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: 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.