Education
Harvard University; Pennsylvania State University.
Harvard University; Pennsylvania State University.
He received a Bachelor of Arts in English from Pennsylvania State University in 1934 and later earned an Master of Arts from Harvard University. 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. Guide to the "Obituary: Samuel Preston Bayard (1908-1997), An Appreciation.". Journal of American Folklore 100 (438 (Autumn 1997)).
1997.
Zolten, J. Jerome (1997). "In Memoriam: Samuel Bayard". Sing Out! (May).