David A. Kaynor: Living Music and Dance encompasses and celebrates the many contributions David has made to the world of contra dance. At 300 spiral-bound, 8.5 x 11 pages, the book contains:

• David’s autobiography, which has been supplemented by writings from his colleagues.
• Tributes from family members, friends, and colleagues
• Over 70 tunes that David has composed, his harmonies for many of these tunes, and his stories about the tunes.
• David’s essays on tune composition and harmony
• David’s previous book, Calling for Beginners by Beginners
• Over 50 dances that David has choreographed and his stories about these dances
• Many of David’s hand calligraphed dance flyers
• Anecdotes and more

Book: $30.00 

62 of Jay & Molly’s original waltzes and airs. This book contains melodies and chord symbols for each tune plus a paragraph about each and some illustrative photographs. The collection covers a wide range of moods, tempos, and styles and includes “Ashokan Farewell,” “The Lovers’ Waltz,” “Love of My Life,” “The Snowstorm,” and fifty-eight more.

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The Waltz Book Vol. I, II, III & IV
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]

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

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

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Vol. IV / Vol. IV / 72 Waltzes including Dying Embers and The Snowstorm (Molly Mason) and also The Love of My Life and The Solstice Maid (Jay Ungar). [74 pages]

Volumes I, II, and III and IV: $14.95 each

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]

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Vol. I and II: $24.95 each

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]

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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. Over 50 pages, included are many of our favorite dance and jam tunes and good guitar chords. Includes two CDs of recordings of all the songs in the book. Great for students!

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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]

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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.

The 3rd edition of ITFM, released in October 2015, contains clear and faithful settings of 235 jigs, reels, hornpipes, polkas, slip jigs, and airs. Chords, a discography, bibliography, and extensive notes on tunes and sources are included. The cover and inside illustrations are from a wood engraving by Randy Miller.

The transcriptions are true to the personal and regional characteristics of fiddlers like Julia Clifford, Paddy Canny, Martin Wynne, Sean McGuire, Mairtin Byrnes, Sean Ryan, Michael Coleman, Paddy Cronin, and others. To read the complete review of ITFM in Musical Traditions e-zine, click here.

Book: $25.00