Samuel Preston Bayard (April 10, 1908, in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsyl ...

– January 10, 1997, in State College, Pennsylvania) was an American folklorist and musicologist. He received a B.A. in English from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State becam ...

in 1934 and later earned an M.A. from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. He collected fiddle and

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tunes in southwestern

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and northern

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from 1928 to 1963. He is known for his interest in the melodies of traditional music at a time when often only the texts were collected. He introduced the concept of "melodic families", which are groups of tunes that appears to be structurally related. He traced the origins of many traditional American fiddle tunes back to the British Isles. In addition to his work on fiddle tunes, he was the expert on the use of the

in traditional American music. He is fondly remembered by former students for his large collection of snuffboxes, which he used regularly. He established the folklore program at Pennsylvania State University, and taught there from 1945 to 1973 He was a fellow of the

American Folklore Society The American Folklore Society (AFS) is the US-based professional association for folklorists, with members from the US, Canada, and around the world, which aims to encourage research, aid in disseminating that research, promote the responsible ...

, and its president from 1965 to 1966. He died on January 10, 1997, in State College, Pennsylvania. An award in his name has been established at

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High ...

for graduate students in

comparative literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...

On-line publications

*Samuel P. Bayard Tape Collection http://www.sas.upenn.edu/folklore/grad_program/handbook/Bayard.pdf *Hill Country Tunes (1944) http://www.mne.psu.edu/lamancusa/tunes/hct/index.htm *Guide to the Samuel P. Bayard Papers https://aspace.libraries.psu.edu/repositories/3/resources/2974 *Samuel P. Bayard folklore recordings https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfkrWr_vIGB9l33oOjTC2M6JlhxfoPlQz

Bibliography

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References

Obituaries

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bayard, Samuel Preston American folk-song collectors Pennsylvania State University alumni Harvard University alumni 1908 births 1997 deaths Pennsylvania State University faculty American fiddlers 20th-century American violinists Presidents of the American Folklore Society Musicians from Pittsburgh