Beginners: Books for Men

In addition to the books covered below, please see this post for more information about two newer books for men, Songs of the Wayfarer and Contemporary Art Songs for Men.

Songs of Love, Inspiration, and Travel, compiled by Sally K. Albrecht has a few easy, low, limited range songs like "The Water is Wide", but also includes several songs with Fs and Gs.  I assign it for students that have those notes, but may not have found freedom on them yet.  Then we start with the lower songs and build up to the higher ones.

"The Water is Wide", "Poor Wayfaring Stranger", and "Sky Boat Song" are  arrangements by Jay Althouse and very similar to his arrangements found in Ready to Sing...Folksongs.   "Follow the Dream" by Vicki Tucker Courtney is an upbeat song with optional high notes of Eb, F, and G.  With the low note options, it is very doable by a young baritone. "Remember My Song" by Sally K. Albrecht and Jay Althouse, also found in Songs of Love, Music, and Nature in the Key of D, is presented here in C.

With all of the other options for young men, I don't often use the Easy Song series anymore, and when I do, I tend to go with the Part II books more.

I use Easy Songs for the Beginning Tenor mostly for the folksong and spiritual arrangements which include "Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes", "Flow Gently, Sweet Afton", "Rock'-a-my-soul", "Scarborough Fair," and "Steal Away".

My favorite songs in Easy Songs for the Beginning Tenor Part II are "Harrigan" and "I Love a Piano", but if I'm looking for George M. Cohan or Irving Berlin, I can find them other places too.  I like "Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms", "Bendemeer's Stream", and "The Lark in the Morn" but the guys don't seem to share my enthusiasm.  "Bill Groggin's Goat", one of my favorites from piano lessons, did appeal to one of the guys.  This arrangement is fun because the piano sounds like the train.

"Go Down Moses", "Joshua fit the Battle of Jericho", and "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" are student favorites in Easy Songs for the Beginning Baritone/Bass.  I've also had students respond well to the English versions of Robert Franz Lieder included in this volume.

Of the 4 Easy Song books for men, Easy Songs for the Beginning Baritone/Bass Part II is probably my favorite.  "The Water is Wide" appears here in the same arrangement as is in the 15 Easy Folksongs Arrangements.  Because I have that book, I can use the other key if it fits the student better.  I also have other key options with the Celius Dougherty arrangements of "Colorado Trail" and "Red River Valley"  because I own the Celius Dougherty:  Folksongs and Chanties.  (Remember this book, because it also has other key options for several Dougherty songs that show up in various volumes of the Boytim books.)  I love Robert Franz's "Farewell", although I usually have students learn the German words from the sheet music I picked up several years ago.  This song is also in Pathways of Song.  "Give My Regards to Broadway" and "For Me and My Gal" give students an introduction to an older style of musical theatre and popular music.

In the next post, we move on to music for the student who has had a little more music experience and is ready to jump into foreign languages and true art songs.

Beginners: Books for women

While Alfred leads the way with books that work for both beginning young men and beginning young women, Hal Leonard seems to be the leader in books created for specific genders and voice types in this age and difficulty level.  

Songs of Love, Music, and Nature is an Alfred publication compiled by Sally K. Albrecht. This book is available with or without the accompaniment CD.  I love these songs.  Most of the composers/arrangers are familiar names from other Alfred publications--Andy Beck, Ruth Elaine Schram, Sally K. Albrecht, Jay Althouse, and Vicki Turner Courtney. "The Moon", "Why Does the Willow Tree Weep" and "Wintersong" are favorites with the students that love slow, beautiful songs in minor keys.

Joan Boytim's First Book series was a wonderful resource for some beginner high school students, but there was a need for repertoire more appropriate for middle school voices, and so the Easy Song series was created.  Some of my middle schoolers are ready for this (as a second or third book), but it also works well for 9th and 10th graders or students that start later.  All songs in these volumes are in English, although some are English translations of fairly simple French and German art songs like "Non petit coeur soupire", and "Heidenröslein".  Part 2 books include more art songs originally in English and a few older popular/musical theatre songs like "Second Hand Rose".  The soprano books do include songs with G and higher, but there are several songs that only go to D or E, so the book can be used with students who really will be sopranos but haven't found the top yet.

