Great Family Songbook: A Treasury of Favorite Show Tunes, Sing Alongs, Popular Songs, Jazz & Blues, Children's Melodies, International Ballads, Folk ... Jingles, and More for Piano and Guitar

Very nice large assortment of classic songs, wide range of genres. I play guitar and this has chords and lyrics as well as the notation (no TAB) so you can strum along and sing or if you know how to read music, you can play the notes (as piano would), and notes aren’t too complex either. Assortment of songs ranging from classic American folk (as covered by many early 60s folk singers like Peter/Paul/Mary and Bob Dylan), to western folk songs (Home on the Range, I’ve Been Working on the Railroad), Holiday Songs (12 Days of Christmas), Film & Show tunes, Spiritual/Gospel, Jazz, International, etc. Overall a beautiful songbook for guitar and piano, classic older songs great for families or anyone wanting to play some relaxing calm classic music. Great book if you’re starting out learning to read music or even just want chords and lyrics. And the illustrations are so nice as well as a brief history of the song on each page, very well put together and make this a joy to open up everytime!

This treasury is exactly what I was looking for when I began searching for an accompaniment sing a long book to use with my kids. It has almost every song I wanted, and plenty more I wouldn't have even thought of. The book itself is high quality - heavy card stock pages, spiral bound, beautiful pictures and clear typeset. The arrangements are easy to read and the lyrics are a decent size for most eyes. Each song has a paragraph of history/explanation at the top and these are filled with gems in and of themselves. The quality of the musical arrangements is also top notch - they are simple enough for most pianists to play without much rehearsal (early intermediate in difficulty) but written in such a way that the greater mood of the song is really captured. The harmonies are well selected to deliver maximum musical impact with minimal difficulty. Almost all of these songs are set in very easy keys as well, which is a bonus for sight reading without much preparation. My only criticisms, and they are small, are that there are no suggested fingerings on any of these pieces and that some verses are missing from a few of the songs. With the fingerings, it would do any pianist well to go through the songs before playing and write in a few - a lack of fingerings can unnecessarily stumble sight readers. With the missing verses, all the most popular refrains are represented and most pieces are complete as written (to the best of my knowledge) so this quibble is minor. If I really want the fifth verse of random-patriotic-anthem, I can pull it up on Google easily enough and just play another repeat of the score. For families who want to spend some time singing old favorites together, to charity playing in nursing homes or even as a supplement to a homeschool unit on a historical event, "The Great Family Songbook" is a phenomenal addition to any sheet music library. Our family will be enjoying this for many years to come!

This is a nice little book of folk songs. The Family Songbook is an assortment of songs from our countries past. Folk, and sing along songs are very much missing in today’s culture. These are older songs that are not afraid to be patriotic, sometimes silly and often times just plain musically historical.

This is THE most awesome book ever if you are looking for traditional and campfire songs. I have bought a lot of music fruitlessly trying to find exactly what is in this book. Songs like "This Land Is Your Land," "Home On the Range," "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain," "Old MacDonald," "Bill Bailey," "A Bicycle Built for Two," "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," "Shenandoah," "I've Been Workin' On the Railroad," and many more. I knew almost every song in the book. An amazing collection I have not been able to find anywhere else. Includes guitar chords, beg/int piano (perfect for sing-alongs), and all the verses. Also has spiral binding, although you can't tell from the front. Excellent!!!!

This songbook is really great! It’s my favorite by far. It is thick, with a huge selection of songs across all different genres. And they are all written in a pretty easy format, to be easily played by multiple instruments. I mainly use it for guitar. I saw a reviewer complaining that a song or two wasn’t politically correct, or something like that. To me, that’s pretty subjective. What’s offensive to one person is not offensive to another. These are mostly historical folk songs. And U.S. history isn’t perfect. But I’m not a fan of erasing parts of history to make it match today’s cultural norms. You can always just skip songs you don’t like. Also, I like that the book is spiral bound so that it sits flat. Some of the songs are written in keys that aren’t necessarily the easiest for guitar, but it has all the chords listed so that makes it really easy to improvise. Highly recommended!

This book has so many varied songs. It is a beginner to intermediate books so it’s something that you can just sit down and start playing. The spiral binding is another plus I have nothing but raves with this music book

There is much to like here. Easy to use, well organized, lots of songs. My complaint is the back cover states the "easy to follow sheet music" is simple enough for "even beginning musicians to play along". I very much disagree. The average arrangement in this book is level 3. A level 2 could use it to improve but that would hardly be easy to follow fun. So, if this misrepresentation of the piano skill level does not bother you, this is an excellent book.

Received the SPIRAL BOUND (awesome feature!) book in an extremely timely manner. Because I was so excited to play the songs, I immediately sat down at the piano and played my way through the book. Had a ball playing the intuitively- composed old, familiar tunes in easy keys. Ideal for the generation who appreciates those oldies, but goodies. I volunteer at an assisted living facility and whether the tunes are played during lunch or on a Sunday afternoon, most residents appreciate the tunes (even if a few klunkers make their way into the arrangements.) Fun to hear Oh, Danny Boy being sung by all. From gospel, to show tunes, to patriotic, to international, to..., this book has it all. I am a very average player and do the best playing from church hymnals and...this book, especially.

Great book, lovely selection of songs we all know and songs we'll enjoy learning. Fun to play and fun for the family, too.

私が思ったより、知ってきた歌がたくさんあり、びっくりした。現在ギターに初級レベルですが、初心者でも、弾きやすい作曲がたくさんあります。 もちろん知らない歌もあるし、フォーク、ゴスペル、クリスマス、ジャズなど、アメリカの伝統バラッドなど幅広く選ばれます。

I only play classical music and i’ve been looking for a good book to play with my kids but I couldn’t find any good one. This book is a perfect one! Easy to play and songs that everyone knows. I’m going to try to find another book like this.

So pleased am I with this comprehensive book of songs to sing along to, in my case to YouTube provided music, that I have bought it also for a younger generation of the family with pianists, a guitarist, and singers in their midst.

My folks really like this book. It has tunes such as Jacob's ladder. I wish it also included Going Home but I'm glad I got this.