, here in the states the various Oktoberfest celebrations might not even get started until then–maybe even later. All of which means plenty of chances for we accordion players to bust out a few good beer-drinking songs.

So here’s my arrangement of Ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit. If you’ve ever been to a German-style beer hall, you’ve probably heard this short little anthem more than once, and possibly taken part in the customary toast-and-chug at the end.

Note that there are two versions in the PDF file:  A basic one on the first page and a fancy one on the second. The basic one should be easily playable by anyone who has gotten through most of Palmer-Hughes Book Two. The fancy version is, well, fancier. You’ll need some experience playing two and three-note chords in the right hand as well as counterbasses in the left hand.

And if you need more drinking music than that, check out my arrangement of Du, Du Leigst Mir Im Herzen.

Tschüß!

“Prost!” Source: Wikimedia Commons

Guten Tag!

From time-to-time I’ll be posting some of my own accordion arrangements for you to download and (hopefully) enjoy playing. Just my way of saying “thanks” for being a visitor to my website.

And what better way to kick things off than with something in honor of Oktoberfest, which starts today in Munich!

I’ve never been, but I hear that it’s in tents! (Ba-dum-psssh…)

Anyway, here’s the beer hall favorite Du, du liegst mir im Herzen…

Click image to download…

Those of us who learned accordion using the excellent Palmer-Hughes method books will no doubt recognize Du, du liegst mir im Herzen as the basis for volume 1’s Dreaming. P&H just modified the melody a bit to simplify the fingering.

I’m using the Marlene Dietrich version as inspiration for the somewhat unusual chord progression here. I think it makes the song a lot more harmonically interesting.

Also, I’m only going through the “Ja, ja, ja, ja…” part once per repeat. But you often hear it played twice in a row, so feel free to repeat those bars if you like. It is, after all, the one part that even those who don’t know German get to sing along with!