Songbook for Singalong

[hotroad]

Anyone know of a good songbook with a ton of songs from the 60's forward that could be used as a base for singalongs. I play at some of these at would like to have one book available to the participants to use for the words of the songs we are singing. Preferable would be words and chords but no piano music.

[Earl49]

"The Daily Ukulele" by Jim Beloff, followed by the Leap Year version Daily Ukulele Volume 2. There are many songs in each one -- 365 and 366 respectively -- including many popular ones. The second book is more contemporary overall, while the first book tends toward Golden Oldies. The format is lead sheet style with a single line melody notation and words below, and ukulele chord grids across the top. Guitarists can ignore those, but the chord letters are shown above the line where they need to be. My biggest complaint is that in order to make more songs fit onto single pages (a good thing) he omitted verses to save space.

Another common alternative is "Rise Up Singing", a folky classic. Then there are any number of fake books in every style.

[digman52]

Originally Posted by hotroad

Anyone know of a good songbook with a ton of songs from the 60's forward that could be used as a base for singalongs. I play at some of these at would like to have one book available to the participants to use for the words of the songs we are singing. Preferable would be words and chords but no piano music.

I have made my own songbook with around 85 songs in it. I then take it to Kinko's and get it bound so that it will lay flat on a music stand.

I go to Ultimateguitar.com and look for the song I want eiher by artist of song name. Select on of the one showing chords, not tabs. Then I look at the options for chords and keys people have used, and pick the one I think I can do best. I darken the words and chords, and hit the copy function. Then I open Word, and past it into word, using the text only option in the lower right on your cut and paste. I then select all, and make it larger and bolder font, trying to get it to 16 if the page will hold the song.

I try to get songs on one page if possible, so no page turning. I make the margins very small on top, bottom and right, leaving the left margin at .5" so the binding will not cover any words.

When you make the words and chords into larger fonts, you often have to edit the line with the chords, to move them over the words they should be strummed on. If it is a fairly simple chord progression, I only include the chord lines for the first verse and chorus, not for every line, so that you can fit it on one page.

You can also save these songs into your ultimateguitar user area, and open them up on an Ipad for using while performing.

That's how I came up with my own, free songbook.

[DesertTwang]

I just attended a sing-along this weekend, and the guy who hosted it had several copies of "Rise Up Singing" around. I don't own the book, but apparently it's a classic. Tons of material in there.

[dieselman96]

I use Chordie.com for something similar. They allow you to save songs in a songbook (or multiple songbooks) and print them as a song book with print all functionality.

Sometimes the formatting needs to be corrected a little, but they also allow you to transpose songs and save them as the adjusted version in your songbook, all for free.

[erhino41]

https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/au...sin=B0034O2VF6

These ones are pretty good.

[Big Band Guitar]

Originally Posted by DesertTwang

I just attended a sing-along this weekend, and the guy who hosted it had several copies of "Rise Up Singing" around. I don't own the book, but apparently it's a classic. Tons of material in there.

Rise up Singing 1 and 2 are great for words but the chord changes range from OK to terrible.

[hotroad]

Just ordered two of the books suggested here. Please provide more ideas if you know of any great sing a long books for guitar. I am going to be living in a RV resort and doing music this winter. One night is just sing a long and one is performance each week.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by Big Band Guitar

Rise up Singing 1 and 2 are great for words but the chord changes range from OK to terrible.

Exactly. They're a great resource, but the best way to use those books is to focus on the songs in them that you want to learn (or already halfway know,) then Google for the song lyrics and chords. Not all will be online, of course, but you can generally get a sense of where the songs go and what changes to use.

After you do that, look for the songs on YouTube to see whether the versions you find online match the chord changes.

I'd also suggest figuring out where Rise Up Singing songs are placed in terms of the keys. Most of the times when I've used that book I've had to transpose to different keys, because the married couple (now formerly married couple) never seem to set the songs in keys that are any good for my voice. I end up putting the songs about a musical fourth away most of the times.

But Big Band Guitar is correct about the chords provided in those books: many of them are slapdash at best, and downright wrong at times.

Many times I've gotten the distinct impression that they were moving quickly to try to get as many songs as possible sort of figured out so they could move onto the next one.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Dond]

Ou SingAround uses "Rise Up Singing" and "Rise Again" songbooks.

And, if you don't know a song https://www.riseupandsing.org/ will link you to a you tube video to help you out.



CANFIELD SINGAROUND!
JOIN US for the CANFIELD SINGAROUND on Saturday, August 25th(every 4th Saturday)
beginning at 7:00 pm in the Fellowship Hall.
Join us for a jam session where all ages, music genres, and ability levels are welcome!
Bring a song or two, bring an instrument, bring a friend, but just DON’T MISS IT!
We have some Rise Up Singing and Rise Again songbooks available for your use.


CANFIELD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
140 W. MAIN ST (rt. 224)
Canfield, OH 44406

[DukeX]

I believe this book by Harvey Reid is worthwhile.

http://www.songtrain.net/

[taylorgtr]

Originally Posted by Big Band Guitar

Rise up Singing 1 and 2 are great for words but the chord changes range from OK to terrible.

I sit in on a SOJO (Sing Out / Jam Out) group that uses Rise Up Singing and Rise Again....and some days, it's a test of my patience. Not the people or the skill level - we have all kinds, and it's great....but the book has things in just weird keys some times - mostly, it's just putting everything in C, which makes it easier to play, but it throws some in to harder versions than the original.

To work around it, when I want the group to play something, I'll bring my own version, make copies for everyone, and stand up and lead the thing. It may sound like too much 'control', but If we're going to do a Byrds tune...it's going to be in the right key.

[Earl49]

Originally Posted by taylorgtr

....To work around it, when I want the group to play something, I'll bring my own version, make copies for everyone, and stand up and lead the thing. It may sound like too much 'control', but If we're going to do a Byrds tune...it's going to be in the right key.

I do the same thing with my ukulele group. It drives me nuts when they bring an unreadable eighth-generation photocopy of something containing obvious errors, done in a tiny font, and grabbed from the interweb. Call me a control freak if you want, but many jam circles just work noticeably better if there is a benevolent dictator leading. Someone has to be the lead dog in the sled team, or we all end up in the ditch.......

[rodmbds]

I've also done my own songbooks. Save them in pdf and upload to google drive, categorised in music style and artists. It's easy and fast access.

Actually today there was a song playing on the radio which couldn't remember the chords of the bridge. Just got my phone, took a quick look and voilà.

It's also a good idea to have the songs printed, as mentioned.

[Rjlipton]

I have been using Rise up Singing for (gasp) about 30 years. The chords are certainly better than a typical internet posting. I love the focus and spirit. The choice of songs is perfect for me.

Ron