Lesson 23: 3/4 Time and Waltzes

• Distinguish the feel of three different 3/4 styles: waltz, minuet, sarabande.
• Play one piece in each.

• Lesson 7 — 3/4 time.

• Waltz pulse.
• Triple-meter phrasing.
• Dance rhythms.

Three beats per bar is the time signature. The dance is everything else.

Triple meter is not a single feel. A Viennese waltz sweeps; a Baroque minuet steps gracefully; a Spanish sarabande leans heavily on the second beat. Same time signature, three different pieces of music. This lesson teaches you to hear which is which and to play accordingly.

Waltz — ONE-two-three

Strong first beat, light second and third. The melody sweeps forward through the bar.

Minuet — one, TWO, three

Slight lift on the second beat — the courtly bow. Used in Baroque dance suites.

Sarabande — one, TWO-three

Strong second beat with a long held value. The slow, weighty Spanish dance the Baroque suite borrowed.

Now play these

Amazing Grace · hymn waltz

Slow 3/4 with hymn-like dignity. Lean on beat one but do not pound.

Bach: Minuet in G

The canonical Baroque minuet. The second-beat lift is the whole character.

Minuet in G (Petzold)

Same key, same dance, a different composer's hand.

When a listener can tell which of the three pieces is a waltz, which a minuet, which a sarabande, by your playing alone, move on to Lesson 24.