Folk Tunes from the Women: Melody/Lyrics/Chords Book

A tune book this comprehensive and deliberately constructed around women composers offers something genuinely rare: access to contemporary folk writing that reflects diverse regional voices and compositional approaches, all at your fingertips. The melody-with-chords format makes it immediately playable for guitarists and singers without requiring score-reading skills, while the sheer variety of forms means you'll find material suited to everything from casual session work to structured teaching.

Opening this book feels like stepping into a room full of conversations, each tune a distinct voice with its own rhythmic personality and melodic logic. The collection pulses with the energy of contemporary folk writing, where traditional dance forms sit alongside contemplative airs and unexpected harmonic turns, all grounded in the distinctive regional characters of British and Irish music.

Singers and guitarists working in folk traditions will find an enormous resource here, whether you're preparing for sessions, building a teaching repertoire, or exploring contemporary composition within traditional forms. This book also works well for music students studying folk song structure and for ensembles looking to commission or program new work by women composers.

• Chord symbols give you harmonic freedom; try different voicings on guitar to match the regional character of each tune. A waltz from the southwest might benefit from fuller, warmer voicings than a snappy reel from the northeast.
• Start with tunes that sit naturally in your vocal range, then gradually explore pieces that push your tessitura. The range of material here means you can build confidence across different pitch centers and melodic shapes.
• Use the tune titles and composer names as entry points for research. Knowing the geographic origin and compositional context of each piece enriches how you interpret phrasing and ornamentation.

Feature a theme night around women composers in folk traditions, programming several tunes from different regions back-to-back. This collection also serves beautifully as a session or jam repertoire resource, giving players and singers a shared, curated starting point that celebrates recent composition rather than relying only on traditional standards.

• Reading chord symbols and translating them into functional guitar voicings
• Interpreting melodic ornamentation and phrasing in jigs, reels, hornpipes, and other dance forms
• Harmonizing melodies by ear and choosing appropriate chord inversions
• Understanding regional variation within British and Irish folk traditions
• Building fluency across multiple related folk genres from a single source