Turn Your Testimony Into Song

My students have written many Christmas-themed primary songs over the years. If you're looking for something to sing with your family, or your primary kids, or whoever, come and check out my students' beautiful songs. They're available for free download. You can find them all on this page as well: https://latterdaymusiversity.com/press-primary-songs When you get to the page, scroll down a tad until you see Search By Title. You'll be able to tell it's a Christmas song by the title. Then click...

I've never done this before. But I think it's going to be a lot of fun! We're going to have a PARTY to announce the January 2027 semester workshops. During this party, we will have several giveaway drawings and some fun musical games, in addition to previews of the coming workshops that will begin in January. Plus, I will announce during the party a limited-time deal for EARLY registration. I'm planning to host this party either on Black Friday (November 27th) or Cyber Monday (November 30th)....

There's a lesson here in the weirdness. Even if this is too weird for you. It's a mistake to miss this. Let me set the stage. When writing my 44 new arrangements for intermediate piano, I had 2 goals. Goal #1. Don't be boring. Goal #2. Give intermediate players something to play that fits their hands and their ability nicely, and makes them very proud of themselves to the point that people don't even pay attention to whether or not this is easy, intermediate, or advanced music. Of course,...

Of all the skills required to create effective music of any type... ...in my mind, one stands out above all others. That is, the ability to harmonize and re-harmonize. For example, take my new arrangement of the recently released hymn in the church's new book, "The Lord's My Shepherd." It has 3 verses. But each was designed to evoke a different feeling... a different emotion... a different part of the journey to the Good Shepherd and into His warm embrace. In music (especially music without...

I've heard a rumor that we might be getting a new hymn drop this week. We'll see if it's true or not. But it made me wonder... ...which newly published hymns are your favorite? We've seen lots of newly composed songs and hymns. And we've seen a good handful of classic Christian hymns finally coming into our hymnal... which are high on my list of favorites. But what about you? If you had to pick 1 new hymn that's your favorite, which would it be? Hit reply and let me know. I've recently...

Like chords... ...not all add-tones (chord extensions like 7ths, 9ths, 11ths, etc.)... ...are created equal. One add-tone that's become more and more popular in LDS music land... ...is the 9th. Yet, I find that it's often used haphazardly by just chucking it onto any old chord at any old time. There's a better way. Though we're not really getting into that here. It's more of a voice-leading topic, which I'll save for another day. Today, I want to help you add to your harmony color palette by...

As a way to enhance your Sabbath, I've made a couple of playlists I hope you will enjoy. They include 24 arrangements of the new Hymns for Home and Church recently published by the church. You can listen to these playlists on YouTube below: Also, there's still time to get a copy of my new "Silent Night" arrangement for intermediate piano. This freebie disappears after tomorrow. You can grab it here: https://doug-pew-sacred-music.kit.com/7c038fbc61 Have a great Sunday! "And we talk of Christ,...

One of my favorite ways to modulate is NOT led by the chords. Of course, the chords are very important to the modulation. But they are secondary to the element that actually affects the modulation. In the example below, from my new arrangement of "Silent Night" (which you can get for FREE at this link)... ...I'll show you how this works. It's an example of what I like to call Harmonic Storytelling. In this particular case, think of this passage as a motivic modulation. Instead of leading with...

Well, I goofed in yesterday's email. (but don't let that stop you from learning a cool modulation you've never heard in General Conference before) Somehow, in an email announcing that my new sheet music site is up, I said that it ISN'T up and running. Bonehead move. It actually IS up and running. Unfortunately, the coupon code to get 20% off my new Christmas book of intermediate piano arrangements was also a flop. But it's all fixed now and working just fine. So, if you'd like to grab a copy...

Boy oh boy, has this been a long time coming! My brand-new sheet music site, Doug Pew Sacred Music, isn't up and running. And the physical copies of my 4 brand-new books of hymn arrangements for intermediate piano are now available! In fact, this week... ...you can get a physical copy of my new Christmas book, "Come and Adore," for 20% off. I picked up 500 copies of my books yesterday, and I'm all set up to ship them out ASAP. To get your 20% off... ...go to the link below, add the physical...