Fiddle Tunes and Folk Songs for Beginning Guitar

SKU: HL.645895

ISBN 9781495081781. UPC: 008148008353. 9.0x12.0 inches.

When they originated, folk songs were passed along from one generation to another without written music. Many times they were sung unaccompanied. The melody of a simple accompaniment may also have been played on fiddle, guitar, banjo or whatever instrument was available. Over time, different performers made little changes in both melody and words. In some instances, there are now six or more variations of the same song. The tunes and lyrics in this book may be a little different than what is familiar to the teacher or student. Changes to music or words may certainly be made; however it is recommended that any revised notes and lyrics be written on the pages where they are used. Duet accompaniments offer many possibilities for recitals and school events. The duets help provide valuable rhythmic training and ensemble experience. The duets are recommended for use at home as well as at the lesson. This volume includes 11 folk favorites: Alouette * Camptown Races * Lightly Row * Little Nut Tree * Mexican Clap-Hands Dance * Old MacDonald * On the Bridge at Avignon * Row, Row, Row Your Boat * She Wore a Yellow Ribbon * When the Saints Go Marching In * Yankee Doodle.

SKU: PR.465000130

ISBN 9781598064070. UPC: 680160600144. 9x12 inches.

Following a celebrated series of wind ensemble tone poems about national parks in the American West, Dan Welcher’s Upriver celebrates the Lewis & Clark Expedition from the Missouri River to Oregon’s Columbia Gorge, following the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Welcher’s imaginative textures and inventiveness are freshly modern, evoking our American heritage, including references to Shenandoah and other folk songs known to have been sung on the expedition. For advanced players. Duration: 14’.
In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s Corps of Discovery to find a water route to the Pacific and explore the uncharted West. He believed woolly mammoths, erupting volcanoes, and mountains of pure salt awaited them. What they found was no less mind-boggling: some 300 species unknown to science, nearly 50 Indian tribes, and the Rockies.Ihave been a student of the Lewis and Clark expedition, which Thomas Jefferson called the “Voyage of Discovery,” for as long as I can remember. This astonishing journey, lasting more than two-and-a-half years, began and ended in St. Louis, Missouri — and took the travelers up more than a few rivers in their quest to find the Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean. In an age without speedy communication, this was akin to space travel out of radio range in our own time: no one knew if, indeed, the party had even survived the voyage for more than a year. Most of them were soldiers. A few were French-Canadian voyageurs — hired trappers and explorers, who were fluent in French (spoken extensively in the region, due to earlier explorers from France) and in some of the Indian languages they might encounter. One of the voyageurs, a man named Pierre Cruzatte, also happened to be a better-than-average fiddle player. In many respects, the travelers were completely on their own for supplies and survival, yet, incredibly, only one of them died during the voyage. Jefferson had outfitted them with food, weapons, medicine, and clothing — and along with other trinkets, a box of 200 jaw harps to be used in trading with the Indians. Their trip was long, perilous to the point of near catastrophe, and arduous. The dream of a Northwest Passage proved ephemeral, but the northwestern quarter of the continent had finally been explored, mapped, and described to an anxious world. When the party returned to St. Louis in 1806, and with the Louisiana Purchase now part of the United States, they were greeted as national heroes.Ihave written a sizeable number of works for wind ensemble that draw their inspiration from the monumental spaces found in the American West. Four of them (Arches, The Yellowstone Fires, Glacier, and Zion) take their names, and in large part their being, from actual national parks in Utah, Wyoming, and Montana. But Upriver, although it found its voice (and its finale) in the magnificent Columbia Gorge in Oregon, is about a much larger region. This piece, like its brother works about the national parks, doesn’t try to tell a story. Instead, it captures the flavor of a certain time, and of a grand adventure. Cast in one continuous movement and lasting close to fourteen minutes, the piece falls into several subsections, each with its own heading: The Dream (in which Jefferson’s vision of a vast expanse of western land is opened); The Promise, a chorale that re-appears several times in the course of the piece and represents the seriousness of the presidential mission; The River; The Voyageurs; The River II ; Death and Disappointment; Return to the Voyage; and The River III .The music includes several quoted melodies, one of which is familiar to everyone as the ultimate “river song,” and which becomes the through-stream of the work. All of the quoted tunes were either sung by the men on the voyage, or played by Cruzatte’s fiddle. From various journals and diaries, we know the men found enjoyment and solace in music, and almost every night encampment had at least a bit of music in it. In addition to Cruzatte, there were two other members of the party who played the fiddle, and others made do with singing, or playing upon sticks, bones, the ever-present jaw harps, and boat horns. From Lewis’ journals, I found all the tunes used in Upriver: Shenandoah (still popular after more than 200 years), V’la bon vent, Soldier’s Joy, Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier, Come Ye Sinners Poor and Needy (a hymn sung to the tune “Beech Spring”) and Fisher’s Hornpipe. The work follows an emotional journey: not necessarily step-by-step with the Voyage of Discovery heroes, but a kind of grand arch. Beginning in the mists of history and myth, traversing peaks and valleys both real and emotional (and a solemn funeral scene), finding help from native people, and recalling their zeal upon finding the one great river that will, in fact, take them to the Pacific. When the men finally roar through the Columbia Gorge in their boats (a feat that even the Indians had not attempted), the magnificent river combines its theme with the chorale of Jefferson’s Promise. The Dream is fulfilled: not quite the one Jefferson had imagined (there is no navigable water passage from the Missouri to the Pacific), but the dream of a continental destiny.

