The Great Family Songbook: A Treasury of Favorite Folk Songs, Popular Tunes, Children's Melodies, International Songs, Hymns, Holiday Jingles and More for Piano and Guitar. [Hardcover]

Dan Fox (Author), Dick Weissman (Author), Sarah Wilkins (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 18, 2007

Created for accomplished musicians and beginning players alike, and perfectly designed for family singalongs, this compilation has something in it for everyone. These are the classic and memorable songs we learned around the campfire, at school, from friends, and listening to the radio—from "Danny Boy" to "Alexander’s Ragtime Band.” Arranged by theme, you’ll find Christmas and other holiday songs, cowboy and western songs, children’s songs, folk songs, barbershop songs, hymns and spirituals, blues songs, international favorites, and more. Popular tunes include "Tom Dooley," "We Three Kings," "Camptown Races," "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," "Those Were the Days," "Kum Ba Ya," "Hush Little Baby," "This Land Is Your Land," "She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain," and many more. The piano arrangements and guitar chords are skillfully done and clearly laid out so that even casual players can make beautiful music.

Artist Sarah Wilkins has contributed delightful illustrations that bring these timeless songs to life. All in all, The Great Family Songbook is destined to become a treasured family heirloom.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dan Fox has written many popular music books, including The John Denver Songbook and The Complete Beatles, and songbooks for Kenny Rogers, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, and dozens of others. He has also written music instruction books and songbooks for children. He divides his time between Florida and North Carolina.

Dick Weissman was a member of the legendary folk trio the Journeymen and has played on hundreds of recording sessions, produced numerous albums, written two feature film scores, and performed as a soloist and accompanist. He has written 13 books on music and the music industry and teaches at the University of Oregon and the University of Denver. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers (October 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579127584
• ISBN-13: 978-1579127589
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #683,798 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine book for family music fun!, December 31, 2007

By 

A. Galt (Green Bay, Wisc. USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Great Family Songbook: A Treasury of Favorite Folk Songs, Popular Tunes, Children's Melodies, International Songs, Hymns, Holiday Jingles and More for Piano and Guitar. (Hardcover)

This book has an excellent selection of songs for families to play and sing together, everything from "Hava Nagila" to "Look for the Silver Lining" to "If You're Happy and You Know It." You can argue with their song choice, of course. Everyone will find gaps, but that would be true of any book like this. Personally, I'd recommend "Keep on the Sunny Side," for their second edition. Pros: great songs in good keys, chords and piano arrangements, beautiful illustrations, etc. It came in handy last night when I looked up "Auld Lang Syne." However there are some easy ways it could be improved in the next edition: give it a metal spiral binding, simplify the chords a little bit, make the lyrics stand out a little more from the page (better typeface? different color?), and include more the lyrics (Erie Canal only has one of the three verses). That's nitpicking however, this book is a very good deal, particularly for $13.00.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Song Book, February 17, 2009

By 

Charles Gibson (Long Beach, MS USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Great Family Songbook: A Treasury of Favorite Folk Songs, Popular Tunes, Children's Melodies, International Songs, Hymns, Holiday Jingles and More for Piano and Guitar. (Hardcover)

Very good book of songs. However, it is a hardback and very difficult to manage on a keyboard. I wish I would have purchased it in paperback.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, June 19, 2008

By 

J. Chan (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Great Family Songbook: A Treasury of Favorite Folk Songs, Popular Tunes, Children's Melodies, International Songs, Hymns, Holiday Jingles and More for Piano and Guitar. (Hardcover)

I was disappointed with the selection of songs in this book (I would have preferred more American folk songs and fewer show tunes; obviously that's a matter of personal taste though), and with the lack of lyrics for the songs they did include. For example, they only printed three stanzas for "This Land Is Your Land"; I know of at least five. Same for "Down in the Valley", which has at least three stanzas though only two were in the book. I don't have a great knowledge of lyrics (which is why I needed a book), so when I know more than the book does, that's a pretty sad day.