Two Waltzes

[JeffD]

For your playing and listening pleasure I offer two waltzes. They fit well on the mandolin and are very straightforward to play. Suggested chords are indicated.

I recently got permission to post them from the composer, a long time friend of mine. She has an extraordinary talent for writing beautiful tunes, and these two in particular are really wonderful on the mandolin.

Download them, play them, perform them, record them, adopt them, adapt them, enjoy them. I would only ask that they be credited appropriately to Charlene Thomson. Oh, and let me know how you like them.

Hey if you do perform them, it would be great if you could let me know that as well, so I can tell her where her tunes are being heard.

Seriously, these are great tunes. Distinguishing between good tunes and great tunes is something I take very seriously. You will be delighted. Really.

If you would like any information about Charlene or her music, please PM me. There are a lot more tunes where those came from.

[JeffD]

Oh come now, give em a shot. It won't hurt. I promise.

[Brent Hutto]

Jeff,

It's on my short list but now that my 4-1/2 day weekend (regular weekend plus two "snow days") is over it may take a little while to work through a couple of J.S. Skinner fiddle tunes and get to one or the other of those waltzes. I love a good waltz, though, and D-minor is a great mandolin key for one. Looking forward to playing South Side Waltz in particular.

[JeffD]

Brent I think you will like it. When Charlene gave them to me I had a grand time.

[Jim Garber]

I esp like the South Side one and the interplay of both between minor and major. Lovely!! Thanks for posting.

[JeffD]

I esp like the South Side one and the interplay of both between minor and major. Lovely!! Thanks for posting.

"Croatia" has some of that minor/major/minor in it as well.

Enjoy.

I am thrilled Charlene's music is getting an audience.

[Jim Garber]

Jeff: I mis-wrote. I meant: I esp like South Side as a melody and both waltzes have that interplay. Does she have more tunes she wrote?

I have written about three or four tunes but only one that I play publicly.

[JeffD]

Charlene has written quite a few tunes, jigs, reels, waltzes, the whole basket. Many of her tunes are being taken up by the English Country Dance community. She has also published a tunebook.

Her tunes all fit nicely on the fiddle or mandolin, and are written as you see, a melody line with chords indicated.

Mind you I have absolutely no financial interest here, I am just a proud and encouraging friend, who has known Charlene since forever ago. And I am a sucker for a good tune. I have tried many times to write a tune that could sustain my interest. I just don't have the knack.

I will post more from time to time as I get to it.

I don't want this thread to be about her, really, but about these two lovely waltzes and what adventures they have in the hands of the mandolin community.

For more information on Charlene and her music, anyone can PM me.

[harper]

Jeff, I just played through both lovely waltzes a couple of times. They grow on you. They would be very suitable for the waltz played in the middle or at the end of a contra dance. I have a contra dance band that I arrange all the music for and will try at least one of these. I'll post it when it's done.

Thanks for sharing.

[JeffD]

I have a contra dance band that I arrange all the music for and will try at least one of these. I'll post it when it's done.
.

Yes do. I look forward to it.

[CharlieKnuth]

Thanks for posting these. I took them home last night and played them both numerous times. Really enjoyed them and will play them often.

[Brent Hutto]

OK, guess I'll be the first guinea pig for the South Side Waltz. Here's my take on the tune, rather freely with much rubato and some hopefully tasteful ornaments and variations. Also a few clanky notes here and there.

[JeffD]

Sweet

[journeybear]

Very nice pieces. I am not as brave as Brent, but I will fiddle around with these a bit. Now, if I can make them sound Italian ...

[Brent Hutto]

OK, just to prove I can play something more or less "straight" as written here is my attempt at Croatia aiming for a steady 3/4 time at about 114bpm.

Sorry for the truly horrific clam during the second time through the A part...one of those occasions where you wish the microphone were about 5 feet away instead of five inches!

[JeffD]

One way I judge the quality of a tune is if I seem to keep singing it or humming it after I have put it away. These two tunes have real sticking power. Like bubble gum on pro keds.

[JeffD]

Now, if I can make them sound Italian ...

Nah. You don'thave to make them sound Italian. They should just sound like you meant it. What ever the tunes mean, you meant it.

[Jim Nollman]

Jeff. these are both gorgeous. Both remind me more of a Chopin waltz than the typical old-timey sound of (for instance) Swannanoa or Sourwood. Wouldn't mind getting the email address of the composer if you have it, just in case I get inspired to record Southside.

[morgan]

With apologies to the author of these lovely tunes, I wrote out harmonies to both - attached - and tried them with our church band last night (fiddle, mando, bass, banjo). We decided to do Croatia as an offertory. (Unitarians are pretty tolerant of what you play as long as it sounds good) I'll probably try to improve a measure or two before Sunday, but they worked pretty well as written.

[JeffD]

Well it is official. The tune Croatia will be coming out on a commercially available CD of Charlene's dance music. I will be the mandolinner on four of the tunes, yee ha! Croatia and three others. We go into the studio end of September.

[JeffD]

The CD has been completed. Soon to be commercially available. The four tunes I am on are killer fun tunes to play. And the waltz tune Croatia sounds especially good.

It is not primarily a mandolin CD, but an English Country Dance Music CD. The four tunes I am on do "feature" mandolin playing, so those four cuts would be appropriate on the cafe MP3 rotation, but not until all of the commercial availability requirement is worked out.