This revised and updated book is a guide for the listener, collector, singer, player and devotee of folk music. It covers music from string band to bluegrass, Canadian, Creole, Zydeco, jug bands, ragtime and the many kinds of blues. The book evaluates, reviews and recommends on such subjects as where to buy records and instruments and places where folk music flourishes.

Historically, as bearer and mixer of ancient African and European musical traditions, the banjo is an important musical instrument. A Five-String Banjo Sourcebook will stand beside Banjo Attitudes (Paris, L’Harmattan, 2015), its companion book. Since its importation to the US by African Slaves and the inception of an “American version” by Euro-American musicians during the 19th century, the five-string banjo became « America’s instrument » ; and if its controversial history covers all the aspects of the American musical life, it also reflects its social and political context. Anyone interested in playing the banjo, or involved in doing historical or musical research on the instrument, will be confronted by the huge amount of documentation published on the subject. The numerous references listed in A Five-String Banjo Sourcebook, try to cover all facets of the instrument, from the banjo manufacturers and workshops to the stage... We hope that these pages will help the users of this compilation to understand all the subtilties of a fascinating musical instrument.

Arkansas’s rich folk tradition is shown by the variety of its manifestations: a 250-year-old ballad, an archaic method of hewing railroad crossties with a broadax, the use of poultices and toddies to treat the common cold, and swamps of evil repute are all parts of the tradition that constitutes Arkansas folklore. In fact, as the essays selected by W.K. McNeil and William M. Clements show, these few examples only begin to tell the story. Starting with a working description of folklore as “cultural material that is traditional and unofficial” and characterized by a pattern of oral transmission, variation, formulaic structures, and usually uncertain origin, the authors survey in detail a wide array of folk objects, activities, beliefs, and customs. Among the rich offerings in this sourcebook are a discussion of the history of folklore research in Arkansas, an examination of some of the traditional songs and music still being preformed, a thoughtful exploration of the serious side of “tall tales” and “windies,” an investigation of folk architecture in Arkansas and what it reveals about our cultural origins, a study of many traditional foods and there preparation methods, an analysis of superstitions and beliefs, and a description of festivals and celebrations that are observed to this day. Complemented by biographies of reference works and audio and video recordings of the state’s folk materials, An Arkansas Folklore Sourcebook is the first complete guide to the study of one state’s “unofficial culture.”

A stunning visual guide to the history and development of all types of guitars, packed with detailed information and profiling everything from the legendary Martin flat-tops to Gibson's arch-tops guitars and Fender's twelve-string electrics. The Ultimate Guitar Sourcebook is divided by type into nine chapters, each telling the full story of a major type of guitar. It is sub-divided geographically so the reader gets a global picture of guitar making from the United States to the Far East and from Europe to Australia. The introduction examines the development of the world's most popular instrument over the years.

(Music Sales America). From learning how to hold the banjo to playing complete bluegrass songs, this easy-to-understand method will turn you into a 5-string banjo player no time. You'll learn how to read banjo tablature, all the basic banjo rolls, chords, authentic bluegrass techniques, banjo tuning and maintenance, and more! This book also has an audio CD with demonstration tracks of the essential bluegrass songs including: Cripple Creek * John Hardy * Nine Pound Hammer * Red River Valley * and others. With detailed photographs and simple instructions, this is the 5-string banjo method for getting results fast!