Cantaria Recommended Book List

Folk Music and Dances of Ireland by Brendan Breathnach This book is a primer on Irish music and dance. It gives explanations and historical context for Irish traditional music, the structure of tunes, types of dancing, the dancing masters of old, and musical instruments played in traditional music. It also gives some tunes and songs and list of historical source recordings and where they are archived. This book does not give a lot of instruction on traditional singing, but is essential information for anyone serious about understanding Irish traditional music as a whole.

Folksongs of Britain and Ireland edited by Peter Kennedy This book is one of the first references we reach for when researching song histories. It includes 360 folksongs transcribed from field recordings by Peter Kennedy, with lyrics, melody line notation, chord symbols and extensive background notes about the songs. An invaluable resource to any traditional singer.

Shanties from the Seven Seas, collected by Stan Hugill pub. Mystic Seaport Museum, Inc, 1994 ISBN: 0-913372-70-6 Cover price: $19.95 This book was originally published in 1961 and has become the definitive source for sea shanty information. The book has extensive notes about types of sea shanties and their evolution as well as notes and historical information about specific songs. Highly recommended for anyone who fancies a sea song!

Soodlums Irish Ballad Book pub. 1982 by Soodlums of Dublin. U.S.: 0-8256-0284-X U.K.:0-7119-0208-9 Cover price: $16.95 158 songs with words, melody line notation and chords. This is a pretty comprehensive collection of songs popularized in the last thirty years by the Clancy's and others. Many of the songs have some background notes about them, but they are not detailed at all. Songs included: A Bucket Of Mountain Dew; A Bunch Of Thyme; A Nation Once Again; All For Me Grog; An Irish Soldier Laddie; Arthur McBride; Avondale; Baidin Fheidhlimi; Bank Of The Roses, The; Banks Of Claudy, The; Banna Strand; Bard Of Amagh, The; Beir Me O; Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms; Biddy Mulligan; Big Strong Man (Sylvest); Black Velvet Band, The; Bold Fenian Men; Bold O'donoghue; Bold Robert Emmet; Bold Thady Quill; Bonny Boy, The; Boolavoque; Boston City; Botany Bay; Boys Of Wexford, The; Brennan On The Moor; Buachaill On Eirne; Bunclody; Butcher Boy, The; Carrickfergus; Carrigdhoun; Cliffs Of Dohoun; Cliffs Of Doneen; Cockles And Mussels; Come To The Bower; Connemara Cradle Song; Courtin' In The Kitchen; Croppy Boy, The; Curragh Of Kildare, The; Danny Boy (Londonderry Air); Dicey Riley; Do You Want Your Old Lobby Washed Down; Down By The Glenside; Down By The Liffeyside; Dublin Jack Of All Trades; Dying Rebel, The; Easy And Slow; Enniskillen Dragoon, The; Fiddlers Green; Finnigan's Wake; Flower Of Sweet Strabane, The; Follow Me Up To Carlow; Four Green Fields; Galway Races, The; Galway Shawl, The; Gay Galtee Mountains, The; Golden Jubilee, The; Henry My Son; High Germany; Hills Of Kerry, The; Holy Ground, The; Home Boys Home; I Know Ehre I'm Going; I Know My Love; I Never Will Marry; I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen; I'll Tell Me Ma; I'm A Rover; James Connolly; Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye; Jolly Beggarman, The; Jug Of Punch, The; Juice Of The Barley, The; Kelly Of Killan; Kerry Recruit, The; Kevin Barry; Lanigan's Ball; Lark In The Clear Air, The; Last Rose Of Summer, The; Leaving Of Liverpool, The; Little Beggarman, The; Look At The Coffin; Love Is Teasin'; Love Thee Dearest; Maid Of The Sweet Brown Knowe, The; Man From Mullingar, The; Mary From Dungloe; Mary Of The Curling Hair, My; Master Mcgrath; Matt Hyland; Mcalpine's Fusiliers; Meeting Of The Waters, The; Merry Ploughboy, The; Mountains Of Mourne, The; Mrs. Mcgrath; Muirsheen Durkin; Never Wed An Old Man; Nightingale, The; Nora; Oft In The Stilly Night; Old Maid In A Garrett; Only Our Rivers; Ore Se Do Bheatha 'Bhaile; Ould Orange Flute, The; Ould Triangle, The; Paddy Works On The Railway; Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore; Patriot Game, The; Peggy Gordon; Quare Bungle Rye; Raggle Taggle Gypsy, The; Red Is The Rose; Reilley's Daughter; Rising Of The Moon, The; Rocks Of Bawn, The; Rocky Road To Dublin, The; Roddy Mccorley; Rose Of Mooncoin, The; Rose Of Moray, The; Rosin The Bow; Sally Gardens, The; Sam Hall; Shores Of Amerikay, The; Siabh Gallion Brae; Silvernamon; Skibbereen; Snowy Breasted Pearl; Spancil Hill; Spanish Lady, The; Spinning Wheel, The; Star Of The County Down; Sweet Carnlough Bay; Take Me Up To Monto; The Foggy Dew; The German Clockwinder; The Harp That Once Through Tara's Halls; The Hills Of Connemara; The Mermaid; The Minstrel Boy; The Old Woman From Wexford; The Rose Of Tralee; The Sash Me Father Wore; The Wild Colonial Boy; Three Flowers, The; Three Lovely Kisses From Kimmage; Three Score And Ten; Town I Loved So Well, The; Twang Man, The; Twenty One Years; Valley Of Knockanure, The; Waxies Dargle, The; Wearing Of The Green, The; Weila Waile; West's Awake, The; When I Was Single; Whiskey In The Jar; Wild Rover, The; Zoological Gardens, The

