Waltz in G by Carulli

A waltz is a dance in triple meter often written in 3/4 time and usually contains one chord per measure. It is thought to have been derived from the German Landler. Other names for waltz include:  Walzer, Valse, Valzer, and  Vals. 

Carulli was an Italian virtuoso guitar and composer of the Classical Period. Famous for his Guitar Method, concertos and chamber works. He worked in Italy and France and wrote  over 400 works for the guitar.

This waltz is found in many classical guitar method books. You will need to mainly use free stroke here but there is some scope to add rest stroke for the more melodic bars. Again you will find some chords disguised in the music (as you often find with arpeggios). Can you work out what the chords are? try and work it out and then see below:

You will notice that there are some extra directions written at the end of the piece:

D.C. al Fine

This is Italian for return to the start and finish where is says “Fine” which means finish or The End. It’s also worth noting that a Waltz is a dance in 3/4 time. The waltz was a ballroom dance popular in the 19th Century in Europe and especially Austria.

Note that the in the first section you are playing mainly an arpeggio pattern with m – i – p and in the second section that changes to p then i- together or p – i – m – i – m.