Bethany’s Waltz
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Here is Bethany’s Waltz, composed by Fiddlevideo founder Casey Willis. If you’re a beginner player, this is a great tune to have in your repertoire. The melody can also be played with double stops and ornamentation to spice things up. Casey breaks down a basic and advanced version in this free lesson module…Check out the tutorial videos below!
Click HERE to download the performance audio MP3 file to your computer. Once you transfer the file to your mobile device, you can hear the tune whenever you wish! Listening to the audio performance is a great way to prepare to learn this tune…
Sheet Music for the Basic Melody:
Sheet Music for the Basic Harmony:
Sheet Music with Both Parts:
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Great web site
Thanks much for joining as well as the kind words!!
Great violinist … Casey … simply incredible …
Thank you, Shadi!
A wonderful composition, Casey. I love the way you play it.
I just wondered about the way the chord is written in bar #2. Is it a slash chord, like D/F# ?
Thanks much, Hutchtom.
Good question. I’m not familiar with the term slash chord…maybe we’re talking about the same thing though. The note on the bottom of the chord denotes the bass note played on the guitar. For that second measure, a D chord is suspended over an F# bass note. So it creates a walking bass line as you move from G to E through the first three measures…the first bass note is G, then F#, then E.
The same bass line walking idea happens measures 5-7, as the Am moves to a D with the major third in the bass…does that help?
Yes, Casey, we are talking about the same thing. Sorry for the delay getting back to you. My piano player was wondering about the notation. We use D/F# where that F# gets played as a base note by the left hand while the right hand completes the D chord. Your explanation of the walking base line now makes perfect sense, and it explains why we are so attracted to this piece.
I play many of your compositions and arrangements; my piano player always asks if Casey wrote those wonderful chords!
Tom
Perfect, Tom.
Happy to hear you and your pianist are enjoying/playing my tunes!
Casey your waltz ‘s are what made me become a member. They are beautiful but for me have been quite a challenge. Is there a certain technique video that would help me make the harmony and double stops sound better. I finally learned the double stops and harmony up till the chord change which is my favorite part of the song but it is also the hardest part for me. I can’t seem to make the double stops flow. Do you have any suggestions? My husband and the cat would greatly appreciate it.
Hi, Lynette. Thanks for the kind words. And too funny on the husband/cat part!
I’d recommend focusing in on any double stop passage that is giving you trouble/intonation issues. If there seems to be a hitch in a certain section, split that out as an exercise and play it over and over with a metronome. That may not help the cat situation, but once you feel comfortable with each problem section, embed them back into the full melody…
I wish there was a magic solution, but for me, it just comes down to working over and over on a section that is giving me trouble. I hope that helps, and all the best!
Thanks Casey for the practical tips. I got my metronome out and I’m using the Ab looping button.
It is working, slowly but surely. It helped me to slow down and learn one song well. The techniques you use, like your 4th finger and first finger double stops and the double stop slides, i see will come up in your other waltzes. I realize if I can master them in this waltz they won’t be a problem for the next ones I have chosen. Thanks again.