130 0Great Irish Ballads (Book and CD) by Robert Gogan, 2004 Includes a CD with the first verse and chorus of each song, melody notation and guitar chords (and lyrics, of course). The book has three indexes at the front -- titles, CD tracks, and first lines. These are very helpful in quickly locating specific songs. Excellent background notes on each song plus LOTS of wonderful color photos throughout the book from all around Ireland. It's functional, educational and This book is a great buy! Here is a PARTIAL table of contents: A Bunch Of Thyme; All For Me Grog; Arthur McBride; As I Roved Out; Avondale; Banks Of Claudy, The; Banna Strand; Bard Of Armagh, The; Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms; Black Velvet Band, The; Bold O'donoghue; Bold Thady Quill; Bonny Boy, The; Botany Bay; Boulavogue; Boys of Fairhill, The; Boys of the County Armagh, The; Brennan On The Moor; Bunclody; Butcher Boy, The; Carrickfergus; Cliffs Of Doneen; Cockles And Mussels; Come To The Bower; Courtin' In The Kitchen; Croppy Boy, The; Danny Boy; Dicey Riley; Easy And Slow; Enniskillen Dragoon, The; Fiddlers Green; Finnegan's Wake; Follow Me Up To Carlow; Galway Races, The; Galway Shawl, The; Golden Jubilee, The; The Banks Of My Own Lovely Lee; The Banks Of The Roses; The Boston Burglar; The Curragh Of Kildare; The Foggy Dew ; The German Clockwinder; The Glendalough Saint.... and LOTS more

The Bonnie Bunch of Roses by Dan Milner Songs of England, Ireland and Scotland pub. 1983, Oak Publications 0-8256-0256-4 Cover price $21.95 Dan Milner's web site 150 songs with words, music and chords This book is also a very good resource for song-seekers. The book is organized into topical sections, which makes it a little difficult to find a particular song, in my opinion, but that's a minor nit. The background notes on individual songs are quite good.

4 books by John Loesberg: Traditional Folksongs & Ballads of Scotland, Vol. 1, Traditional Folksongs & Ballads of Scotland, Vol. 2 Traditional Folksongs & Ballads of Scotland, Vol. 3 The Scottish Songs of Robert Burns Each book contains 40 songs with melody notation and chords, plus narrative background notes about each song. Very good resources! Burns book contains these favorites: Auld Lang Syne; My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose; A Man's A Man for A' That; Ae Fond Kiss; Green Grow the Rashes, O; Hieland Mary.

