I find I play polkas a bit stacatto…using my tongue for most notes…from what I have read on C&F I guess that is not right…should I play them more flowing? as suggested recently I have been playing jigs and reels and hornpipes without using any tonguing at all…it nearly kills me off…I do it just to get rid of my excess use of the tongue in playing…I know there is a balance to be struck…I must say that from my very limited experience the use of tonguing suits quite a bit of polka and hornpipe playing…thats a personal view and will probably give you experts sleepless nights! Any views? Les.
My view is play what feels natural to YOU. Let everyone else worry about themselves.
I tongue probably more than others, but it feels right to me. And I play mostly jigs, hornpipes and POLKAS. 
Play some airs and you’ll see the tonguing go away or at least lessen by a lot.
If it feels good, do it!
Mike
BTW, I hear there is an area of Ireland where tonguing is quite common. Up near Donegal, I believe. Some famous player that everyone likes…can’t think of it right now.
And then there’s always me. You can tell everyone who has a problem with your tonguing that you play in the Mike Reagan style. Who knows, it might catch on and then we’ll be the norm. 
I agree absolutely. I had some eejit lamming into me the other day because I was tonguing a lot - so what?
I like it, I do a lot of birls too (double taps) coz I like them too. Who’s to say we should all play exactly like Séamus/Micho/Joanie? I want to play like ME! If they don’t want to play like me, that’s OK too!
If I’m in a backstitch kinda mood then that’s what I’ll do. If I’m in barebones kinda mode, that’s what you’ll get.
Pah!
I like polkas. I polk at every opportuntity. Polkas rule ok!
Some wise person once said (probably here): “Not liking polkas is like not liking puppies!”
There you go.
I really think that is a key principal that gets throttled regularly by those who are ‘in the know’… if no-one chose to play ITM in their own way, we wouldn’t even have the very people you mentioned being who and where they are. It is because of how they play, and the difference from how everyone else plays, that they stand out so very well.
If you tongue a lot and can’t stop, then you’ll inevitably tongue where it sounds bad. If you can tongue or not tongue at will, then there isn’t a problem. It’s a sort of reflex thing. I had a hard time controlling it.
Periodically this discussion rears it’s head. It’s not true that playing traditional music (any traditional music) is a free for all, there are rules and principles that distinguish any one music from another. Staying within the boundaries there is a large artistic freedom. Suggesting that abiding by the rules a uniformity must necessarily comes into is a misconception. Micho Russell knew instinctively where the boundaries lay, he moved freely within the perimeter but he did not any any time say ‘feck it all, I want to play like me’ disregarding everything that went before.
I’m not sure I would have said it the way Peter did. Good sounding music is good sounding. It may not sound traditional, but it can still sound good. However, tongueing every note in a reel sounds goofy. A hornpipe might be OK 'cause most of them sound goofy anyway.
I do what I but it feels more comforatable for me to not tongue.
I didn’t mean throwing all of the tradition to the winds, Peter. I just meant that individuals have their own styles, their own preferences and their own particular habits and eccentricities… or talents… Doing things in the same traditional fashion, down to the number of notes tongued and the number fluttered, and the number cut, cranned, trilled, etc., etc. would lead to uniformity. I find it pleasing to note that there are individuals with differences…
I think if you want to play polkas you should probably be listening to people who know how to play polkas, rather than just guessing about whether the tounging sounds good or not. get the records of Johnny O’Leary, Julia Clifford, Denis Murphy, Padraig O’Keefe, and a really tasty new one by Paudie O Connor (great record, I highly recomend). Listen to those over and over (and over) and then you might start to get a better idea of whether you should tounge or not.
Also, there are two very nice polkas on the box player Andy Mac Namara’s album “Dawn”. He’s a great player from Clare, wonderful record, and really nice polkas. I heard them first by Patrick Ourceau, and then got Andy Mac’s album, and am still blown away every time I hear it.
Agree with the above from psmith - big thumbs up to Paudie O’Connor, both his playing and his recently-released CD. I would also add Jacky Daly and Seamus Creagh to polka players to listen to.
It doesn’t really matter how much you tongue as long as the result sounds good. And the only standard of what sounds good that you can realistically apply is what sounds good to you.
BUT BUT BUT whether what sounds good to you will sound good to others really depends on how familiar you are with the music as played by those who carry the tradition. And also on how familiar your listeners are with that tradition.
So it’s up to you how far you want to look and listen. If you’re anywhere near a place where set dancing is taught or practised, join a group and learn what polkas should feel like from the inside.
As far as listening goes, the box players mentioned make polkas sound great, indeed, but boxes have greater limitations as to what passages can be played staccato and legato than do fiddles, flutes and whistles. There’s a subtle off-beat pulse that fiddles in partcular can get into polkas that you should learn to hear.
I like listening to, among others, Julia Clifford and her son Billy. Generally very legato playing but it swings like crazy. I haven’t heard Sliabh Notes but based on Matt Cranitch’s previous band, Any Old Time, there should be some great polka playing on Sliabh Notes records.
Steve