Annotation:Minnesota Waltz

Find traditional instrumental music

Back to Minnesota Waltz


MINNESOTA WALTZ. Old-Time, Waltz. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA'BB'.

Source for notated version: Al Sanderson (Washington) [Phillips]. Sanderson was remembered by guitarist and fiddler Harry Johnson (b. 1921), who had moved to Washington State in the early 1950's, and who took up fiddle in 1968:

Old Al Sanderson, he's the guy got me started. I was selling real estate, and stopped in Kirkland one day, and I could hear a fiddle someplace. So I followed my nose, or ears, whatever you want to call it. And here was Al in the barbershop playing his fiddle, and a guy on the piano, and old Ralph Gillenwater on the old guitar. And Al didn't know a lot of tunes, and after I got to know him I stopped in there every once in a while and I started humming tunes. He was from Minnesota, a Norwegian, you know. I don't know how in the heck he must have figured it out one time that I maybe had played a fiddle once. And he hands me his fiddle and says "You play." And I didn't know what to do with it, it sounds like the strings were still on the cat. But he talked me into it, and I didn't even have a fiddle, and one day he had a fiddle, and he says "Here's a fiddle for 25 bucks." It wasn't great, but anyway, he's the guy that I have to give all the credit to. (Northwest Fiddle Field Recordings) [1]

Printed sources: Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; p. 283.

Recorded sources: Voyager VRLP 308-S, Al Sanderson - "Tenino Old Time Music Festival, 1970-72" (1973).




Back to Minnesota Waltz