{title: The Log Driver's Waltz}
{artist: Wade Hemsworth}
{album: 1956 (Folkways) — popularized by Kate & Anna McGarrigle for NFB film 1979}
{key: G}
{tempo: 130}
{difficulty: intermediate}
{tags: canadiana,wade-hemsworth,waltz,3-4-time}
{video: youtube:upsZZ2s3xv8}
{credit: 'The Log Driver's Waltz' (NFB animated short, 1979, Canada Vignettes). Song by Wade Hemsworth, sung by Kate & Anna McGarrigle. (c) National Film Board of Canada.}

{c: A 3/4 waltz about lumberjacks who ride floating logs down spring rivers. The NFB animated short (1979) is a Canadian rite of passage — go watch it before you play this.}
{c: 3/4 time is unusual for a folk song this well-known. Count: ONE-two-three, ONE-two-three. Strum: bass note, strum, strum.}
{c: Lyrics copyright Wade Hemsworth estate. Chord skeleton below. Full lyrics on official Hemsworth recordings or NFB film.}

{c: ===== STRUCTURE =====}
{c: Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Final chorus}

{c: ===== VERSE PROGRESSION (in G, 3/4) =====}
[G]________ ________ [D]________
[D]________ ________ [G]________
[G]________ [C]________ [G]________
[G]________ [D]________ [G]________

{c: ===== CHORUS PROGRESSION =====}
{c: "For he goes birling down a-down the white water..."}
[G]________ ________ [C]________
[C]________ ________ [G]________
[G]________ [C]________ [D]________
[G]________ [D]________ [G]________

{c: ===== WALTZ STRUM PATTERN =====}
{c: Three-beat: BASS - strum - strum (bass on 1, strums on 2 and 3).}
{c: For G: low E or low D string on 1, strum down on 2 and 3.}
{c: For D: A string (5th) on 1, strum down on 2 and 3.}
{c: For C: A string (5th) on 1, strum down on 2 and 3.}
{c: Keep it gentle and rolling. This is a dance, not a march.}

{c: ===== ARRANGEMENT =====}
{c: Mandolin: tremolo the melody during the chorus. Sounds glorious.}
{c: Fiddle: this is a fiddle player's dream — long sustained bows on the chorus, lift on beats 2 and 3.}
{c: Two voices in harmony work beautifully — the McGarrigles set the standard.}

{c: ===== WHY THIS SONG =====}
{c: One of the most beloved Canadian songs of the 20th century. The animated NFB short (3 minutes, by John Weldon) is on YouTube and on the NFB website (nfb.ca). Watch it with the 7yo. Show them what log-driving looked like. Then learn the song together.}