I took a [Richard Powers](http://dance.stanford.edu/faculty/rpowers.html) waltz workshop in Toronto a few months ago. I’m not very good at it and haven’t had enough chances to practice, but I *can* now hold down the basics of cross step and rotary. Since learning it, I’ve begun to notice much more distinctly songs that are in 3/4 or 6/8 rather than common time. All swing and related dances are strictly in four, so the lilting rhythm of waltz time can be a lovely change for the ears and feet.

The traditional music of waltz is, I think, largely Strauss and a number of other pre-20th century composers. And there’s merit in doing a dance to its traditional music. However, waltzing seems to work well to plenty of modern tunes too; here’s a selection of my favourite popular songs in 3/4 and 6/8 time. I’ve linked each to somewhere you can hear at least a sample of it—Amazon MP3, YouTube, or an artist’s page.

It’s kind of a long list—eleven of each. Feel free to skim.

### Viennese Waltzes

The Viennese waltz rotates rapidly, and is generally appropriate for tempos between 160bpm and 200bpm. Like most (all?) European dances, there are international standards bodies that govern the steps and figures of the Viennese waltz, and assign levels to people. The waltz scene—in Palo Alto, at any rate—seems to take a to-hell-with-that attitude toward standardization, though, an approach much more in line with the sensibilities of social swing (whose practitioners feel totally comfortable shoehorning invented and borrowed material into their lindy hop or blues). This is a pretty poor clip from someone’s house party, but it captures the feeling of *social* waltz much better than a hundred competition couples with their contorted overwrought ballroom frame and outrageous costuming. For the uninitiated, the woman in red is the one leading the main pair here:

The woman in the video is Erin Brandt, of eritherapy.com. She emails to tell me that this was her going away party in Florida, and now lives in Palo Alto, where she is able to attend the Richard Powers dances.

* **Four Left Feet, by the Ditty Bops.** [The Ditty Bops](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ditty_Bops) are a strange duo I discovered recently. They have a very classic and listenable Simon & Garfunkel sound, a great mix of covers with original material, and apparently put on a fantastic live show. But most of all, their music is incredibly dancer-friendly—several beautiful fast waltzes (**It’s a Shame** and **Unfortunate Few** are also good, if you’re curious), and a few great charleston/lindy songs as well.

* **Bad Wisdom, by Suzanne Vega.** I first found this song on someone else’s list of waltzes, and have since become a fan of a bunch of Vega’s work. As with much of her material, the topic matter of the lyrics is serious and the music sublime.

* **[Norwegian Wood](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaNQjhXhfVs), by The Beatles.** This had been a favourite Beatles song for a while, since my sister introduced me to it. But I didn’t notice until recently that it’s a ballad in three. (**She’s Leaving Home** is another great one in three, although the tempo is more suited to crosss step.)

* **Love Will Come Through, by Travis.** I’d liked this song since I first heard it used in the finale of the TV show [Wonderfalls](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonderfalls). At the workshop, Richard Powers actually had a slowed-down version of this that he used for cross step, but the original is at 160bpm, a tempo suitable for a leisurely rotary waltz.

* **What You Live By, by Harvey Danger.** This album was one of the early experiments by a mainstream artist with [releasing an entire album](http://harveydanger.com/downloads/), completely DRM-free. I downloaded it a few years ago when it was [featured on Slashdot](http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/02/2056210) and have since listened to it probably a hundred times. And yes, it features this song in waltz time.

* **Breathe, by Anna Nalick.** I think I must have heard this song on the radio ages ago and eventually tracked it down. It has a very mainstream sound, but still totally listenable and fun.

* **Breakaway, Kelly Clarkson.** Another mainstream song that got heavy radio-play… another beautiful waltz.

* **[Better](http://www.jonathancoulton.com/songdetails/Better), by Jonathan Coulton.** This seems to one of JoCo’s lesser known songs, but it was always among my favourites, even before I realised it makes a great—if quick—rotary waltz. The lyrics are outrageous and the melody catching. (Here’s a clip of Coulton [performing it live](http://youtube.com/watch?v=0QWDFsSNCe8).)

