Annotation:Rippling Waves Waltz
X:1 % T:Rippling Waves C:Mellie Dunham (Norway, Maine, 1926) M:3/4 L:1/8 R:Waltz N:"To be bowed "Fiddler Style" Slur 1st and 2nd beats, N:adding pressure to 2nd beat, giving slight acccent N:to 2nd beat. Continue throughout number as marked." Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:C (C>D)|(E2E2)E2|(c2c2)c2|(A2A2)c2|(G2G2)G2|(G2A2)G2| (E2E2)C2|(D2D2)D2|(D2D2) (C>D)|(E2E2)E2|(c2c2)c2| (G2G2)G2|(G2A2)G2|(F2D2)B,2|(C2G,2)E2|C4 G2|| "Chorus"(c2c2)c2|(d2c2)A2|(G2G2)G2|(E2E2)E2|(F2D2)D2| (D2E2)F2|(A2G2)G2|E4 G2|(c2c2)c2|(d2c2)A2|(G2G2)G2| (E2E2)E2|(G2A2)G2|(F2D2)B,2|(C2G,2)E2|C2 z2!fine!!fermata!|| G,2|CC C2D2|(E2E2)C2|EE E2F2|(G2G2)E2|GG G2c2| (B2B2)D2|FF F2A2|(G2G2)G,2|CC C2D2|(E2E2)C2|EE E2F2| (G2G2)E2|GG G2c2|(B2B2) (DE)|(F2A,2) B,2|C4 C2!D.C.!||
RIPPLING WAVES WALTZ. American, Waltz (3/4 time). C Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). ABC. The tune was in the repertoire of Maine fiddle Mellie Dunham; the elderly Dunham (b. 1853) was Henry Ford's champion fiddler in the late 1920's. Dunham composed the tune and dedicated it to his wife (there were earlier, unrelated "Rippling Waves" waltz tunes). Dunham recorded the tune with 'his orchestra' in Camden, N.J., in 1926 for Victor Records. The waltz appears in a small tune book of his compositions and standards published by Carl Fischer, with the note "Original Version as featured by Mellie Dunham in his sensational performances on the Keith Circuit [variety theaters] and as arranged and played by Henry Ford's Orchestra at Dearborn."
The tile "Ripping Waves" appears in a list of traditional Ozarks Mountains fiddle tune compiled by musicologist/folklorist Vance Randolph, published in 1954. It may or may not refer to Dunham's tune.