Sarah Morgan DProf, who died from cancer at the age of sixty-five in 2013, was a linchpin of the English traditional folk scene. She was born in Epsom, Surrey, into an RAF family and worked in teaching, horse-riding instruction, youth training, and management training. She founded community choirs in Winchester and Andover with English folk music at the heart of their repertoires, including many of her own arrangements. This book is based on her professional doctorate, which was awarded to her posthumously by the University of Winchester. Material from it was presented at Cecil Sharp House in London, the headquarters of the English Folk Dance and Song Society.

June Boyce-Tillman MBE has published widely in the area of music and education, and her doctoral research into children's musical development has been translated into five languages. She is a hymn writer and has written on music, healing, theology, and spirituality. She is the artistic convenor of the Winchester Centre for the Arts as Wellbeing and the Tavener Centre for Music and Spirituality. She is an Extraordinary Professor at North-West University, South Africa. She is an ordained Anglican priest and honorary chaplain to Winchester Cathedral.