A Basic Folk Library - Instruments

Appalachian Dulcimer
Banjo (5-string)
Banjo (Tenor)
Concertina (Anglo-German)
Fiddle
Guitar
Mandolin
Melodeon
Tin Whistle

Instruments - Appalachian Dulcimer

NOTE: Further information about the instrument is available here. See also this article on Contemporary Mountain Dulcimers.

BRYANT, LARKIN "Larkin's Dulcimer Book" (Riverlark Music, 19??)
I have been working in "Larkin's Dulcimer Book" and it's great. An excellent, friendly, instruction book for beginning to intermediate players. Larkin's gentle playing presence comes through on the page in encouraging ways and her pie-chart description of musical values is invaluable! Spiral bound. Note/tab.

MAJOR, JAMES "The Dulcimer Chord Encyclopedia" (Mel Bay, 1993)
The first chord book in standard tunings for the Mountain Dulcimer. Thousands of chords, in 6 popular modes, 3 different tunings each. Indispensible for any serious dulcimer player.

REILLY, LUCILLE "Striking Out ... And Winning" (Shadrach Productions, 1992)
For Hammered Dulcimer, the best single text/instruction book on the market is "Striking Out ... And Winning" by Lucille Reilly. It is a very thorough and well written book with excellent diagrams and photographs. As a single entry, it's hard to beat. Amazon review here.

RITCHIE, JEAN "The Dulcimer Book" (Oak Publications, 1963)
Any basic library would be incomplete on Appalachian Dulcimer without Jean Ritchie's "The Dulcimer Book". She is the "mother" of the instrument and there is simple instruction here, with a wealth of folklore and stories about the instrument.

Instruments - Banjo (5 String)

NOTE: A bibliography of The Banjo's history is available here and here is Stuart Tod's Banjo Page. There is another good 5-string bibliography here.

BURKE, JOHN "John Burke's Book of Old Time Fiddle Tunes for Banjo" (Amsco, 1968)
The next best, which should be no 1 except it is a Tune Book and not suitable for a beginner, 'Old Time Fiddle Tunes for Banjo' by John Burke. This book is the favorite of clawhammer style banjo players. Over 70 tunes and a variety of tunings for the experienced player. 96 pages.

LINN, KAREN "That half-barbaric twang: the banjo in American popular culture" (Urbana, Univ. Illinois Press, 1994)
The Banjo in American Popular Culture (Music in American Life). Originally published in 1957.

MULLER, ERIC and KOEHLER, BARBARA "Frailing the 5-String Banjo: An Instruction Manual" (Mel Bay, 1973)
The best all round clawhammer banjo book is 'Muller & Koehler' Pub by MelBay. An excellent instruction for the beginning frailer with lessons in the basic frailing motion, the brush stroke, the pull-off, hammering, drop-thumb frailing, the roll, the triplet and lots of classic songs in tablature to practice. Book and cassette. ISBN 0-87166-878-5.

WEBB, ROBERT LLOYD (comp) "Ring the banjar: the banjo in America from folklore to factory" (MIT Museum, 1984)
The Banjo in America from Folklore to Factory. A history that's enjoyable to read, with pictures from gourd banjos to heavily inlaid Fairbanks banjos.

Instruments - Banjo (Tenor)

SULLIVAN, ANTHONY "Sully's Irish Banjo Book" (Cork, Ossian Publications, 1988)
I (and I would think many other) tenor banjo players started out with Sully's Irish Banjo book. His session books have also proved to be useful for getting a common repertiore of tunes and my set of has been out on more or less permanent loan to others getting started in Irish music for the last 8 years.

Instruments - Concertina (Anglo-German)

NOTE: There is a useful little bibliography for Anglo-German and English Concertinas here.

LEVY, BERTRAM "The Anglo Concertina Demystified" (New York, Front Hall Enterprises, 19??)
A clearly written tutor for the 30 button Anglo concertina. Also pretty useful for 20-button and 40-button Anglo models. Includes 2 cassettes.

Instruments - Fiddle

NOTE: Useful fiddle sites include Fiddler Magazine here and The Hardanger Fiddle Associatiation of America here.
Chris Bartram's article on The Southern English Fiddle Tradition here and An Appreciation of the Donegal Fiddle here.

COOPER, PETER "the Complete Irish Fiddle player" (Mel Bay, 1998)
Peter Cooper has put together an excellent introduction to the world of Irish fiddling. The book progresses through levels of difficulty, introducing the reader to the different tune forms (jigs, reels, hornpipes etc) and the different forms of ornamentation. The book comes with a double cd which has about 75 tunes on it, played slow and fast. It is a bit pricey. Amazon reviews here.

KAUFMAN, ALAN "Beginning Old Time Fiddle" (New York, Oak, 1997)
The 17 tunes presented in this book teach aspiring musicians how to play fiddle in the style of masters such as Papa John Creach, Sugarcane Harris, Howard Armstrong, Remo Biondi, Clarence Gatemouth Brown, and Lonnie Johnson. Covering the history of the blues fiddle, it also presents correct ways to introduce and end tunes, right- and left-hand styles, and backup techniques. The accompanying practice CD encourages musicians to play along and learn to achieve an authentic sound.

