BOOK REVIEW LIST
| Below is a list of Dulcimer books that I have evaluated. Everyone's tastes are different and this is just my view. The authors have all worked hard to produce their books - and all the books listed have value to the Dulcimer community. (Level of difficulty is listed.) My Top 10 recommendations are in Bold/underlined type. |
| Book Title | Author | Comments |
| 2000 Dulcimer | Mel Bay | Repertoire - Quality book - nice to have to use with the CD. (Int and up) |
| 30 Old Time Songs and Tunes | Neal Walters / Heidi Cerrigione | Repertoire - Tunes not commonly found in the mainstream. I have just about worn out the accompanying tape - great to listen to on its own. Excellent (Int and up) |
| A Celtic Collection | Linda Brockinton | Some Instruction/Repertoire - Professional quality book - only 9 tunes (Int/Adv) |
| A Dulcimer for All Seasons | Merv Rowley | Instruction/Repertoire - The only chromatic instruction dulcimer book that I know of. 1-5-5 tuning. (Advanced) [See Merv's other book listed below for additional chromatic tunes.] |
| A Prairie Moon Companion Book 1 | Red Dog Jam | Repertoire (mostly Int and up) |
| A Prairie Moon Companion Book 2 | Red Dog Jam | Repertoire (mostly Int and up) |
| American Fiddle Tunes For Mountain Dulcimer | Lois Hornbostel | Instruction/Repertoire - Another quality book and TAB product from Lois. Top 10 (Beg and up) |
| Anthology for the Fretted Dulcimer | Lois Hornbostel | Instruction/Repertoire - A must have. Top 10 (Adv Beg and up) |
| Baker's Dozen #2 Fiddle Tunes | Shelley Stevens | Repertoire - Well worth the $5. TAB is very playable. (Adv Beg and up) |
| Baker's Dozen #8 Rounds and Duets | Shelly Stevens | Repertoire - Playable TAB, fun tunes (Beg and up) |
| Basic Dulcimer Solos | Mara Wasburn | Repertoire - Very basic tunes that I don't play. (Beg - Adv Beg) |
| Beginner's Tunebook | Jerry Rockwell | Repertoire - Basic TAB for many popular beginning tunes. (Beg - Adv Beg) |
| Celtic Ballads and Songs | Linda Sigismondi | Repertoire - Quality book, playable tab (Adv Beg and up) |
| Christmas with the Dulcimer | Larry Conger | Repertoire - Quality book, "unique" TAB (Int and up) |
| Christmas Songs for the Mountain Dulcimer | Linda Sigismondi | Repertoire - Quality book, Excellent TAB, (Adv Beg and up) |
| Complete Book of Celtic Music for Appalachian Dulcimer | Mark Nelson | Instruction/Repertoire - Professional quality - I bought this book early in my dulcimer playing and gave up on it. I have since come back and really enjoy it now. There are a lot of playable songs in this book. Top 10 (Int and up) |
| Cripple Creek Dulcimer | Bud and Donna Ford | Mostly Repertoire - Quality book - very basic TAB. (Beg to Adv Beg) |
| Dulcified | Tull Glazener | Repertoire - Quality book, playable TAB, Well done. (Int and up) |
| Dulcimer A La Mode | Lorinda Jones | Repertoire - Quality book, playable TAB, Well done. (Adv beg and up) |
| Dulcimer Duets, Rounds and Ensembles | Lois Hornbostel | Repertoire - Professional quality. Great fun. (Beg to Int) |
| Dulcimer Fiddle Tunes | Lois Hornbostel | Mostly Repertoire - Making the move from Adv Beg to Intermediate and beyond - highly recommended. Includes a CD. Out of Print (Beg and up) |
| Dulcimer Solos | Jerry Rockwell | Repertoire - (Adv Beg and up) |
| Dulcimer Solos | Stephen Seifert | Repertoire - Professional quality book and great TAB. Fingering notations provide valuable insight. (Adv Beg and up) |
| Dulcimer Solos Vol 2 | Jerry Rockwell | Repertoire - Worth the investment just to play through some of Jerry's chord progressions. (Int and up) |
| Dulcimer Song Book | Bud and Donna Ford | Repertoire - Quality binding, very basic TAB. This was one of the first books I purchased - I have not continued to play any of these arrangements. (Beg to Adv Beg) |
| Dulcimer Songbook | Neal Hellman | Instruction/Repertoire - TAB only. One of the first books I owned and recommended top 10. (Beg and up) |
| Dust Off That Dulcimer & Dance | Bonnie Carol | Instruction/Repertoire - a must have for the new player. Mine is falling apart from use. Top 10 (Beg and up) |
| Fiddlin' Around on the Mountain Dulcimer | Helen Johnson | Repertoire - Quality book, playable TAB (Adv beg and up) |
| Fiddlin' With the Dulcimer | Scott Odena | Repertoire - Quality book, playable tab (Adv beg and up) |
