ISBN 9781619117792.

While one of a kind is a hard rating to achieve at Mel Bay Publications, Kevin Allison has done it with The Ceilidh Dance Book. A ceilidh is a traditional Scottish gathering where people share songs, stories, music, and dancing that is very much alive today. In Scotland, there are hundreds of ceilidh bands, each of which has their own trademark tune sets, making it possible for a man in a kilt to make a living as a performing musician. This book not only provides 85 Scottish tunes in sets as they might be used in a ceilidh eventait also offers detailed, beat-by-beat descriptions of the dance steps for twenty-four dances! From The Highland Scottish to The Mooncoin Jig, with this book in hand, youall be able to both play in the band and step to the music with the locals. The kilt is optional. Arranged for mandolin or fiddle with suggested chord backup, in standard notation only.

ISBN 9781619117242.

Anyone who is serious about learning Irish traditional music will eventually come across O'Neill's Music of Ireland, a collection of well over 1000 tunes. This book contains a selection of one hundred tunes from this collection, arranged into sets for mandolin which can be used at sessions, and for dancing. The book includes hints, tips and comments for playing the tunes and some of the tunes also have alternative melodies and harmonies for added variety and interest. At the back of the book, there are guitar chords with standard and open D tuning, and a mandolin fretboard chart that you might find useful.