I’m in the process of writing several music books. The purpose of the project is to create a series of songbooks written with simple rhythm guitar arrangements in women’s singing keys.

Many women I’ve met express a desire to do what I do… to sing and play uncomplicated songs by themselves. It’s certainly not all that hard or I couldn’t do it. So I show them how to use a group of five chord sets and a capo to play nearly any song they want in a key they can sing in. I’ve been doing it that way for 47 years and it’s pretty easy to remember.

I’ve been able to teach every female student I’ve had how to play the guitar in 12 lessons. The males don’t do as well, mostly because we can’t sing together. So all I can do is offer what I have to my sisters in song, because .

My method uses old folk songs to demonstrate the most fundamental movements in music using guitar chords. In my classes, I work from a simple but important perspective about how to understand basic song structure. Since I’m also a designer, I decided to create my own music books that illustrate these principles along with audio files to remind students how the songs go.

The series is called “Singalong Ladies” and each book will include a set of 25 songs. In addition to the lyrics, each song has a lesson attached to show the student a new chord or a tip, such as how to create an interesting pattern with the strumming hand or a suggestion on how to practice new changes.

I hope to have some product out by Summer 2009. The workbooks will be self-published, at least for the time being. The full series in my plans:

For Young Students:

• 25 Folk Songs for Toddlers
• 25 Folk Songs for Kids
• 25 Campfire Songs

For Adults:

• 25 Traditional Folk Songs Vol. 1 (Beginner level)
• 25 Traditional Folk Songs Vol. 2 (Intermediate level)
• 25 American Folk Favorites (Intermediate level)
• 25 Songs for Christmas