| Finger Pickin' Good | Stephen Seifert | Repertoire - Excellent book - well thought out arrangements. (Int and up) |
| Fingerpicking Dulcimer | Janita Baker | Instruction/Repertoire - quality book - a fingerpicking must have. (Int and up) |
| First Lessons - Dulcimer | Joyce Ochs | Instruction/Repertoire - Quality book with CD - (Beg to Adv Beg) |
| Flat-picked Fiddle Tunes for Mountain Dulcimer | Larry Conger | Repertoire - quality book, playable TAB. Add it to your collection. (Int and up) |
| Four & Twenty | Lynn McSpadden | Instruction/Repertoire - I got my copy free with my McSpadden dulcimer. Basic TAB. It's a nice little book, but . . . free is good. (Beg) |
| Full Circle | Shelly Stevens | Repertoire - Quality book, playable TAB (Adv beg and up) |
| Fun with the Dulcimer | Virgil Hughes | Repertoire - 1972 vintage - basic TAB. Not recommended. (Beg to Adv Beg) |
| Hal Leonard Dulcimer Method | Neal Hellman | Instruction/Repertoire - Quality book - just not one of my first choices for beginning book. (Beg - Int) |
| Heliotrope Bouquet | Sue Carpenter | Instruction/Repertoire - 4 string arrangements. (Int and up) |
| In Good Old Colony Times | Pam Deemer | Repertoire - Quality book - playable TAB. Nice collection of Revolutionary War / Colonial America tunes. (Adv beg to Int) |
| It's A Dulcimer Life | Neal Hellman | Repertoire - Well done, just not on my top 10 recommended buy list. (Int and up) |
| Kevin Roth Anthology | Kevin Roth | Repertoire - Quality binding - TAB is playable, but the print is so large and spread out most of the tunes cover several pages. Not recommended. (Adv Beg and up) |
| Larkin's Dulcimer Book | Larkin Bryant | Instruction/Repertoire - another great beginning book/tape set. Top 10 (Beg/Adv Beg) |
| Learn to Play the Mountain Dulcimer | Lorinda Jones | Instruction/Repertoire - Bound (Beg) |
| Learn to Play the Mountain Dulcimer Book 2 | Lorinda Jones | Instruction/Repertoire - Bound (Beg - Adv Beginner) |
| Leaves of Yesterday | Merv Rowley | Repertoire - Chromatic D-A-A (Advanced) |
| Life is Like a Mountain Dulcimer | Neal Hellman / Sally Holden | Repertoire - 1974 vintage book - well done for its time. (Adv Beg and up) |
| Love's Old Sweet Songs | Merv Rowley | Instruction/Repertoire - D-F#-A tuning. (Int and up) |
| Mel Bay's Complete Dulcimer Handbook | Mark Biggs | Instruction/Repertoire - Professional quality - I keep going back to this book and continue to learn new stuff. Top 10 (Beg and up) |
| Mel Bay's Mountain Dulcimer | Mark Biggs | Instruction/Repertoire - The instructional materials are worth reading. I have yet to add any of the tunes to my play list. (Int and up) |
| Music of the Shakers for Mountain Dulcimer | Neal Hellman | Instruction/Repertoire - Professional Quality - Nicely done musical exploration. (Adv Beg and up) |
| My Teaching Book for Appalachian Dulcimer | Maureen Sellers | Instruction/Repertoire - Playable tunes, valuable information. (Beg-Int) |
| O'Carolan Harp Tunes | Shelly Stevens | Repertoire - Quality book, Playable tunes (Int and up) |
| Old Time and Fiddle Tunes | Linda Sigismondi | Repertoire - Playable tunes - I just love this book. Highly recommend. Top 10 (Adv Beg and up) |
| Old Time Fiddle Tunes for the Appalachian Dulcimer | Jean Schilling | Instruction/Repertoire - Very basic TAB. Interesting tunings. Published in 1978 - it provides an interesting perspective. Be careful with some of the tunings. As my mother would say, "you can put your eye out with that thing". (Adv Beg - Int) |
| Patterns and Patchwork | Sue Carpenter | Instruction/Repertoire - Quality book, If you want to learn finger picking - look no farther. (Int to Adv) |
| Richard Farina Dulcimer Book | Richard Farina | Repertoire - Sorry - I'm just not a Farina fan. Not recommended. (Int and up) |
| Scottish Airs and Ballads for Appalachian Dulcimer | Mark Nelson | Repertoire - Professional quality book. Playable TAB. Well done. (Adv Beg and up) |
| Secrets Revealed: The Music of Wire and Wood | Lee Rowe | Repertoire - Professional quality book. (Int and up) |
| September on the Mississippi | Larry Conger | Repertoire - Professional quality book, playable TAB. (Int and up) |
| Simmons Family Songbook | Jean Jennings | Repertoire - Very basic TAB. One of my first books - I still enjoy looking at it from time-to-time. Songs in the key of F - Hmmm. (beg) |
| Simply Celtic |