Oom-pah

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A genre of Germanic music (especially Bavarian music) typically involving brass instruments. uncountable
  2. 2
    A bassline characteristic of such music, alternating lower and higher notes or chords on the beat, or in a mid-high-low-high sequence. uncountable

    "An oom-pah bassline: {\clef bass<<{\set Staff.midiInstrument=#"muted trumpet"\repeat unfold4{c8r g,r"

Example

More examples

"An oom-pah bassline: {\clef bass<<{\set Staff.midiInstrument=#"muted trumpet"\repeat unfold4{c8r g,r"

Etymology

Onomatopoeia of the sound and rhythm of German folk music. Doublet of humppa.

Related phrases

oompah-like

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.