He collected fiddle and fife tunes in southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia 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 fife 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, 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 for graduate students in comparative literature.
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
References
- Obituary: "Samuel Preston Bayard (1908-1997), An Appreciation." The American Journal of Folklore, vol 100, no. 438 (Autumn, 1997)
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