What is Waltz (music)?
[[File:Waltzmusic Fledermauss.JPG|right|thumb|250px|A section from [[Johann Strauss II|Johann Strauss]]' Waltz from ''[[Die Fledermaus]]'']] '''Waltz music''' is written in 3/4 time (three beats per bar). The music is both dance music and art music. The Strauss family were perhaps the most famous of all waltz composers: notably [[Johann Strauss I]], and [[Johann Strauss II]] {{ndash}} the [[composer]] of the famous ''The Blue Danube''. Waltzes typically have one [[Chord (music)|chord]] per [[Bar (music)|measure]], and the [[accompaniment]] style particularly associated with the waltz is (as seen in the example to the right) to play the [[root (chord)|root]] of the chord on the first beat, the upper notes on the second and third beats. The origins of the dance are in late 18th century [[Germany]], probably from a folk dance called the ''Lander''. Today the music is danced in two forms, the [[Viennese waltz]] and the English or Slow waltz (now often called the [[International waltz]]). The [[choreography]] of these modern forms is different from the original dance.<ref>Franks A.H. 1963. ''Social dance: a short history''. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London.</ref> There are also a number of [[ballets]] which feature waltz music. == References == {{reflist}} [[Category:Waltzes]]