Found: Songbooks good for beginner/early intermediate players
I have found a series of songbooks that I really enjoy, so I wanted to share in case anybody here might also like 'em.
It's a Hal Leonard series called "Strum Together." The volume I have in hand right now, for example, is Campfire Songs. It contains 70 songs that will be familiar to any baby boomer, and perhaps to younger folks too. A few random titles include "Brown Eyed Girl," "Down on the Corner," "Imagine," "Michael Row the Boat Ashore," "Ring of Fire," and "Take me Home, Country Roads." I see a few from the 1990s, too: "Good Riddance (Time of Your LIfe)" and "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" for example.
The format is my favorite aspect of these books. Each song occupies a spread. On the left-hand page, you see chord boxes for each chord used in the song. Chords are provided for standard ukulele, baritone ukulele, guitar, mandolin, and banjo. Each instrument's chord boxes are on a separate line. On the right-hand page is the melody in standard notation with lyrics and chords noted. The melody arrangements are simple, so even beginners might find themselves tossing in some improvisational bits. Fun stuff!
If you like to play with friends who play different string instruments, or if you play more than one instrument, these books are extra-great values, IMHO. We don't have a baritone uke at our house, but we have the other instruments noted.
Other titles in the series include Americana Classics, Gospel Songs & Hymns, Pop Standards, The Beatles, and more. Each book contains 70 songs.
Phoebe, my 2021 Collings MT mandolin
Dolly, my 2021 Ibanez M522 mandolin
Louise, my 193x SS Maxwell mandolin
Fiona, My 2021 GSM guitar-bodied octave resonator mandolin
Charlotte, my 2016 Eastman MDO 305 octave mandolin
And Giuliana, my 2002 Hans Schuster 505 violin, Nehenehe, my 2021 Aklot concert ukulele,
Annie, my 2022 Guild M-140 guitar, Joni, my 1963 Harmony 1215 Archtone archtop guitar,
Yoko, my ca. 1963 Yamaha Dynamic No.15 guitar, and Rich, my 1959 husband.
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