The waltz is the required slow tune in a fiddle contest. It looks like the easy one. It is the hard one.
What counts as a waltz
A waltz is a tune in 3/4 time with an A part and a B part. That is the whole definition, and contests hold you to it. The breakdown round and the tune of choice round cover everything else.
At the Canadian Grand Masters, the waltz is one of the four required tunes in every round. At Hallettsville, judges call for a waltz in one of the rounds before the round robin. At Weiser, it sits second in the required order, after the hoedown.
Why the waltz decides contests
Fast tunes hide flaws. Slow tunes expose them. On a waltz, every note lasts long enough for the judges to hear your intonation drift, your bow shake, and your tone thin out. There is nowhere to hide.
That is why veterans say contests are won on the waltz. Judges score smooth bow control, stable pitch, consistent tone across strings, and expression. The fiddlers who win make the instrument sing: tasteful slides, warm double stops, and vibrato that serves the melody instead of showing off.
One technique note from contest teachers: use vibrato as an ornament, not a constant. Vibrato entered music as an ornament, and fiddle judges still hear it that way. Add it to the long notes at the ends of phrases, like punctuation, and leave the rest of the tune clean.
Common contest waltzes
Westphalia Waltz. The most played contest waltz in the Texas tradition.
Midnight on the Water. The Thomasson family’s gift to slow fiddling. A D waltz of uncommon beauty.
Wednesday Night Waltz. A southern standard that rewards a singing tone.
Margaret’s Waltz. A modern favorite that crossed from the folk revival into contests.
Kelly Waltz. A Texas contest staple with room for rich double stops.
More contest waltzes
The working roster reaches far past the favorites. Several of these come from the Canadian contest circuit, and many of the rest from the Texas one:
- Anniversary Waltz
- Ashokan Farewell
- Black Velvet Waltz
- Bridget’s Waltz
- Cabri Waltz
- Cowboy Waltz
- Doc Harris Waltz
- Festival Waltz
- Forty Years Ago Waltz
- Gardenia Waltz
- Georgianna Moon
- Girl of My Dreams
- Golden Fiddle Waltz
- Goodnight Waltz
- Luzenda Waltz
- Martin’s Waltz
- Memories Waltz
- Misty Moonlight Waltz
- Old South Waltz
- Ookpik Waltz
- Peekaboo Waltz
- Rockabye Moon
- Roxanne’s Waltz
- Si Bheag Si Mhor
- Waltz Quadrille
- Whistler’s Waltz
- Wyatt’s Waltz
- Yellow Rose Waltz
One caution on the famous one: Ashokan Farewell gets played to death, and it is a 1982 copyrighted composition, which matters at contests with public domain rules. Judges have heard it more times than they can count. A less common waltz played with feeling stands out more.
Picking yours
Carry at least two contest-ready waltzes, since tunes cannot repeat across rounds. Pick the one that lets you sing through the fiddle, then practice it slower than feels comfortable. If your intonation holds up under that microscope, you are ready.
Next up: contest breakdowns and the tune of choice.