This book contains the 50 late 19th century tunes in Albert Baur’s 1883 anthology, The Banjoist’s Budget. The collection has roots in four main sources: minstrel songs, Irish popular and folk traditions, clog dancing tunes, and Gilbert and Sullivan favorites- all expertly played by Rob MacKillop on the accompanying online audio recording. The music is clearly typeset in standard notation and tablature for the 5-string banjo in Baur’s original eAEG#B tuning; observing the tablature, however, this music can be played in modern-day concert C tuning, gCGBD. While Baur provided no technique instructions, the music can be played in the old minstrel stroke technique, the modern melodic clawhammer style, or fingerstyle. By contrast, MacKillop provides ample performance notes and a few tips within the notation. These melodies constitute an authentic audio window to a past century, when the five-string banjo was a classical instrument studied and played by serious students and expert musicians who read standard notation rather than tablature. In any case, here they are in notation and modern banjo tablature, together with a delightful online recording. Includes access to online audio.

Here is the Forgotten Heritage: Great Banjo Music! Discover the birth of the American fingerstyle banjo in this collection of 28 of the finest tunes culled from banjo publications between 1860 and 1887. Learn amazing banjo music by some of the early leading players, James Buckley, Albert Baur, and the great Frank B. Converse, the greatest virtuoso of his day. from folk-style dances to parlor dances such as the Polka, Mazurka and Schottische, to advanced Romantic-period classical-style solos. Can be played on modern banjos or period-style instruments. the CD recording by Rob MacKillop features a gut-strung banjo, and is played with the flesh of the fingertips, in the old American tuning. for modern instrument players, Rob has provided TAB and a Standard Notation stave at modern banjo pitch. Clawhammer players will find many of the pieces in the book suitable for their technique, and bluegrass/fingerstyle players will be able to play all the pieces. Rob MacKillop provides a fascinating introductory essay, placing the music in its historical context, while his CD of performances can be viewed as a stand-alone recording by a leading player in the revival of this great American banjo heritage.

Budget report for 1929/31 deals also with the operations of the fiscal year ended June 30, 1928 and the estimates for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1929.

In the early years of the twentieth century, O.G. Sonneck, the father of American musicology, decried the state of musical bibliography in this country, encouraging musical scholars to dedicate themselves to preserving, cataloging, and promoting the use of America’s musical ephemera, especially newspapers and magazines. Despite his century-old calls, much work in this area remains undone. This volume responds to Sonneck’s call for action by creating a bibliography of periodicals that document the use and place of the guitar in a little-known segment of America’s musical culture in the final decades of the nineteenth century through the first third of the twentieth century. Between 1880 and the mid-1930s, a unique musical movement grew and flourished in this country. Focused on the promotion of so-called “plectral instruments,” this movement promoted the banjo, the mandolin, and the guitar as cultivated instruments on a par with the classical violin or piano. The Banjo, Mandolin and Guitar (BMG) community consisted of instrument manufacturers, music publishers, professional teachers and composers, and amateur students. While some professional soloists achieved national recognition, the performing focus of the movement was ensemble work, with bands of banjos, mandolins and guitars ranging from quartets and quintets (modeled on the violin-family string ensembles) to festival orchestras of up to 400 players (mimicking the late romantic symphony orchestra). The repertoire of most ensembles included popular dances of the day as well as light classics, but more ambitious ensembles tackled Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, and even Wagner. Although this movement straddled both popular and cultivated (classical) music-making, its elitist pretensions contributed to its demise in the wake of the explosive growth of modern American popular music linked to Tin Pan Alley or the blues. While the movement’s heyday spanned the early years of audio recording, only a handful of active BMG performers made recordings. As a result few musical scholars are aware of the BMG movement and its contribution to American musical culture, especially its influence on the physical and technical development of America’s instrument, the guitar The movement did, however, leave extensive traces of itself in periodicals produced by manufacturing and publishing concerns. Beginning in 1882, the leadership of the BMG movement fell to the publishers, editors, and contributors from these promotional journals, which were dedicated to the “interests of Banjoists, Mandolinists and Guitarists” While advertising dominated the pages of most of these periodicals, nearly all offered product and publication reviews, historical surveys, biographical sketches, and technical advice. In addition, the BMG magazines not only documented performances with reviews and program lists but also contained musical scores for solo instruments and plucked-string ensembles. These magazines are the primary sources which document this vibrant expression of America’s musical life. While one or two of the BMG magazines have been known by guitar scholars, most have not seen the light of day in decades. Similarly, a few of the leading guitar figures of the BMG movement—principally William Foden, Vahdah Olcott-Bickford, and George C. Krick—have been acknowledged and documented but many more remain completely anonymous. This bibliography offers access to the periodicals which help document the story of the guitar in America’s progressive era—a story of tradition and transformation—as lived and told by the guitar’s players, teachers, manufacturers, composers, and fans in the BMG movement. The bibliography consists of two large sections. The first contains a chronological list of articles, news items, advertisements, illustrations, and photographs as well as a list of musical works for guitar published in the BMG magazines. The second section of the bibliography is a series of indices which link names and subjects to the lists. With nearly 5500 entries and over 100 pages of indices, this bibliography offers researchers access to a musical world that has been locked away on library shelves for the past century.

Here’s the quick way to get pickin’ with the best of ‘em The banjo is both a staple of old-time music and an instrument that makes frequent cameos in today’s chart toppers. Whatever your musical leanings, Banjo For Dummies will show you how to pick your way around your instrument, even if you have zero musical background! With a little practice—and the easy-to-follow instructions in this book—you can learn your way around the banjo, try out various musical styles, and discover what banjo culture is all about. Think of this For Dummies guide as your personal banjo tutor, as you learn how to buy, tune, hold, play, and have fun with your five-string. You can also go beyond the book with online video lessons and audio files that will get you picking even faster. Follow the guidance of respected banjo performer Bill Evans and soon you may find yourself jamming with a band or rubbing elbows with the pros at your local bluegrass festival. Learn the basics of banjo: how to strum chords, pick notes, and read tablature Add new styles to your repertoire, including clawhammer, three-finger styles, vamping, and classic banjo Play bluegrass music and learn how to network at festivals Choose the banjo and accessories that work for you, and discover how to keep them in good shape Banjo For Dummies is for anyone who want to learn to play the five-string banjo or brush up on banjo-playing skills. No experience required!