Mel Bay 1

Mel Bay

Mel BayBirth name Melbourne E. Bay

Born February 25, 1913Bunker, Missouri, US

Died May 14, 1997 (aged84)St. Louis, Missouri, US

Genres Country, Classical, Folk

Occupations Musician, Songwriter, Educator

Instruments Guitar

Mel Bay (February 25, 1913 May 14, 1997) was a musician best known for his series of music education books.His Encyclopedia of Guitar Chords remains a bestseller.

Biography

Childhood and early lifeMelbourne E. Bay was born on February 25, 1913 in the little Ozark Mountain town of Bunker, Missouri.[1] Hebought a Sears Roebuck guitar at the age of 13 and several months later played his first gig. Bunker didn't have aguitar teacher so Bay watched the few guitarists he knew and copied their fingering on the fret board, teachinghimself chords. Once he felt he knew the rudiments of the guitar, he started experimenting with other instruments,including tenor banjo, mandolin, Hawaiian guitar and ukulele.[2]

Bay played in front of an audience every chance he got, including a stint with a snake oil salesman in and around hishometown. The man hired Bay to play the banjo while sitting in the salesman's car. Once a crowd gathered to listen,Bay would stop playing, and the salesman would pitch his cure-all.[3]

St. LouisBay knew that to make it as a professional musician he'd have to be in a large city. So he moved to St. Louis in the1933 to find his audience. He played with numerous local and traveling bands. In addition, he landed staff guitar jobson several radio stations. Mel fronted his own trio (piano, bass, guitar) and played steadily for 25 years.While Mel was actively pursuing his playing career, he continued to teach as many as 100 students a week. Hedecided to begin writing instructional materials due to the difficulty encountered by guitarists at playinggood-sounding chord forms in rhythm sections and the poor note reading ability prevalent among guitarists at thattime. These books became the basis of the Mel Bay instructional method and the Mel Bay publication house.

Mel Bay PublicationsAfter the war, Mel was asked to write instructional materials on guitar for GIs wishing to learn music under the GIBill. However, when he approached the major three music publishers in New York, all three turned him down,saying there was no future in guitar. In 1947, Mel formed his own publishing company and wrote his landmarkinitial book titled The Orchestral Chord System for Guitar. This book is still in print under the title Rhythm GuitarChord System. His Modern Guitar Method was penned shortly thereafter in 1948. After the success of Elvis Preselyin the early 50s, the guitar's popularity took off, helping to ensrue the success of the company. For years Mel traveledfrom town to town talking to guitar teachers and players and showing them his publications. At one time, Mel

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claimed to have known virtually every guitar teacher in America on a first name basis.Today, Mel Bay Publications is an American publisher of materials for musical instrument playing, particularlyinstructional books that teach a particular instrument or style. It was founded in 1947 and is based in Pacific,Missouri. Mel Bay Publications' books target musicians of varying levels of proficiency, from the beginner who isunfamiliar with musical notation to those with advanced performance skills. Available introductory material includesmethods for classical instruments such as the violin, clarinet and trumpet, folk instruments such as the harmonica,mandolin, banjo, and accordion, as well as material for various types of guitar. This material often emphasizes stylessuch as classical, rock, blues, jazz and folk music.

Later CareerMel used to sell DAngelico guitars. At any given time he would have 5 or 6 lying around the house. Mel playedprofessionally on his New Yorker model but his favorite was the initial Mel Bay Model crafted as a gift for him byJohn DAngelico. This famous guitar had all of the main features of the New Yorker but was a cut away model andhad a slightly thinner neck. This instrument has been pictured on the Mel Bay Modern Guitar Method for decades.Mel Bay was still playing guitar every day until his death in 1997 at age 84.

AwardsMel Bay received many awards during his career which include the Lifetime Achievement Award from the GuitarFoundation of America [4], Lifetime Achievement Award from the Retail Print Music Dealers Association, theOwen Miller Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Federation of Musicians, Certificate of Meritfrom the St. Louis Music Educators Association, a resolution from the Missouri House of Representatives honoringhis achievements, a proclamation by mayor Freeman Bosley Jr. making October 25, 1996 Mel Bay Day in the cityof St. Louis, and a letter of commendation from President Bill Clinton.

InfluenceMany guitarists have, at some point, studied from Mels method books. Guitar Player magazine referred to him asthe George Washington of the guitar.[5] Sales of his Modern Guitar Method series are estimated to be well inexcess of 20 million copies. Mel Bay established the structure for modern guitar education and by so doing, helpedcreate the foundation for the continued growth and advancement of the instrument.The song "Ode to Mel Bay" (written and first recorded by Michael "Supe" Granda of the Ozark Mountain Daredevilsand featured on the album The Day Finger Pickers Took Over the World by Tommy Emmanuel and Chet Atkins),pokes fun at Mel Bay's books.

References[1] Bay, Mel. Mel Bay's Modern Guitar Method: Grade 1. Pacific: 1948.[2] Mel Bay Blog. "100th Anniversary of Mel Bay's Birth" (http:/ / blog. melbay. com/ the-mel-bay-story/ ), Mel Bay Publications, 1 February

2013. Accessed on February 9, 2014.[3] NPR. "Music Instruction Series Marks 60th Anniversary" (http:/ / www. npr. org/ templates/ story/ story. php?storyId=11843658), NPR, 10

July 2007. Retrieved on February 8, 2014.[4] http:/ / www. guitarfoundation. org[5] Johnson, Kevin C. "New St. Louis Walk of Fame inductions include Mel Bay, Robert S. Brookings" (http:/ / www. stltoday. com/

entertainment/ music/ kevin-johnson/ new-st-louis-walk-of-fame-inductions-include-mel-bay/article_3a021b94-9696-11e0-a806-0019bb30f31a. html), St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 14 June 2011. Accessed on February 9, 2014.

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External links Mel Bay publishing house (http:/ / www. melbay. com) Interview with Bill Bay (http:/ / www. npr. org/ templates/ story/ story. php?storyId=11843658), the son of

founder Mel Bay, on National Public Radio's Morning Edition, Tuesday, 07/10/07 Watch a profile of the life of Mel Bay (http:/ / www. youtube. com/ watch?v=3NO8XEOlLzQ) from PBS affiliate

KETC, LIVING ST. LOUIS Producer Ruth Ezell

Article Sources and Contributors 4

Article Sources and ContributorsMel Bay Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=594801792 Contributors: 1ForTheMoney, Amatulic, Arjayay, Badagnani, Bearcat, Blueronin, Dr. Blofeld, GrimmC, Ground Zero,Henry Doktorski, Ikana, Joe407, Kbh3rd, Maxsmodels, Neodop, Noddy2006, Omegastar, Paul A, Rjwilmsi, Scalhotrod, Scarian, Steve9000, Trevheg, Waacstats, 25 anonymous edits

LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Mel BayBiographyChildhood and early lifeSt. Louis

Mel Bay PublicationsLater CareerAwardsInfluenceReferencesExternal links

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