This book contains more than 150 reels, jigs, hornpipes, waltzes, airs, and songs arranged for folk ensembles to play for many occasions. I have especially arranged them for mandolins, though they can be played on most other C instruments. I chose the tunes because they are truly satisfying to play, fun to dance to, and represent many styles. There are choices to suit or create any mood. The traditional tunes come from across three centuries and around the world (England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Sweden, the United States, and Wales). Timeless favorites are also included by Russian, European and American composers, among them Robert Allen, William Morris, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ilya Alekseevich Shatrov, and Luke Thomasson. Marches by Leon Jessel, F.W. Meacham and John Phillip Sousa are reincarnated as jigs and reels. Exquisite tunes are also included from contemporary composers Paul Gitlitz, Pete Jung, Maurizio Martinotti, John Turner, and Larry Unger. Some of the tunes are my compositions for my contra dance band "Jalapeño Honey" and my mandolin group "Plucked Pairs." Each arrangement consists of the melody line, descant line (harmony generally within or higher than the melody), and harmony line (generally lower than the melody), as well as chords for guitar or accordion. Most scores are printed on one page, though a few run to two pages.
