Our Singing Country

Complete Text, Lyrics & Sheet Music

	Music Preface
	than articulate each separately. Bear this in mind when singing grace notes and such figures as (see "Marthy Had a Baby5?)3 which have been used to indicate rapid slides in the voice. 7,    Do not make too much difference between major and minor degrees, in songs containing both (see "Pass Around Your Bottle"). Many such tones are merely "closer to major than to minor/5 or vice versa.* 8,   Do not let the presence of extra syllables in succeeding stanzas deter you from singing the song through. Most singers crowd them, but not too hurriedly, into the established measure-length. Others insert extra beats to care for them in more leisurely fashion. 9,   Do not feel that, in group singing, these songs require "harmonizing" Those which lend themselves to group singing are, with a few excep­tions, most appropriately sung in unison or octave.f 10.   Do not hesitate to sing without accompaniment. 11.    When singing without accompaniment, do not make noticeable pause between stanzas. Most singers, when unaccompanied, continue with little or no break from stanza to stanza throughout the song. (The amount of breathing-time allowed at the end of the stanza by the original singer has, with a few exceptions, been included in each nota­tion. It is more or less typical of that allowred between other stanzas throughout the song.) 12.    When accompaniment is desired, a guitar or banjo is to be preferred. The harmonica, fiddle, dulcimer, auto-harp, and accordion are also appropriate. The piano, if it must be used, should not obtrude; it can easily submerge the voice in conventions foreign to the spirit of the songs. Use simple chords—for most songs, primary triads (I, IV, V) with an occasional V7. Do not feel that you must change chords too often. Accompaniment of an entire song with the tonic (I) is fairly common, either with or without an added melodic line in the bass. 13.    When singing with accompaniment, the voice should rest occasionally between stanzas to allow for instrumental interludes—which, often as not, will repeat the tune. The banjo, on these recordings, gives more frequent interludes than the guitar. Accompaniments usually * Indication of "blue notes" and neutral intervals has been felt to be out of place in the notations in this volume. See Winthrop Sargeant on "The Scalar Structure of Jazz," in Jazz: Hot and Hybrid, Arrow Editions, New York, 1938. t Twenty-one of the songs in this volume were sung in parts. They are, in the main, spirituals, Bahaman songs, and Negro work songs. In twelve of these, the parts have been transcribed (see "Dig My Grave"). As used here, the term "in parts" signifies continuous or consistent deviation from unison or octave singing, and possesses no harmony-book implications. [xx]