WILLIAMSON, ROBIN "English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish Fiddle Tunes" (New York, Oak, 1976)
Over 100 tunes, this is an outstanding collection of the traditional music of Britain, graded from easy to advanced. Originally came with a little floppy mini record, now a CD. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot from it although I later found out that Robin's versions were not always the standard versions that everybody else played.
Reprinted, 1997

Instruments - Guitar

NOTE: Further information about the instrument is available at The Online Guitar Archive OLGA.
There is also a useful history of the (classical) instrument here.

DENYER, RALPH and SUMMERS, ANDY "The Guitar Manual" (Knopf, 1992)
Ralph Denyer's The Guitar Manual gives a grand discussion of different styles, music theory, sound reinforcement, biography, and technique. Book Description The most comprehensive resource available for beginning and experienced guitarists alike, whether acoustic or electric. Completely redesigned and with many more full-color photos than the original, this new edition surveys recent models and profiles current masters, includes an expanded lesson... Read more Reviews on Amazon here.

McQUAID, SARAH "The Irish DADGAD Guitar Book" (Ossian Publications, 1996)
The Dadgad tuning was developed for backing musicians and solo performers. This book explains Dadgad tuning and provides a complete set of chord diagrams, lists twenty-four Irish tunes arranged in guitar tab, and outlines basic music theory and structure with an empathesis on traditional Irish music. The Dadgad Demo Tape by Sarah McQuaid includes all the tunes listed in the book. Sarah McQuaid biography here.

SEEGER, PETE and LESTER, JULIUS "The Folk Singer's Guide to the 12 String guitar, as played by Leadbelly" (Oak Publications, 1965)
To learn from "The 12 string guitar as played by Leadbelly" by Pete Seeger and Julius Lester. I highly recommend this book. It was published in 1965 by Oak Publications. Until TRO/Folkways published my transcriptions of Lead Belly's music in "Lead Belly, no stranger to the blues" it was the only book that explained the way that Lead Belly actually used the 12-string guitar. The tablature is hand written by or edited by Julius Lester and Jerry Silverman. There are extensive personal observations on Lead Belly's music written by Pete Seeger.

SILVERMAN, JERRY "A Guitarist's Treasury of Song" (Mel Bay, 1995)
This huge collection of traditional and folk tunes includes song categories such as love songs, songs of the sea, fun songs, train songs, sentimental songs, and songs based on historic events. Written in simple leadsheet format with complete lyrics and chord symbols. Author/compiler Jerry Silverman contributes program notes for the more obscure tunes in this exhaustive anthology of American song. A good addition to his two-volume Folk Song Encyclopedia.

SILVERMAN,JERRY "Beginning the folk guitar; an instruction manual" (2 vols) (Oak, 1964)
Simplified,detailed course in the first stages of playing the folk guitar. In 2 volumes, Both excellent. Loads of tab and instruction. There used to be LPs (remember them) available to accompany them.

Instruments - Mandolin

NOTE: The Mandolin Page is here and The Bluegrass Mandolin HomePage is here. There is a Mandolin Chord page here.
Other interesting sites include Simple Gifts (Tablature), Comando, Mandolin Cafe and Mandolinist.com

Instruments - Melodeon

NOTE: There is a useful Melodeon page here.

MALLINSON, DAVID "Mally's Melodeon Methods: D/G System Absolute Beginners" (Mallinson, 19??)
Written by Dave Mallinson, the book is aimed at getting you to beat the bass in time correctly whilst fitting in a few simple melodies. Years of working out an efficient and logical way of playing are thus eliminated. More advanced books are also available from the author here.

Instruments - Tin Whistle

NOTE: A useful online Tin Whistle guide is the Ceolas Penny Whistle Guide.

COTTER, GERALDINE "Traditional Irish Tin Whistle Tutor" (Ossian, 1997)
This is a very good book by Geraldine Cotter (a former all-Ireland whistle champion). There is, separately available, an accompanying cassette by Geraldine of all the tunes in the book with guitar accompaniment.

JORDAN, EAMONN "Whistle and Sing" (2 vols) (****, 19??)
Two collections of Irish songs, reels, airs, jigs, and dance tunes all geared for the whistle and other traditional Irish instruments.

MCCASKILL, MIZZY and GILLIAM, DONA "The Complete Irish Tin Whistle Book" (Mel Bay, 1996)
Quite an instructive book, with some basic music theory, explanation of different grace notes, lots of tunes, and fingering charts to make it easier if you're not a whiz at reading music. ISBN 0-7866-2318-7. Review here. Amazon reviews here.

MCCULLOUGH, L. E. "The Complete Tinwhistle Tutor" (Pittsburgh, PA, Silver Spear Publications, 1976)
I really like this book and would guess that anyone who is already comfortable reading music would have no problem. It's pretty thorough, does a great job of explaining the various ornaments and techniques, and has a bunch of good tunes.

MAGUIRE, TOM "The Tin Whistle Book" (Music Sales Corp., 1997)
A small book for the absolute beginner who wants an introduction to the tin whistle. It's great. Good instruction, kept simple, and lots of practice tunes will keep you busy for months!

OCHS, BILL "The Clarke Tin Whistle Book" (Pennywhistle Press, 19??)
VERY easy format for beginners, and it does not assume learner knows how to read music. Comes with cassette tape. Often comes with purchase of Clarke Whistle. Details of the various deals available here.

WILLIAMSON, ROBIN "The Penny Whistle Book" (Music Sales Corporation, 1977)
This is really good, beginning with very simple yet beautiful tunes, clear instructions for fingering, and really interesting histories of each tune. Check it out. Amazon review here.

Last Updated : 03-05-2002 12:30