(Part 2) Best folk & traditional music books according to redditors

Congratulations.

Kid rearing tip - make a playlist of old Jerry tunes. Works wonders on a cranky baby.

Also check this out:

https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Bears-Picnic-Jerry-Garcia/dp/0694011827

We had a blast with it.

If you like Woody Guthrie, do yourselves a huge favor and read his biography by Joe Klein. His life was nothing short of amazing. Stuff happened to Woody you wouldn't believe. He was on three different ships that sank, several of his family members died by being burnt, he was a sex maniac and he slowly went insane from Huntington's Chorea. Not to mention, he was one of the most talented musicians and far-reaching social activists to ever grace this Earth.

EDIT: cholera to chorea

Gah, aural skills. Let's start with this: everyone dreads aural skills the first time 'round because it's freaking tough. Even the kids who've been playing by ear their whole lives sweat a little when someone asks them to sing a minor sixth. So first bit of advice: breathe.

I'm absolutely positive that you've made a lot more improvement than you're giving yourself credit for. You can ace this thing if you approach it smartly and don't give into despair.

My first question/suggestion would be why are you going to do something that has the potential to sadden you for eight hours a day?! Seriously, back off it a bit over the summer. One hour a day is plenty (possibly too much!). And if you do do one hour a day, it'd be best to do it in small doses: fifteen minutes here, ten here, twenty there. Going at it regularly is far more important than going at it exhaustively. Give yourself room to breathe.

Second, there must be someplace where you have relative strengths aurally and someplace else where you have weaknesses. So identify what you're good at and start by improving that; you've got to give yourself a win here or you're not going to want to keep going. So if you're great at naming intervals, start and end your day with quickfire interval blasting. Or maybe it's rhythm or hearing progressions. Whatever it is, give yourself some affirmation.

Next, (re)start simply. The pentatonic scale, for example, is really easy to hear and sing so a lot of aural skills methods start there. I know plenty of negro spirituals use the pentatonic for all the main melodic material. There's even a series called Folk Song Sight-singing that uses more basic shapes to slowly build up to a refined ear. But even starting with Mi-Re-Do will do plenty of good.

From there, it's important to realize, a lot of this stuff is really just a memory exercise at first. Start by internalizing what "Sol-Fa-Mi" sounds like and then hearing for it wherever you can. Start with one pattern, and when you are confident you can identify it wherever, add another.

This ties into how we play our instruments. If you want good ears, the easiest way is to sing while you play. You don't need to be much good at the instrument in question although, obviously, some instruments are better suited for this task than others. Play a scale? Sing that scale! Found a cool pattern while playing? Write it down and practice singing it. Made up something wild? Guess what?

With that in mind, you can't practice these things in isolation because we hardly (if ever) hear in isolation. So back to the Sol-Fa-Mi melody snippet: if you really want to ingrain this in your ear, you've got to give it some context.

Perhaps you'll note how it features the dominant's chordal seventh resolving down by step (Fa-Mi) or that it goes nicely with the harmonies I - V - I. While you practice singing it, you might play those harmonies to really hear/feel it in context and then talk to yourself about the theory behind it. You have all this amazing theory knowledge already; use it to help your ears make sense of things.

Cross-modal thinking like this is actually part of the reason Solfege works wonders the way it does. The Kodaly method adds in hand signs for each note as well; you might give those a try as well to help you physicalize pitch space. To help your ears out, use more than just your ears.

On that note, you need some way of checking how right you are. A partner is great for this but we live in the 21st century so computers work just as well. Teoria is a great place to start for this. I like the program GNU Solfege because you can use your computer's microphone to check your sight-singing and dictations. It also lets you customize exercises so at the start and end of the day, you can always give yourself some wins.

That said, talk to your teachers about your progress. They've been through all this hoorah before and have actually heard/seen your performance first-hand. They are in a far better position to be able to help you through this bump than anyone here. It can be scary, but simply asking for help can open up so many doors for improvement, it's wild.

EDIT: Can't believe I didn't mention this earlier, but record yourself practicing. This helps your teachers identify what's going wrong but more importantly, lets you do the same. A lot of people are uncomfortable with the sound of their own voice (for reasons beyond the scope of this thread) but you're going to make light years of progress when you're able to self-correct. More importantly, you'll get an honest depiction of your skills and not your fears. Often times the truth is far better than we fear it to be.

Often times, we have perfectly good ears (really!) but the exercises are out of our range. A bass will struggle to write down something too high because it's hard for them to imagine themselves singing it. A soprano will flip if you play a G2 for the starting pitch for a sight-singing exercise. Change the register of your exercises to make sure they are most comfortable for your own voice; you might just surprise yourself with how much better you perform after you do this.^1

But the absolute best way to get someone to check your work? Join a choir. I'm bolding this entire paragraph because if you follow only one bit of advice from this thread, this would be it. Singing in a choir will take your ears into hyperdrive. It gives you a constant check on whether or not you're doing it right and provides tons of context for the music you're hearing/producing. It also solves the pesky problem of range/register. Not to mention, it can be mega fun so you might not even notice your ears are improving!