Ceolta Gael by Sean Og agus Manus O Baoill A collection of 92 songs in the Irish language with melody line notation.

Ceolta Gael 2 by Sean Og agus Manus O Baoill A collection of 73 songs in the Irish language with melody line notation.

Folk Songs and Ballads of Scotland compiled and edited by Ewan McColl 70 songs with lyrics, music, and chords 0-8256-0057-X cover price: $11.95
Ewan McColl has been a tremendous asset to the Scottish faction of the Celtic Revival. Since the fifties McColl has been researching and re-introducing very old, nearly lost, Scottish songs back into Celtic folk music. This book includes many of those nearly lost songs, as well as Robert Burns and Robert Tannahill songs. The background notes he's written for the songs are very informative.
The Andy M. Stewart Collection Pub. 1998 Strathmore Music Details about this book
Andy M. Stewart, one of the finest singers in traditional music ever, has compiled this book of songs he's recorded over the years. Many are original songs that have now become part of the living folk tradition, such as the Queen of Argyll and The Ramblin' Rover, and others are old traditional songs from both Scotland and Ireland that he learned from his parents and re-introduced into popular music like Brigid O'Malley and Donald MacGillivray
The Songs of Elizabeth Cronin, Traditional Irish Singer Edited by Dáibhí Ó Cróinín pub. 2000 Four Courts Press Includes over 200 songs, most with music, and 2 CDs containing 59 complete songs. I-85182-259-3
This book, published in 2000, is an invaluable research tool. Bess Cronin was a remarkable singer, though not very well known outside of Ireland because she was truly a folk singer -- singing for pleasure and the enjoyment of friends. She only made formal recordings a few times, and those were mainly for radio broadcasts, but fortunately there are many field recordings of her. Her repertoire was very extensive -- her grandson, the editor, promises this to be just the first half of the collection. I truly look forward to the second half! Some of the songs have very detailed notes, while others only reference the field recordings. There are no guitar chords because Bess was a seán nós (old style), or unaccompanied, singer. The recordings on the CDs, while scratchy in some cases, have a very authentic sound that captures the spirit of Irish traditional singing. Having recently spent several months in Ireland and doing a lot of listening to singers, I place a high value on this particular sound of an unaccompanied singer whose songs are precious gems handed down for generation. Many thanks to Dáibhí Ó Cróinín for this delightful compilation.
The Irish Songbook, The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem Compiled and Edited by Joy Graeme, ©1979 Pub. Oak Publications U.S. ISBN 0-8256-0237-8 UK ISBN 0.86001.280.8 Cover price: $19.95
If you are any sort of a Makem and/or Clancy's fan, this book is a requirement. If you aren't, then you will find it interesting to discover just how many songs that are so often thought of as "traditional" are either written by or arranged and adapted by Tommy Makem or one of the Clancy Brothers. This collection of songs represents the "new tradition" of revitalized Irish, Scots-Irish and Irish-American songs.
One Hundred English Folksongs edited by Cecil Sharp pub. 1975 Dover Books (unabridged republication) c. 1916, 1944 by Oliver Ditson Co. 100 songs scored for piano (no guitar chords) 0-486-23192-5 cover price: $14.95
This book is a useful reference more because Cecil Sharp was one of the premier collectors of English, Irish and Scottish folk songs than for any other reason. The background notes for the songs are excellent, with historical and geographical origins as well as discussion of the type of songs (shanty, ballad, etc) and sometimes their musical structure. In Victorian fashion, it's scored carefully for piano, which makes me wonder if some of the tunes weren't "smoothed out" to make them fit proper notation, perhaps sacrificing some of the folky nuances and rhythm quirks. I still think it's a great resource.
Rise Up Singing: The Group Singing Book Pub. Sing Out! Publications, revised 1992 ISBN: 0962670499 Cover price: $17.95
What can I say? Anyone who is familiar with this book knows it's an awesome resource. Just having it on your coffee table can lead to many wonderful song sessions. It has hundreds of songs in it -- American, Irish, Scottish, English even Spanish and German! Be sure to write your name inside your copy.... then take it everywhere you go.