Almost every Sunday morning, I play harmonica and Irish whistle at Nursing home. I found out the residents like old time melodies. One Sunday morning when I played Loch Lomond, a very quiet resident started to sing and I saw tears in her eyes. I learned some European and America old folk songs when I was at elementary and junior high schools. I collected music sheets of those flolk songs, but I didn’t bring them when I came to US. I only can memorize the followings:
Danny Boy
Loch Lomond
Oh, Susanna
Beautiful Dreamer
… …
I would appreciate if you can help me to find out the music sheets about some simple and beautiful old European (Any countries of Europe) and old time America folk songs. By chance if you have those kind of music sheets and can send to me through e-mail, that will be great.
This is really nice of you to be sharing your music this way. Here is a site with a music that might be of interest to you. It is tabbed for mountain dulcimer, but it has the melody in sheet music form too. http://everythingdulcimer.com/tab/
KCJiang I to play the harmonica as well as the whistle. I have quite a few songs that have been tabbed out for the harmonica (and some for the whistle). I also have a few links to websites that has different songs tabbed for the harmonica.
Give me some titles of the songs you want and I’ll see what I can do for you my friend.
Thank you very much for your helps. “The Digital Tradition” is specially helpful. Some songs I learned when I was a kids, I even don’t know the English tiltes. Right now, I can hear the melodies and read the music sheet to get my memory back.
Majority of the residents in the nursing home, their ages are between 65 to 85. I would appreciate if you can name several tunes that they may familiar with and love to hear.
KC, my mother is 81. Here’s a few of the songs she would recognize from the A-B slots of Digital Traditon:
Annie Laurie
Arkansas Traveler
The Ash Grove (2)
Auld Lang Syne
Aunt Rhody
The Band Played on
Barbara Allen
Battle Hymn of the Republic
Battle of Jericho
Battle of New Orleans
Beautiful Dreamer
Beautiful Isle of Somewhere
Beer Barrel Polka
The Bells of St Mary’s
Bill Bailey
Bill Grogan’s Goat
Black Velvet Band
I got lazy. My Mom likes a LOT of music! Her musical tastes cover Tchaikowsky, Beethoven, Sons of the Pioneers, Mario Lanza, Irish ballads, Tennesse Ernie Ford, Perry Como, campfire songs …
Here are a few more from the Digital Tradition website. I’m just going by songs I learned in school when I was young. I wonder if you could ask people for the names of some of the songs they’d think it was fun to hear? The songs everybody knows could be sort of regional.
Can the Circle Be Unbroken?
Clementine (first version; verse and chorus to same tune)
Coming 'Round the Mountain (second version)
Danny Boy (first version, I guess)
Darling Nelly Gray
Down in the Valley
Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes
Erie Canal (Mule Named Sal)
Frankie and Johnny
Gaily the Troubadour
Git Along, Little Dogies
Grandfather’s Clock
Green Sleeves
Hard Times Come Again No More
I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
I’ve Been Working on the Railroad
Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye
The Last Rose of Summer
Man on the Flying Trapeze
My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
