ISBN 9781610655774. This book presents fretted dulcimer arrangements of 58 Stephen Collins Foster classics. Each song is written as a melody line in standard notation with dulcimer tablature beneath plus complete lyrics, historical notes, and suggested guitar chords. Cover graphics from the original nineteenth century sheet music publications lend grace and authenticity, and songwriters and music historians will find much interest in this book. The tunings used are DAD, DAA, DGD, and DAA#D. Intended for experienced beginners to intermediate players, many of these pieces require a 6 1/2 fret dulcimer and a capo. The author includes an insightful essay on the life of Stephen Foster (1826-1864)-a gifted, once successful songwriter whose career decisions and abuse of alcohol lead to personal financial disaster, a broken family, and an early death. His legacy is a treasury of songs reflecting the social issues and romantic illusions of his time. Contains both well-known and lesser known tunes in notation and tablature. Includes access to online audio that contains 33 of the book's 58 tunes.

\"Aura Lee\" is a Civil War era song arranged for solo mountain dulcimer in the style of Elvis Presley\'s \"Love Me Tender.\" It is arranged in two different keys - they key of D and the key of G. The arrangement makes use of a 1 fret as an optional note. If you do not have a 1 fret on your dulcimer, simply substitute an open string wherever you see the 1 fret indicated.

The arrangement is suitable for the early intermediate level player and beyond. The primary challenge to playing the song will be the \"pinching\" technique found throughout the arrangement.

Two pages. Tablature, standard musical notation, and guitar accompaniment chords are included. No lyrics provided.