Because there are so many options now for students at this level, I don't use Easy Songs for the Beginning Soprano as much as I did when it first came out, but it is still a wonderful resource.  It contains a lovely arrangement of "Golden Slumbers" that is a great introduction to melismas.  "Two Marionettes" and "The Lilac Tree" are student favorites because they get to tell a story.  I love them because the students like them enough that they are not frightened of the high notes, or if they are, they want it bad enough to practice and explore until they can sing the high notes well.  Frederic Austin's setting of "It Was a Love and His Lass" is challenging, but definitely appropriate for a young high school student.

Easy Songs for the Beginning Soprano Part II includes more songs from operetta.  I was also pleased to see "April" by Roger Quilter, and "Fairy Lullaby" by Amy Beach, providing an introduction to these important composers.  "Glow Worm" gives those sopranos who have found their high notes a chance to really show them off.  

My students favorite songs from Easy Songs for the Beginning Mezzo-Soprano/Alto are "Vienna, My City of Dreams" and "You are Free" from operetta.  I'm not a huge fan of operetta (it's a little sappy for me) but the students love it, and these are presented in easy to sing keys.  This book also includes "Who'll Buy My Lavendar" by Edward German. I love this song and the fact that there are more songs in this book that I will use with students than in the other collections that contain this song.

If students like songs in both Easy Mezzo books, I prefer to have them purchase Easy Songs for the Beginning Mezzo-Soprano/Alto Part II.  In addition to 2 folksongs that are the same arrangements as published in 15 Easy Folksong Arrangements, there are very nice arrangements of "The Bonny Lighter-By" by Celil J. Sharp and "Go from My Window, Go" by Arthur Somervell.  John Ireland's "Spring Sorrow" is also included in this book, as is a student favorite "Second Hand Rose" by James F. Hanley.

Daffodils, Violets, and Snowflakes is intended to be supplemental material for beginners using  36 Solos for Young Voice or the Easy Songs series.  It is available in High and Low keys.  "Nursery Rhymes" is a favorite of my middle school students and gives opportunities for working on acting in addition to work on the technical concepts of smoothing out the big jumps in the melody and freeing up high notes.  "Boats of Mine" is a lovely setting of Robert Louis Stevenson's poem "Where Go the Boats".  The high notes are optional, so if needed, the range is only a little over an octave.  I also really like "The Fairy Pipers", "Heigh-Ho! The Sunshine", and "Ho! Mr. Piper".  I tend to be the person that loves all the sad, slow songs, so it's nice to find a book where I like several of the more upbeat songs.


The Hal Leonard books included in this post all come with the accompaniment CD and do not have an option for the book alone.  I believe that all Hal Leonard books now come with the enhanced CD.  When used in a computer, you can change the tempo or key of a song.

The next post will cover options for young men in this same age category and difficulty level.

Beginners: Other books for both men and women

This relatively short post will examine other books that are at a similar difficulty level as the folksong books reviewed in the previous post. The books from Heritage Music Press discussed here, would also be very appropriate for this level.

Solo Songs for Young Voices has been around for quite awhile.  Originally published by Warner Bros., it is now available through Alfred.  Because this book is only available in one key, I tend to only assign it to the medium voices and look elsewhere for songs for higher voice types.  "Song of the Sea" might be a song that you recognize.  It is also available as a choral octavo and I remember singing it in school.  (It's been around for a really long time.)  It's a great song for medium voices, and both women and men seem to like it.  The book also contains great arrangements of "Farewell, My Own True Love" and "Wild Mountain Thyme".  Students also seem to respond well to John Leavitt's setting of an Alfred Lord Tennyson poem, titled here, "Sweet and Low".

Ye Shall Have a Song (another book compiled by Jay Althouse) brings us more beautiful and relative easy to sing settings of famous texts.  Students anxious to start foreign languages can begin with these settings of "Pie Jesu" and "Kyrie".  One of my favorite poets, Christina Rossetti is also featured in "Who Has Seen the Wind" and "Winter Carol". This is another book that I would classify as "user friendly".  In fact, for my girls that don't really like classical music, it is often the second book assigned after My Heart Sings.

