How am I supposed to go about writing a waltz?

Question

This and other dances in general I have kind of been avoiding for the first 10 years that I composed. But I figured that if I am going to start composing dance music as well as sonatas, symphonies, and fugues, waltzes would be great to start with because the bass is very simple. I decided on a tempo of 90 BPM, so like Andante Moderato in the Italian terminology, to make it not so difficult for people to play once it is finished. I also decided on a key of D major because I compose a lot of my pieces in flat keys so I figured I should balance it out with some sharp keys. I know these things about a waltz that apply more or less specifically to a waltz: - Most have a 3/4 time signature(though some have a 3/8 time signature and others are at 6/8) - Most are at a moderate speed(though I have heard some very slow waltzes and some very fast waltzes, Chopin's waltzes especially tend to be at tempo extremes) - Left hand pattern is usually 1 bass note followed by the chord the bass note is in - A lot involve pedaling, though not all do - Waltz is dominated by melody But I still find writing dance music to be hard, even though it is a shorter length composition than a sonata. Minuets are the hardest for me so far(I tried writing a minuet before and it didn't turn out well). My phrases and melodies in general also tend to be on the long side just like my speech. So I might end up with a 10 minute waltz instead of a 5 minute waltz. But in a way, the dance being predominantly melody makes it harder to write than a sonata which is closer to equal in terms of melody and harmony. And there is no specific Waltz form(not even harmonically speaking) like there sort of is for the minuet(HC in A section, PAC in B section, PAC at end of repeated A section if it is there). But the most common form I see is ternary form + coda in a waltz, so I should probably stick to that for my first waltz. But theoretically at least, a waltz could be in rondo form or in sonata form. The reason that melody makes writing dance music hard is mainly because there are so many possible melodies and in the case of a waltz, where the bass is super simple, it is like all my work goes into the right hand part and any sections where I have the left hand taking the melody and the bass I barely dedicate anything to because it is so simple. Narrowing it down to melodies that start and end with specific notes, doesn't really help much because the melody could be 4 bars or it could be 10 bars. It could be sixteenth note dense, it could have no sixteenth notes at all. The rhythm could vary across the melody, it could be formed from rhythmic cells, it could be a mixture of the 2. **So how am I supposed to go about writing a waltz when there is burden of choice when it comes to the melody? Write the entire bass line first and then decide?**

Answer 1

When selecting waltz music to dance to, there are a few things that most dancers look for, or really, listen for. The first is a strong beat on 1 as this step is the most powerful in the sequence of dance steps. In the Waltz, the traveling step is on 1 because this is the only step danced with a heel lead. The other two beats are danced rising and/or lowering so the 1 beat of every measure should be very definitive and easy to hear. The second thing we listen for is the rise and fall of the melody. Waltz is danced with the following rise (as according to the ISTD handbook): Step 1- Heel, flat, rolling through the foot, Step 2- commence to rise, Step 3- continue to rise, lowering on the last part of the beat (3 and). So the melody should often follow a similar lilting pattern. This is what marries the dance to the music and allows the audience to sync the two. Finally, in general, most Waltz patterns are in a max of 6 measures or a multiple thereof. So when the melody is written with this in mind, it makes it very easy for us dancers to phrase our movements with the music.

Please note that I am referring to the Slow Waltz, or what some dancers in the US call International Style Waltz, which should be 84-90 beats per minute (bpm). American Style or Smooth Waltz shares many of the same characteristics and has a range of 84-96 bpm. American Style does not adhere to the 6 measure rule and has many patterns that are 6, 8 or 10 measures.