Swinging Door Music

    Books

Ballads & Songs of the Civil War
by Jerry Silverman [Mel Bay]

Melody and Piano Music with chord symbols with lyrics for songs written and sung by both sides on every aspect of the war, stirring marching songs, sentimental ballads, descriptions of battles and their aftermath, election campaign songs, songs with a political message, songs with a social conscience, minstrel songs, and satirical and humorous ditties. [272 pages] - view contents

The Caledonian Companion
by Alastair J. Hardy [The Hardy Press]

The Caledonian Companion presents a collection of Scottish Fiddle Music, much of which is not otherwise currently available in a modern edition, with a significant proportion being published here for the first time. It also sets out to elucidate a range fo Scottish fiddle techniques: bowing, fingering, phrasing, ornamentation, etc., essential to the idiomatic performance of the style. [144 pages] - view contents

The Cello Fiddling Tune Book
by Deborah Greenblatt [Greenblatt & Seay]

A book of fiddle tunes for cello, with chord symbols and a second cello part for all the tunes. [54 pages] - view contents

The Civil War Ballroom Band Book
Music for a Midcentury Victorian Ball
by Liz Stell & Bill Matthiesen

This collection supplies enough sheet music for two full-length Victorian balls: over 70 different tunes, including all those from The Civil War Ballroom CD. Harmony parts are provided for over half the music, plus trumpet parts for seven pieces. All music is from mid-nineteenth century sources, with source information for each piece. The introduction includes notes on how to play the music, ideas for instrumentation and sources for additional music and information - view contents

Fiddle Tunes for Cello
by Lucy Reuter
Includes Ashokan Farewell

Lucy Reuter has compiled a collection of forty-two great tunes in the original fiddle keys, with several of them written in more cello-friendly keys as well. All tunes are traditional except for "Ashokan Farewell", and are laid out well and easy to read in this 8 & 1/2 x 11 book. Included are many of our favorite dance and jam tunes and good guitar chords. Includes a CD of recordings of all the songs in the book. Great for students! [49 pages] - view contents

Great American Tablature Songbook
by Mark Hanson [Accent on Music]
Includes Ashokan Farewell for finger-style guitar.

Mark Hanson's Great American Tablature Songbook is now available in a two-CD format. All the pages of the book, plus the front and back cover are viewable onscreen and printable in PDF format from a CD. The disk is compatible with both PC and Macintosh computers. With the Abode Acrobat program (free download from Adobe), you can view all of the pages of the book on screen, and easily print any or all of them on regular 8.5"x11" paper.

Included in the package is the same 70-minute audio CD as the original release. This CD features Mark's guitar solos of all 57 tunes. On the tunes that include lyrics, Greta Pedersen's sparkling vocals are panned to one channel in the stereo mix, with the guitar in the other. Some of Mark's best arrangements are included: "Ashokan Farewell" (the PBS "Civil War" theme), "El Condor Pasa," "Water Is Wide," "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," and many more. - view contents

New England Fiddler's Repertoire
New 20th Anniversary Edition
Fiddlecase Books

A great source of classic New England contra dance tunes, compiled by Randy Miller and Jack Perron. These tunes, with Celtic and French Canadian roots, are the bedrock of traditional New England fiddling. [spiral bound 168 tunes] - view contents

Peel the Banana [book & CD]
Traditional Dances for Your Community
Collected & edited by Paul Rosenberg
CD includes Peter Davis & George Wilson
Homespun Community Dance

THE CD features 20 dances and singing games that Paul (a well known caller and producer of the Dance Flurry) has found to be popular during his years of leading school residencies, family dances and community celebrations. There are American dances such as the singing square Marching Through Georgia and the contra dance Bob's Jig, along with dances from Russia (Sasha), Israel (Zemer Atik), Germany (Kinderpolka), Denmark (Seven Jumps) and other countries such as Ireland, Belgium, Quebec, England, Scandinavia, plus two African-American singing games. Wonderful dance-length music is provided by George Wilson (fiddle, banjo, bass, guitar, percussive feet), Peter Davis (clarinet, guitar, piano, mandolin, pennywhistle) and Paul (recorder). On most tracks Paul calls the dance the first two times through. Children are also included singing on several of the cuts. Liner notes give handy suggestions about which tracks to use with specific age groups, i.e. 3-5, 5-7, etc., with some that are suitable for "ages 1 to 101."

THE BOOK provides detailed instructions for each of the dances, as well as written music (with chords) for all of the tunes. It includes background information on some of the dances, teaching tips or variations for less experienced or younger dancers, simple instructions on how to teach the waltz, plus a list of enrichment activities for the classroom and a glossary describing all the dance movements and terms used in the book. 55pgs.

The Portland Collection Vol. I & II
by Susan Songer (with Clyde Curley)
Contra Dance Music in the Pacific Northwest

A remarkable collection of the most popular traditional and contemporary fiddle tunes heard at square and contra dances in and about Portland, Oregon. These books contain melodies and chords, as well as interesting notes about each tune.
Vol. I / [spiral bound 318 tunes] - view contents
Vol. II / [spiral bound 322 tunes] - view contents

The Waltz Book Vol. I, II & III
by Bill Matthiesen

One of Jay and Molly's favorite resources, these easy to read spiral bound books include the melodies and chord symbols for some of the most memorable waltzes played by dance musicians today. There's a nice mix of recent compositions along with traditional classics, some with Celtic, Canadian or Scandinavian roots. It's great fun to get together with friends and family and read through waltz after beautiful waltz, improvizing harmonies and countermelodies along the way.

Vol. I / 51 Waltzes including The Lover's Waltz, Ashokan Farewell and Midnight on the Water. [66 pages] - view contents

Vol. II / 73 Waltzes including Waltzing With You, The Mountain House, Metsakukkia, and Give Me Your Hand. [80 pages] - view contents

Vol. III / 68 Waltzes including Eclipse of the Moon (Ruth Ungar), Ellery Rose (Molly Mason), and West Texas Waltz (Jay Ungar). [74 pages] - view contents