Sing Me a Song, compiled by Sally K. Albrecht, also features the work of famous poets. This settings are slightly more difficult however, and usually speak more to the students that are really into the arts and classical music.  "Remember Me" is an exception in that almost all the students I've tried this song with seem to like it.  If I don't find other songs in the book that fit them, I have them work from the octavo version.  All the songs are in English, but Andy Beck's "No Ruby" is inspired by Heinrich Heine, so it's a great introduction to a German poet.  There are three settings of William Blake's poetry by Sherri Porterfield, my favorite being "The Tiger".

Both Ye Shall Have a Song and Sing Me a Song are available in Medium High and Medium Low Keys.


Level 3 of the Resonance series is another great option for students at this level.  Read more about the series here.

Although the contents of the books in the Resonance series has changed a little with each edition, three of my favorite songs are in all the editions.  Those songs are "Gloria Deo", a simple yet moving Christmas Song, "Suo-Gân" a Welsh lullaby, and "Spring is Singing in the Garden".  This latest editions contains a few folk songs and works easy enough for a student new to lessons but with some background in music, and it would probably provide plenty of songs for the second year of study as well.   I especially like this book for talented singers whose ranges are not extremely high or low, and students who want a challenge with languages.

Beginner Repertoire: Folk Songs

A note about beginners:  I am using beginner to mean an average beginner high school age or older that does not have the vocal challenges of pitch matching, limited range, etc.  I do use these with some of the more musically advanced middle school students.  

Many of us would agree that folk song arrangements are a wonderful way to begin classical voice instruction.  Folk tunes, for the most part, are simple and easy to learn.  I use the folk song arrangements of Copland, Britten, and Quilter with my students, but usually loan these to students rather than having them purchase the books because not all of the songs in the collections are good for young students.  Especially with the Britten, the accompaniments are often difficult and clash with the melody rather than supporting the singer.  I will mention this again in the post on octavos, but if you like the Copland Old American Songs, you should know that many of them are available as unison octavos.

I should also explain that although spirituals offer many of the same benefits of folk songs, I will not be including them in this series.  I teach spirituals, but since I teach at a public school, it's easier, and I feel safer, to just have students sing the spirituals that are included in other collections, rather than buying an entire book of songs about God and spending the whole year with that.

Alfred publishes most of the folk song books that I have my students purchase.  All of these books could be used with men or women, although some songs seem more appropriate for one gender or the other.  All of the Alfred folk song books come in Medium High and Medium Low keys.  Folk Songs for Solo Singers Vol. 1 is also available in a High Key.  I don't have students buy it often, but sometimes I will pull it out and play from it to challenge a student that has the Medium High key and is capable of the higher range and tessitura.  Last I checked, they are all available either as book/CD combo or just the book.

Jay Althouse has been involved in the production of all of these books that I an sharing with you today, serving as composer, arranger, compiler, editor, or some combination of those.  You can read about Jay Althouse's newest book Songs of the British Isles for Solo Singers on this post about my most recent music purchases.

Folk Songs for Solo Singers, Vol. 1 was my first introduction to Jay Althouse.  He compiled and edited this volume, and it also contains four of his own arrangements including his arrangement of Marta Keen's "Homeward Bound".  My student love this song.  I've even had a few choose to bring it back for senior recital.  They love it because the words speak to them.  I love it because it give us the opportunity to work on numerous technical challenges including long breath phrases and starting the phrase on a high note.  Students are also drawn to familiar titles in this book like "Amazing Grace", "Danny Boy" and "Scarborough Fair".

Folk Songs for Solo Singers, Vol. 2 includes the ever popular "The Water is Wide" and "Shenandoah".     I have many books with arrangements of these songs, but as far as I'm concerned, you can't have too many settings of this.  In fact, having several students sing the same tune, but different arrangements not only adds variety to my schedule, it also creates the opportunity for great discussions at studio classes as we explore why a particular arranger chose to interpret the song that way.

