Classical Guitar Tunes English Folk Songs

This book presents 42 English folk songs arranged for the intermediate classic guitarist in standard notation with phrase and dynamic markings plus light fingering. The collection includes popular melodies like Sprig of Thyme, Seventeen Come Sunday, and Blow the Wind Southerly, but also lesser known but no less beautiful tunes like Cupid the Pretty Ploughboy, Dabbling in the Dew and Saucy Sailor. All the arrangements present the basic tune faithfully and simply before offering more elaborate and sophisticated variations suitable for concert performance.

Without compromising their sophistication, these polyphonic arrangements are elegant and idiomatic to the guitar, all but devoid of excessive physical demands; even barre chords are kept to a minimum so the player can relax and focus on tone and interpretation.

The primary objective of this collection is to draw attention to these deserving melodies, some of which are now rarely heard. Longtime fans of the genre will recognize a few songs once performed by folk-rock groups like Steeleye Span and The Fairport Convention, here presented anew for the solo classic guitar.