ISBN 9781513459950. 8.75x11.75 inches.

This fingerstyle guitar collection features 20 engaging lyrical tunes from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales plus three original pieces by accomplished guitarist, trumpeter and composer William A. Bay, president, and editor-in-chief at Mel Bay Publications. Tasked with writing intermediate-level arrangements in either standard or dropped-D tuning, guitarist/arranger Raymond Gonzalez displays uncommon music rethinking skills while preserving the plaintive and lilting nature of these enduring melodies. Unique to these settings, you will find sparse, open-chord harmonies accentuated by double hammer-ons and pull-offs, and the odd harmonic mixed with normal tones within a melodic line all reminiscent of gentle waves washing up against a rocky island shore. Conceived to be played on either steel or nylon-string guitar, these pieces are written in both standard notation and tablature. Includes online access to the authors own audio recordings.

Internationally acclaimed guitarist Ellsworth ("El") McMeen has done over 220 solo fingerstyle guitar arrangements and compositions in the last 30 years. He has numerous recordings, books,
and DVD lessons and has concertized throughout the United States.

Of his work, he has selected for this voluminous book
60 pieces with his favorite melodies. (Among them is an instrumental
he composed for his wife, called "Song for Sheila.")

The music is diverse in genre and mood, but each piece is compelling in its own way.
Included are folk tunes, a classical piece, hymns, a patriotic song,
ancient Celtic harp music, lullabies, El's favorite Christmas song
("In the Bleak Midwinter"), El's favorite Irish jig ("The Kid on the Mountain"),
laments, love songs, and Irish airs.

El is included in the Digitaldreamdoor listing of the 100 Greatest Acoustic Guitarists.
https://tinyurl.com/GreatestGuitarists Several of his recordings are referenced here:
https://elmcmeen.bandcamp.com/

The audio sampler contains all or part of the following selections, in the CGDGAD tuning
except as otherwise indicated. (When El has recorded some of this music, he has used a capo,
usually at fret II or IV, for tonal atmosphere.)

1. America the Beautiful
2. Be Still, My Soul
3. Be Thou My Vision
4. Carolan's Concerto
5. Carolan's No. 179
6. Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus
7. Give Me Your Hand
8. Hector the Hero
9. In the Bleak Midwinter
10. Jerusalem (Drop D)
11. Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
12. Kid on the Mountain
13. My Mary of the Curling Hair
14. Niel Gow's Lament for the Death of His Second Wife
15. Rose of Allendale
16. Song for Sheila

ISBN 9781619114883. 11.75 x 8.75 inches. Fiddle Tunes in DADGAD shows how fingerstyle guitarists can use DADGAD tuning to play traditional tunes, including twenty-four complete arrangements of common American, Irish and Scottish ballads, airs, jigs and reels. The book explores techniques and patterns for playing melodies across the strings, producing a harp-like effect that adds a distinctive and beautiful character to traditional melodies. In addition to building repertoire, the material demonstrates ways to arrange your own melodies or even write your own tunes based on the techniques provided. This is a perfect follow-up for guitarists who have studied Understanding DADGAD for Fingerstyle Guitar and are looking for tunes to learn, or for those who want to go deeper into harp-style playing. It is also an excellent introduction for those who prefer to just dive head-first into DADGAD by learning some classic tunes. Includes access to online audio.