The Folk Handbook: Working with Songs from the English Tradition (English Folk Dance/Song Societ): Working with Songs from the English Tradition (English Folk Dance/Song Societ) |
 |
 click here for more details, find new or used items |
English Folk Dance and Song Society
|
|
Pages: 288 (Spiral-bound)
ISBN: 0879309016
Pub: Backbeat Books
Pub date: 2007-03-31
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 20958
Reader Reviews:
Excellent introduction to folk song (2/2 people found this helpful)
For educational purposes this is superb: concise articles explaining aspects of folk singing and the folk revival in America and Britain; songs arranged thematically; endorsements by Shirley Collins and Martin Carthy; a CD of recent-ish field recordings and an accompanying website with many riches, including MIDI files for all the tunes in the book, plus PDF files for errata, a forum for user comments and lots of useful links.
The only mild niggle, as a newspaper review has already pointed out, are that the lack of an index of song titles/first lines makes speedy cross referencing difficult, if this is intended as an educational resource - ie checking what you already have on CD if you're trying to build a library of recordings for students is more bothersome than it might be (though a selection of recordings are handily listed alongside the excellent notes which accompany each song). And fourteen field recordings (not the twenty indicated above) isn't overly generous (though a CD of more varied versions of some the book's songs, Old Wine, New Skins, will be available separately in a few weeks so that will help).
But this is carping: the key thing is that this book offers clarity and concision in guiding the novice through a minefield of information. Don't throw away the big Peter Kennedy book, as it is far more comprehensive, but point students here first.
Similar Products
Folk Music (Basics)
The Study of Folk Music in the Modern World (Folkloristics)
Old Wine New Skins
The British Folk Revival 1944-2002 (Ashgate Popular and Folk Music Series)
English & Scottish Popular Ballads Volume 2 of 5: Vol 2
Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> Music, Stage & Screen -> Music -> Styles -> World Music
Books -> Subjects -> Music, Stage & Screen -> Music -> Styles -> Folk Music
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
Books -> Refinements -> Age (feature_two_browse-bin)
Books -> Refinements -> Format (binding_browse-bin)