Also, kind of a weird one, but check the timbre of what you're listening to. In high school, I was behind my AP theory class when it came to this stuff and one day, our teacher switched the keyboard sounds to organs, and flutes, and saxophones. I aced that day while everyone else bombed; turns out I have a far easier time figuring out winds than I do pianos. Which makes sense: my introduction to music was playing flute.

But seriously, timbre has a supermassive impact on what and how we hear, for reasons too involved to name here. So, if you can, change the color of what you're listening to. If you grew up playing a certain kind of instrument (strings, saxes, etc.), start there. And after that, have fun looking for other timbres you find easy/pleasing to listen to. This advice ties into choral singing; the voice is the timbre most familiar to all of us.

And that's a great next tip: have fun. Reconnect to all the reasons you love music. Dance a waltz by Chopin and count through the rhythms. Sing along to an ear-worm by Mozart. Simply hum the tonic to a Beethoven symphony and make note of when it changes. Read the sheet music for these pieces while you do it. Actively engage in the music you listen to and your ears and your heart will thank you for it.

That was...a lot more than I planned on writing and I'm sure there's typos littered everywhere. Still, I hope this helps. You totally can get good ears by the time you're done with your theory sequence. Be patient with yourself. Be smart about how you practice. Identify your strengths and weaknesses. Give yourself some wins. And again: breathe. Take care and have fun practicing.

1.) This is perhaps my biggest beef with aural skills classes as they are currently taught most places. This is such a simple thing to vary yet most of our exercises are still in the middle register. I understand that that's where most people are likely to be able to sing but never switching it up makes it easier for some people to learn simply because they have voice types that closely match what's being played. Irks me to no end.

That Michael Gray "Dylan Encyclopedia" is an over-the-top indulgence. It's fun to flip through occasionally but whenever I do I walk away thinking "I can't believe someone invested so much time to produce something so arcane". I actually bought the book when Gray was going around the country as part of a speaking tour to promote the book.

​

A book that's fun but is only sort of a book is The Dylan Scrapbook. As it's name implies, it's put together like an actual scrapbook that features all sorts of pictures and reproductions of things from Dylan's early years. Lots of cool features like handwritten lyrics, photos, and more that were curated by the same guy who oversaw the Music Experience Project in Seattle.

His autobiography Bound for Glory is great also. The man lived an interesting life.

Ramblin' Man: The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie

If you are into working class history, you should know about Woody Guthrie. This book is great.

A huge amount of British music has been collected that dates from before the 20th century. There has been two major revivals - one in the late 19th century, and another in the mid 20th century. Since the 1960's (in particular) there has also been a huge revival of performers playing this style of music.

Do you live in England? In Camden (London) there's a building called Cecil Sharpe House, which is home to a huge library of old folk songs / tunes. There are 2 collectors in particular who are worth looking into - Ralph Vaughan Williams and Francis James Child.

A popular book in the British folk scene is The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. It contains lyrics and melodies, and was really influential in the 60's revival.

Artists that I would recommend looking into:
Nic Jones
Ewan Mac Coll,
Dick Gaughan,
A.L Lloyd,

(These are just a few favourites though - if you're interested I can give you some more names)

With regards to dance music, it's fairly rare to have exact dates the tunes were written - there are lots of collections of music from the last few centuries. There is a huge amount of traditional English dance music, as well as a lively tradition of folk dancing (morris dancing).

John Kirkpatrick is one example of a player of English trad dance music.

(I don't know a huge amount about English dance music - my main interest is Irish dance music - but I grew up around it and am can you give you a fair bit of info if you want)

EDIT: clarity & extra link

Clifton Chenier has some tunes that could be considered honky tonk.

http://www.amazon.com/Mel-Bay-Clifton-Chenier-Zydeco/dp/0786628383/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1421550087&sr=8-3&keywords=accordion+zydeco

Reading about this song led me to discover this songbook, Hard Hitting Songs for Hard-Hit People https://www.amazon.com/dp/0803244754/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_eUwVAbPFT3ES9

I ordered it immediately. It has great songs by Woody Guthrie, this one and other socialist/union songs

Suzuki??? I recommend you learn how to read music a more traditional way. Suzuki method will only teach you what the teacher teaches you.


Musical literacy is the ability to pick up music and read it with no help, just like regular literacy. It takes time to develop, just like regular literacy. Suzuki method is generally for those who cannot understand the notated music, or do not care to practice reading it.