SKU: MB.30367M

ISBN 9780786696345. 8.75 x 11.75 inches.

In this book and accompanying audio, Autoharp hall of famer Evo Bluestein provides a beginning approach to a repertoire of songs and fiddle tunes popular in old-time and bluegrass circles. Basic rhythm, chord accompaniment, lyrics and music notation make this book useful for other lead instruments as well, including fiddle, mandolin and voice. A more advanced approach can be found in Evo Bluesteins book Autoharp in Four Easy Steps, published by Mel Bay. More books and DVDs are available at www.evobluestein.com. Bluestein is known as an expert player in the style pioneered by the late Autoharp master Kilby Snow. Bluestein has also developed two successful and popular brands of Autoharp, The Evoharp and the Sparrowharp, built by two world class Autoharp luthiers. In addition to helping many adults learn music on the Autoharp for over thirty years, children in numerous schools have learned to play and sing using the Autoharp in programs that Bluestein has implemented. He is also an accomplished dance caller, teaching folk dance as an independent contractor throughout California schools. Bluestein is co-founder of the California Autoharp Gathering. Includes access to online audio featuring Evo Bluestein.

SKU: CF.YPS265F

ISBN 9781491164051. UPC: 680160922840.

The Rocky Road to Dublin is a song written by Irish poet D. K. Gavan in the mid-nineteenth century for English music-hall performer Harry Clifton and tells the story of an Irish man leaving his hometown of Tuam in the county of Galway in Ireland to go to Dublin to make money. Because of the Great Potato Famine at that time, large groups of Irish folks left their hometowns looking for food and work. Thousands ended up in America, in particular, Philadelphia, where many made their way south through the Appalachian mountains, settling in southwest Virginia, western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. As the Irish began their new lives here in America, they would often sing these songs, which would bring back fond memories of their homeland. Many old-time fiddle tunes can be traced to Irish music, including this song. However, their music changed as the songs were passed around through other cultures in the mountains, with new verses about their new lives. Often the tunes and lyrics made their way back overseas where they would change yet again, so there are many versions of these songs found in both Ireland and America. This setting is close to the original and can be found in both places. It gets to the heart of having to leave one’s home to seek a better life.This tune is a fun one and should be played with a lilt until m. 43. At this point, the original material is more legato, but returns at m. 59 in the alto saxophone. Let the percussion play on their solis, especially at the end where some of them answer the band motifs. The straight eighth notes (as at m. 29) will perhaps look difficult to younger players, but once they understand the concept, it will be a favorite part. Have fun!