Waltz

The waltz is a turning couple dance in triple meter. It grew out of Austrian and southern German country dances in the late 1700s and became the rage of 19th-century ballrooms, above all in Vienna. Its sound is instantly recognizable: a swaying ONE-two-three, with a clear accent on the first beat of every bar.

The oom-pah-pah

Most waltzes use the same accompaniment pattern in the left hand or the lower instruments:

• Beat 1: a low bass note, usually the root of the chord ("oom").
• Beats 2 and 3: the chord, higher up and lighter ("pah-pah").

The bass often alternates between the root and the fifth of the chord in successive bars. Above it, the melody tends to float in longer notes, often a dotted half note or a half and a quarter per bar, so that it sweeps across the bar lines.

▶Listen0:07

Feeling it in one

At a fast waltz tempo, the three beats go by too quickly to count separately, and dancers and musicians feel one pulse per bar. The Viennese waltz is quick; the slow waltz of the ballroom is much more relaxed. In both, the first beat is the strong one, and beats 2 and 3 should be lighter.

Famous waltzes

• Johann Strauss II, the "Waltz King," wrote dozens of concert waltzes for Vienna's ballrooms, including The Blue Danube.
• Chopin wrote waltzes for piano that are for listening rather than dancing, such as the "Minute" Waltz, Op. 64 No. 1.
• Brahms's Waltzes, Op. 39, for piano duet or solo piano.
• Tchaikovsky put waltzes into his ballets, including the "Waltz of the Flowers" from The Nutcracker.
• Ravel's La valse turns the Viennese waltz into a dizzying orchestral nightmare.

Jazz musicians play jazz waltzes in 3/4, and many folk and popular songs use waltz time too.

Waltz or minuet?

Both are dances in 3/4. The minuet is older (17th–18th centuries), more stately and usually felt in three moderate beats, with a phrase structure tied to its dance steps. The waltz is faster, smoother and more sweeping, felt in one, with its distinctive oom-pah-pah accompaniment.