Mel Bay Stephen Foster for Mountain Dulcimer

This book presents fretted dulcimer arrangements of 58 Stephen Collins Foster classics. Each song is written as a melody line in standard notation with dulcimer tablature beneath plus complete lyrics, historical notes, and suggested guitar chords. Cover graphics from the original nineteenth century sheet music publications lend grace and authenticity, and songwriters and music historians will find much interest in this book. The tunings used are DAD, DAA, DGD, and DAA#D. Intended for experienced beginners to intermediate players, many of these pieces require a 6 1/2 fret dulcimer and a capo. The author includes an insightful essay on the life of Stephen Foster (1826-1864)-a gifted, once successful songwriter whose career decisions and abuse of alcohol lead to personal financial disaster, a broken family, and an early death. His legacy is a treasury of songs reflecting the social issues and romantic illusions of his time. This spiral-bound volume contains both well-known and lesser known tunes. The attached companion CD contains 33 of the book's 58 tunes. Notation and tablature.