Malkoc, Anna Maria: Old Favorites for all Ages - Songs for Learners of American English.

Preface: As the title reflects, >Old Favorites for All Ages< are truly well-loved melodies that represent a mosaic of American culture in music. Young children in the United States today still memorize these words and melodies from 18th-century Mother Goose rhymes. Adults still sing these old-time favorites on traditional occasions - >Auld Lang Syne< on New Year's Eve, for instance, and >For He/She's a Jolly Good Fellow< in honor of someone special. >Good Night, Ladies< is a well-known musical Signal to end an evening's social event, and >Rock-a-bye-Baby< is probably the first tune that comes to mind for most Americans when they think of lullabies. The folk music historians teil us that some of these songs date back several hundred years or more. Many originated, of course, in Great Britain and traveled to the New World with the English and Scotch-Irish settlers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Other melodies, of perhaps even older origin, are reported to have come from Germany, France, or other parts of Europe. These folk tunes are like familiär proverbs that appear in many cultures; they are still recognizable even in their different language versions. Melodies, in fact, seem to travel from region to region and pass from generation to generation more easily than do their lyrics, which have a way of being adapted to suit the whim or circumstance of the singer. You will note that some of the songs in this book have been slightly adapted or expanded for English teaching purposes. Please note also that all of the songs are in the >public domain