Finding Print Sources for Melodies
Although it is now possible to find melodies to most songs in our books on youtube, many would like to know how to find leadsheets or songbooks that contain the melodies to songs.Rise Up Singing - as well as and our sequel book Rise Again with 1200 more songs - each list under each song any print sources for the song that we were aware when we made the book. These print sources are listed in the credits under songs as "in" (followed by title) - as opposed to "on" which refers to CDs and LPs. Many of these titles are abbreviated but there are explanations of these on page "vii" in Rise Up Singing and page "v" in Rise Again.
Libraries. Sadly most of these songbooks are now out of print. Most of the songbooks issued by individual songwriters are still in print - see the author's website. It is oftenb possible to find some of the better known collections from a library. Our library allows you to search in a database through the catalogs of many libraries in our region - and they will obtain copies to be signed out for no cost. You can also often find used copies via an internet search for the songbook title.
"WHATFG" refers to the Seeger autobiography/songbook Where Have All the Flowers Gone. Although this is currently (summer 2019) out of print we expect to have the book availalble again fairly soon.
Sing Out Magazine and Reprints. Any listing under a song of "SO!" followed by a volume and issue # means the song appeared in a back issue of Sing Out! Magazine. Although Sing Out is currently not publishing new issues of the magazine, we believe that it is still possible to obtain a sheet music for $1 for any song that appeared in sing out. Check it out at singout.org We do have copies for sale of a book called Reprints from SO Volumes 1-6. So if something is listed in one of our books as appearing in any Reprint Volume #1 through Colume #6 it would be in that Reprints collection. The songs in Sing Out and the Reprints volumes are just melody lines however not full piano scores.
Fireside Books. The series of Fireside Books (Fireside Book of Folks Songs, …of American Songs, …of Love Songs) are older collections long out of print which do include piano accompaniment. (Peter's mother used to play those songs out of those books when he was a child.) They are probably still available in many good libraries as they are classic collections. It may even be possible to pick up a used copy off the internet. They are gems - especially Fireside Book of Folk Songs.
"Amer Fav Ballads" (American Favorite Ballads) is a songbook edited by Pete Seeger. It may still be in print (check Amazon). Again it would just be melody lines and chords. (Note: it is easy for many pianists to learn to pick out guitar chords on the piano with their left hand while playing a melody line with the right hand.)
Songs of Work and Protest is the best collection of labor songs ever put together and also includes many other classic political protest/justice songs. It was edited by Edith Fowke and Joe Glazer and is still available new from AK Press and from Amazon as a used book.
Leadsheets in our online "Music Box". Finally, we are slowly posting some leadsheets on our website in the music box database (which is free to access). These are marked in Rise Again under the credits with *LS. However due to being short handed we haven’t often posted these yet even though we have permission to do so. Once again though lead sheets are generally just melody lines and chords.
Good luck! We’d be glad to hear how your search for songbooks like Fireside Books or American Favorite Ballads goes!
Libraries. Sadly most of these songbooks are now out of print. Most of the songbooks issued by individual songwriters are still in print - see the author's website. It is oftenb possible to find some of the better known collections from a library. Our library allows you to search in a database through the catalogs of many libraries in our region - and they will obtain copies to be signed out for no cost. You can also often find used copies via an internet search for the songbook title.
"WHATFG" refers to the Seeger autobiography/songbook Where Have All the Flowers Gone. Although this is currently (summer 2019) out of print we expect to have the book availalble again fairly soon.
Sing Out Magazine and Reprints. Any listing under a song of "SO!" followed by a volume and issue # means the song appeared in a back issue of Sing Out! Magazine. Although Sing Out is currently not publishing new issues of the magazine, we believe that it is still possible to obtain a sheet music for $1 for any song that appeared in sing out. Check it out at singout.org We do have copies for sale of a book called Reprints from SO Volumes 1-6. So if something is listed in one of our books as appearing in any Reprint Volume #1 through Colume #6 it would be in that Reprints collection. The songs in Sing Out and the Reprints volumes are just melody lines however not full piano scores.
Fireside Books. The series of Fireside Books (Fireside Book of Folks Songs, …of American Songs, …of Love Songs) are older collections long out of print which do include piano accompaniment. (Peter's mother used to play those songs out of those books when he was a child.) They are probably still available in many good libraries as they are classic collections. It may even be possible to pick up a used copy off the internet. They are gems - especially Fireside Book of Folk Songs.
"Amer Fav Ballads" (American Favorite Ballads) is a songbook edited by Pete Seeger. It may still be in print (check Amazon). Again it would just be melody lines and chords. (Note: it is easy for many pianists to learn to pick out guitar chords on the piano with their left hand while playing a melody line with the right hand.)
Songs of Work and Protest is the best collection of labor songs ever put together and also includes many other classic political protest/justice songs. It was edited by Edith Fowke and Joe Glazer and is still available new from AK Press and from Amazon as a used book.
Leadsheets in our online "Music Box". Finally, we are slowly posting some leadsheets on our website in the music box database (which is free to access). These are marked in Rise Again under the credits with *LS. However due to being short handed we haven’t often posted these yet even though we have permission to do so. Once again though lead sheets are generally just melody lines and chords.
Good luck! We’d be glad to hear how your search for songbooks like Fireside Books or American Favorite Ballads goes!
