Sweet mandolin waltzes

[AlanN]

Someone mentioned Wakefield's Waltz In Bluegrass. A lovely number that nobody picks. That number excited me to no end back in the day. First recorded on his Rounder 0007 release in the 70's, he re-did it on the Bay Release End Of The Rainbow, with Darol Anger playing the low-tuned fiddle.

[Ole Joe Clark]

One that I really like, played on guitar, fiddle and mandolin is "Arizona Waltz."

Joe

[sgarrity]

Waltz in Bluegrass.....I'd love to find someone to pick that with!

[Mandohammer]

One of my favorites to play with my band or mando/guitar duo is Richard Greene's fiddle tune "The Indiana Waltz". It hangs on the mandolin beautifully, has interesting chord progressions, and can hold its own without a fiddle. Available on the Richard Greene & The Grass Is Greener recording "Wolves A' Howlin'" ...

[Eddie Sheehy]

Waltz in Bluegrass.....I'd love to find someone to pick that with!

I've picked up the music... I might be able to put it together for the 48...

[swain]

Festival Waltz

[theCOOP]

For you fans of Ashokan Farewell, I recently learned to play this myself and LOVE it.

My first recollection of it is on a recent recording by Wolfville, Nova Scotia (Canada) native Donna Rhodenizer called Musically Yours. Ashokan Farewell fits perfectly among the other 15 original traditionally inspired tracks on this album (there is a mandolin).

http://www.redcastlepublishing.com/pages/allcds.html, unfortunately the sample on the website doesn't get into part B but it really comes alive. Reminds me of the theme music to a public television series in about 2000-2001 called Pioneer Quest. The album is great beginning to end.

[AlanN]

Festival Waltz

This is another good one which nobody picks. It's in Robert Bowlin's book called Twin Mandolin Workshop. Great tunes in there, with good harmony lines; the tab is awful, be forewarned.

[Al Trujillo]

This is a great thread and worth reviving. I've added John Sheehan's The Marino Waltz as one of my favorites.

On bowl back mandolin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1eo7Om1qhM

On fiddle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rC-xt3bnUk

[JeffD]

The Waltz Books are in standard notation. A really great collection of waltzes to keep one entertained for years.

In four volumes - a constant source for many years. And I would guess that 90% of them are entirely suitable for a bluegrass setting. Not just a bluegrass dressing but folkie and traditional enough to still be authentic with mandolin, fiddle, bass, banjo and guitar.

[Mandobart]

"Midnight on the Water" is one of my favorites. I still like "Ashokan" even though its the Freebird of BG/OT songs these days.

[foldedpath]

"Far Away" a.k.a. the "Shrek waltz" is a good one. We used to play that in a former band. Another good one on mandolin is "Sour Grass and Granite."

[ralph johansson]

I like to do a medley of the Tennessee Waltz (in F), Missouri Waltz (in D), and Kentucky Waltz (in Eb). I would like to finish that medley with something in G, so as to feature all of the most common modulations. Miss the Mississippi and You might work, although I much prefer to do that song in D or Eb. TW in G, perhaps. Monroe's Lonesome Moonlight Waltz is a wonderful vehice for improvisation, in the key of F. Another favorite is Fiddler's Waltz by Benny Martin, in G. I used to know all five parts (from Howdy Forrester's recording), I really should sit down and recreate the fourth, very busy, part. A nice jazz waltz is La Valse Hot by Sonny Rollins, in the key of Ab.
And, yes, I should include one of my own: http://www.flatpickerhangout.com/myh...ic.asp?id=4924 (last item, No Hurry). (OK, it's done on the guitar here, but it works splendidly on mandolin, too).

[dscullin]

Two Rivers, a fiddle tune in B, by Larry Unger is a beauty that adapts well to the mandolin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cN3fdglFww

[Denny Gies]

I like the "Wednesday Night Waltz" in G, probably cause I can play it.

[talladam]

"A Prairie Jewel" by John Reischman. I can't stop playing it!! It's pretty easy to make it sound nice too.

[DHopkins]

Speaking of Ashokan Farewell, Ken Burns revealed Sullivan Ballou's letter to his wife prior to the first Battle of Bull Run and it's one of the most moving writings ever. Ashokan Farewell is played in the background as the letter is read here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VK1KcZoDu0

[FatBear]

Thank you all for so many great suggestions. I play the Ashoken Farewell, Kentucky Waltz, and Tennessee Waltz virtually every single night and I've been in the mood to add another.

This is my favorite version of Kentucky Waltz so far. If I could do this, I could probably die happy:

And then you could play Ashoken Farewell at my funeral. As I can never be that good, I guess I'll just have to keep on living.

I guess I'm a 3/4 (or 6/8) kind of a guy. I used to be a long distance rower (well over 17,000 miles under my keel in about 8 years) and I had Rimsky Korsakov's The Prince and The Princess (6/8) running in my head during most of that time. It kept me in a trance so I could row like I was diesel powered - steady, fast and far. I literally added about 10 minutes to my time per ten miles without it. I have the full score for it, including the two violin parts, and I've wanted to pick out a mandolin version of it with a nice beginning and ending, but haven't done so yet.

But you know what's funny? I don't think I could actually dance a waltz to save my soul.

[mandolin breeze]

Staying with the Dawg . . . Waltz For Lucy . . . written by Dave Marsh. A touching beautiful tune.

[michaelcj]

Amelia's Waltz.

[Lowlands Blue]

I don't play a lot of waltzes, but one of the first tunes my teacher taught me was Lonesome Moonlight Waltz.
Something about the melody going from that B part back to the A that I really love.

[red7flag]

Two, I don't think have been mentioned. Knoxville Girl and Hank Williams' I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry.

[foldedpath]

I just remembered I have a snippet I recorded of me playing the "Far Away" waltz I mentioned on an old web site. Here it is with my guitar partner backing, and a few variations between the first and second repeat (and then a quick fade-out because this was for a promotional site):

http://ptjams.com/string14/audio/str...e_far_away.mp3

[soliver]

Isn't everyone's favorite Jay Ungar original "Ashokan Farewell" considered a Scottish Waltz?

[foldedpath]

Isn't everyone's favorite Jay Ungar original "Ashokan Farewell" considered a Scottish Waltz?

On his web site he says: "Ashokan Farewell was written in the style of a Scottish lament. I sometimes introduce it as, “a Scottish lament written by a Jewish guy from the Bronx.”

As I understand it, a lament differs from a waltz in being more of a performance piece (especially the Pìobaireachd format for bagpipes), not music intended for dancing. A good lament is probably too sad for people to want to dance to. One famous example of a Scottish lament is "Hector the Hero."