Sometimes I think I prefer Ruth Elaine Schram's "Go 'Way from My Window" to the John Jacob Niles setting.  The added material between the verses and the key change makes it more interesting.  I also use her setting of "All Through the Night" with many of my students.  It makes a great first song because the AABA form makes it easy to learn the melody.  I also love "He's Gone Away", but I've had fewer students that loved it as much as I do.  The men I've had purchase this book tend to like "Cindy", "Follow the Drinking Gourd", and "Fire Down Below" the best.  I really like "Poor Boy", but usually the men that do are ready for something more challenging, so I don't teach that one a lot.

For the student who loves foreign languages but is not really read for Schubert and Faure or even the 24 Italian, I highly recommend International Folk Songs for Solo Singers.  My students who are taking Spanish in school love "Valencianita" and "A la Nanita Nana".  From Spanish, it's not too difficult to make the transition to Italian and "Cara Mamma" or "Santa Lucia".  I like the German and French tunes, but I have few students studying those languages, so I don't teach them as much.  There are also a few songs in English here and all the foreign language songs have singable English translations.  Each song also comes with a pronunciation guide which seems to work well for most students, but messes with my head because I am so used to IPA.

Sally K. Albrecht compiled and edited 12 Folk Songs for Solo Singers.  I'm very glad that I picked up this book to review it today, because I was reminded that it contains a Korean folk song, "Arirang".  I have a student who is into all things Korean and I think she will love this.   For those of us that aren't fluent in Korean, there is a pronunciation guide, and students also have the option of singing it in English if they prefer.  This song also has an optional flute part.

"By Waters Clear and Flowing" uses the same tune as "I Gave My Love a Cherry", which I will write about later.  I love the tune, and students seen to connect with these words better.  16th note scale passages in the piano create the feel of running water, but may be difficult for less experienced pianists.

Another favorite from this book is "Johnny's Gone" by Mark Hayes which combines "I Know Where I'm Going" and "Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier".  "Land of Our Dreams" with a tune based on an Armenian lullaby with new words by Hope Harrison is a song about immigrants coming to America, and makes me think of my great-grandmother's journey from Russia in the early part of the 20th century.

American Folk Songs for Solo Singers is a collection of 13 songs all arranged by Jay Althouse.  Many of these titles like "How Can I Keep from Singing", "My Lord What a Morning", "Shenandoah", "Simple Gifts", "Sometimes I feel Like a Motherless Child", and "The Water is Wide" are tunes that I have in other books, but I love the fact that it has so many of my favorites in one place.  "Nine Hundred Miles" was a new tune for me, and one that I ended up liking very much.  It's in a minor key and starts with do me sol (or la do mi if you use la based minor), so it's a great one for reinforcing that pattern with students.

Hal Leonard's contribution to folk songs for young student singers is 15 Easy Folksong Arrangements for the Progressing Singer.  Available in both High and Low keys, this book comes with a CD of full performances of the songs in addition to accompaniment tracks.  It also includes a paragraph of notes about each song.  I really like this because I think it is important for students to learn about where the music comes from.  In fact, sometimes I'll even read students the notes from this book if they are singing a different arrangement from another book.

Brian Dean's arrangement of "I Gave My Love a Cherry" was my first introduction to this beautiful tune.  His simple and easy to play accompaniment doubles the melody for the first two verses.  I also really like Christopher Ruck's arrangement of "The Water is Wide" set in 3 instead of in 4 as we often hear it.  Bryan Stanley makes "Greensleeves" easier for the young student by omitting a note in the melody mid-phrase allowing the student to get a breath.  Now the student has time for a breath after the word "wrong" rather than having to get all the way to "discourteously" before the first breath.  My favorite setting of "Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes" will always be Quilter's, but this arrangement by Brian Dean is a close second.  However, care must be taken by the accompanist to keep the the piano part light and gentle, especially in the first verse where the accompaniment is mostly in the octaves below middle C.

The next blog post with cover other books at this same level of difficulty that work for both men and women.