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.
