Diddle-Um-Pum-Pum / Flohwalzer / The Flea Waltz / Traditional [Complete]

Learn to play this arrangement! These UA-cam tutorials give close-ups of the piano keys:
1st Pattern -- • Diddle-Um-Pum-Pum / Fl...
1st Pattern (LH over RH and inverted) -- • Diddle-Um-Pum-Pum / Fl...
2nd Pattern -- • Diddle-Um-Pum-Pum / Fl...
2nd Pattern (LH over RH and inverted) -- • Diddle-Um-Pum-Pum / Fl...
3rd Pattern -- • Diddle-Um-Pum-Pum / Fl...
3rd Pattern (LH over RH and inverted) -- • Diddle-Um-Pum-Pum / Fl...
Variation A -- • Diddle-Um-Pum-Pum Floh...
Variation B -- • Diddle-Um-Pum-Pum / Fl...
1st Pattern (LH Octaves) -- • Diddle-Um-Pum-Pum / Fl...
Shave and a Haircut Ending C (with chromatic triplet and octaves) -- • Shave and a Haircut En...
This music is known globally and goes by many titles:
FLEA titles:
Germany: Flohwalzer (The Flea Waltz)
China: "跳蚤圆舞曲" (Flea Waltz)
Netherlands: "Vlooienmars" (Flea March)
French-speaking countries: "Valse des puces" (Flea Waltz)
CAT titles:
Japan: "Neko Funjatta" (ねこふんじゃった, I Stepped on the Cat)
Taiwan: "踩到貓兒" (Stepped on a Cat)
Korea: "고양이 춤" (Cat Dance)
Bulgaria: "Koteshki Marsh" (Cat March)
Finland: "Kissanpolkka" (Cat's Polka)
Other Animals:
Slovakia: "Somársky pochod" (Donkey March)
Hungary: "Szamárinduló" (Donkey March)
Russia: "Sobachiy Val's" (Собачий Вальс, 'Dog Waltz')
Chile: "La Polka de los perros" (Dogs' polka)
Mexico: "Los Changuitos" (The Little Monkeys)
Czech Republic: "Prasečí valčík" (Pig Waltz)
Other titles:
England: "Diddle-Um-Pum-Pum" and "Chopsticks"
Spain: "La Chocolatera"
Poland: "Kotlety" (Cutlet)
Mallorca: "Polca de los Tontos" (Fools' Polka)
Get started on your own journey of learning this piece with UA-cam tutorial videos and FREE printables.
For FREE sheet music printables of all the music, visit the blog series: rebekah.maxner...
As a child I heard other kids and older teens playing sections of this music (usually at breakneck speed), though no one called it by any particular name. It was very popular and was even played by kids who'd never had piano lessons!
Back in the 80s kids seemed to teach this music to each other because many homes had pianos, and schools usually had an extra piano in a dusty corner that kids were allowed to play.
I mostly forgot about it until early in my teaching career, when I came across it in Faber's Lesson Book 2B. That's when I remembered the original black and white pattern that I'd seen played (and likely tried) as a child. But the Faber version is in C major, and on white keys it simply doesn't have the same charm.
Personally, I feel it's easier to teach and play with the black-white-black key patterns. When played in G-flat major (F-sharp major), this piece has an exciting and clearly defined design on the piano. Every few years I've gone through a spell of teaching it to my piano students!