First you need to learn how to read music. Then you can just buy a book of traditional Irish songs (this is the one I got on Amazon) and get to work. The Irish Songbook (Vocal Songbooks): 75 Songs (Songs collected , adapted and have been sung by The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem ; The Irish Echo) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0825602378/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_5aa5Bb1ZZC1S7

Honestly it's just a puzzle until you figure it out. In the meantime, there's nothing stopping you from playing a song over and over again and playing along with it. It just takes time.

This episode didn't have any recommendations for further reading on Joni Mitchell.

Over in /r/JoniMitchell, however, they recommended Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell as well as Voices: The Work of Joni Mitchell (a bit rare, though, so be braced for a higher price tag)

I was in a tape Bob Dylan tape tree years ago and some very generous member send me a bunch of recordings and this DVD of various Dylan TV performances.

http://www.stellarproducts.info/product_p/605.htm

Some of the quality on the version I have are a bit bootleggy (new verb) but I love this thing. I have volumes one and two and I believe there is a third. I'd pick them all up.

Another item she needs is Clinton Heylin's "Bob Dylan: The Recording Sessions 1960-1994."

http://www.amazon.com/Bob-Dylan-Recording-Sessions-1960-1994/dp/0312150679

Or "The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia" by Michael Gray is a great "bathroom" reader.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0826469337/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1944687702&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0312150679&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0GF9NA2VA04JYE6J3526

Check e-Bay for more Dylan memorabilia type stuffs.

I've also been reading The Rhythmic Structure of Music by Cooper and Meyer. I like how it treats the formal/harmonic elements in terms of accent and anacrusis, however I think the use of poetic feet (a la Garlandia) kind of obfuscates any proportional relationships that each of the sections and groupings might have. Thoughts?

http://www.amazon.com/There-But-Fortune-Life-Phil/dp/0786860847

To jump on your comment, a friend gave me a copy of The Folksinger's Wordbook which has a ton of songs in it. The key/arrangement isn't always true to some versions I know but it's a great tome to thumb through if you're looking for a random song to play.

> Wait, what free drink? I totally missed this.

If you're in London hmu on reddit. I buy first drink for anyone whose name I recognise from reddit, as a general rule.

>(I'm sure there is more theory out there, of course, I just don't know what it is or how to find it.)

Once you've got the basics, you're starting to get into specialist areas. It's a bit like saying "I want to learn some science". Music theory becomes musicology, and that's literally a degree topic.

You could look for the following books:

On the topic of analysing music, try Nicolas Cook. A Guide to Musical Analysis, 1994. I'm not a fan of a lot of what Nicolas Cook writes and says but I can't deny that as an entry level for people that haven't read deeply, he has some of the seminal texts.

On the topic of harmony and form, you could try either Aldwell and Schachter or the much cheaper, but much less thorough [Pratt](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dynamics-Harmony-Principles-Practice.

On the topic of music history, you probably want to start with a general overview of classical music. Nicolas Cook wrote A Very Short Introduction. A textbook like Burkholder, Grout and Palisca covers most of the areas first year undergrads are expected to learn in the UK. Alternately, something like that Taruskin is also very thorough.

When you then want to focus down, you can use bibliographies from any of those books to find your favourite area.

Ethnomusicology might be worth considering. Look at the Very Short Introductions to Ethnomusicology, World Music and Folk Music.

If you have an interest in film music and how that functions, then you could start by looking at a book like Music and Mythmaking which is quite a nice introduction. There's another Very Short Introduction which is also useful. Kalinak is someone I find generally on target. There's also the Mervyn Cooke introduction to the history of film music which I found slightly inaccurate as it got more modern, but that's often the case in these books written contemporarily.

A subsection of this is ludomusicology (my field!) which you probably want to get into by reading either Collins or Summers depending on whether you want to read an established author, or read something written by one of my potential supervisors. You might struggle to find either of these depending on where you are. You could also try Ludomusicology.

There's also composition, but this might be a good start?

Jazz I'm not as sure about off the top of my head, alas.

E: It's worth noting that a lot of this steps away from purely mathematical relationships though. The mathematical relationships just get weird as you push further and as mentioned elsewhere in this AMA, the people that study them are the kind of people that nerds avoid at parties because they might want to talk about mathemusic.

https://youtu.be/6j6Xclma02w - amarguitar has an amazing YouTube channel that takes super deep dives into music theory and breaks down tons of Phish jams

https://www.amazon.com/Phish-Companion-Guide-their-Music/dp/0879306319/ref=pd_aw_sbs_14_1/133-1251050-1249136?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0879306319&pd_rd_r=9a6dc57e-ad9f-4a4f-a709-bcb8fc2c8412&pd_rd_w=fgKqO&pd_rd_wg=397nq&pf_rd_p=aae79475-6dc9-4a12-80e8-27b63108fa72&pf_rd_r=88DHHXDNAZ5XBC376BXC&psc=1&refRID=88DHHXDNAZ5XBC376BXC

Having this book in my bathroom legit made me learn so much about Phish’s setlists and what happened at each show while I pooped.