* **Empty Apartment, by Yellowcard.** Another song that had found itself onto my rainy-day playlist long before I was listening for the difference between three and four.

* **Obscured, by The Smashing Pumpkins.** This is a bit of an unusual one, and I can’t remember how I found it, but here it is.

* **Piano Man, by Billy Joel.** The famous ballad with its infectious harmonica line.

### Cross Step Waltzes

This is the less-common form of waltz we looked at, currently being popularized through Richard’s [Friday Night Waltz](http://www.fridaynightwaltz.com/) at Stanford. It’s uniquely suited to music from 100–140bpm, a range typically too fast for box-step and too slow for rotary. Here’s a demo clip from Richard, showing a number of neat figures from the simple to the complex:

* **You Could Make A Killing, by Aimee Mann.** I can’t remember how I first encountered this song, but its lilting guitar line and haunting vocal outro had been a favourite for some time when I discovered waltzing. If you’re looking for a version of this to DJ with, try to get the one from the *Cruel Intentions* soundtrack. It has the tubular bells cut from the intro, which don’t really flow outside the continuity of the album. (Other Mann songs in three include **4th of July**, **Amateur**, and probably a bunch more.)

* **Between, by Vienna Teng.** [Vienna Teng](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Teng) is an interesting story—a Cisco software engineer from the Valley who quits her job to pursue a musical career. It seems this song was written specifically for the Stanford cross step waltz scene; there’s a neat video of her [playing it for the dancers there](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y16hTVtuLTY). The experience of dancing with live musicians is hard to articulate well, but it’s a beautiful thing; a very participatory act, actually expressing the music in dance rather than simply absorbing it passively.

* **Endearing Young Charms, a traditional folk song.** I originally heard this song through a popular culture course here at Waterloo (Music 140—highly recommended). The lyrics are a magnificent poem by [Thomas Moore](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Moore) and the tune is traditional; hundreds of artists have versions of it. So far, my favourite is the one linked above, but I’d love to hear of any others.

* **Going North, by Missy Higgins.** I found this song during my time in Australia—Missy Higgins is huge there. Another from the same album became the soundtrack to my [diving trip video](http://youtube.com/watch?v=u-NvYQNZM7A). (**Angela** is another Missy Higgins song in three.)

* **Weary Blues, by Madeleine Peyroux.** A totally amazing cover of this classic song. Peyroux has a kind of Billie Holiday-esque voice that I just love in this recording (and many others).

* **Between The Bars, by Elliott Smith.** This one I discovered through the Madeleine Peyroux cover. Both versions are superb, so I’m choosing to include the original. In comparison, Peyroux’s version of it is a lot slower and bluesier, and although she sings the same words, her seductive style evokes for me a different meaning than the original. (Elliott Smith has other songs in three, including two called, appropriately, **Waltz #1** and **Waltz #2**.)

* **Friends, by the Beach Boys.** Bet you didn’t expect it, but here we are amid the sea of common time rock and roll songs from the 60s. Brian Wilson, [according to Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friends_%28Beach_Boys_song%29), explicitly said that this song was “a good way to keep waltzes alive.” So there you are.

* **Greenland, by The Kingsbury Manx.** This song was how I found The Kingsbury Manx, and have ended up immensely enjoying the album it’s on. I’m having trouble remembering now how I first heard it, but I think it was on the soundtrack of some show I was watching around this time last year (so possibly The 4400).

* **Lucky, by Bif Naked.** Another name you probably didn’t expect to see on here. Yes, Bif Naked has recorded material that is not punk, and this is some of it.

* **Beauty From Pain, by Superchick.** I think I first heard Superchick on the Legally Blonde soundtrack, of all things, but ended up somehow randomly owning—and subsequently enjoying—this album. (**Stand In The Rain** is another of their songs in three, although the tempo is more suited to Viennese.)

* **Oh Had I A Golden Thread, by Eva Cassidy.** A few months I was looking to collect a little more blues music and stumbled across the utterly brilliant Live at Blues Alley, which arguably contains the definitive recordings of several significant songs including this one, **Stormy Monday**, and others. Eva Cassidy was an extraordinary vocalist and musician—the world is less rich without her.

So there we are; hope you found something new and interesting here!

Mike

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