Turn Your Testimony Into Song

What a rebel... ...that Shawna Edwards! What a blatant rule-breaker she is. And it's WONDERFUL! Here's the thing about rules... The tasteful breaking of them is actually where you discover YOUR unique voice as a songwriter, arranger, composer. In her popular song, "This Is Jesus," she breaks one of the most fundamental rules of melody-writing that dates WAY back to before J.S. Bach. It's a small and simple ignoring of the "standard" practice. But it's part of what makes her melodies memorable...

Are you using enough contrast in your music? And are you using the right kind of contrast? Contrast that squeezes hearts instead of hurting the congregation's ears? Contrast—this pillar principle of powerful musical expression—is, in my humble (yet accurate) opinion, too seldom considered in Sacrament Meeting music. Sound a little arrogant? Maybe. But here's the point. One of the fastest ways for your music to quickly become 2-dimensional, kinda blah, and worse, emotionally anemic, is to...

Our newly published Hymn 1013, "God's Gracious Love," is not new at all. In fact, its text was written in 1865 by Swedish hymnwriter Caroline W. Sandell Berg (better known as Lina Sandell). It's set to a tune by another Swede, the hymn-composer Oscar Ahnfelt. Lina Sandell wrote 650 hymns, many of which were to help her cope after witnessing the tragic drowning of her father, who was a devout Lutheran pastor. I'm glad we've included it in our new hymnal. It's a lovely selection. The text alone...

What if there was a melody-writing rubric you could use to know how strong your melody is? In one of the new LDS hymns the Church recently released, there is a good lesson that can provide you a rubric to measure how well your melody writing is going. This is by no means a one-and-done or all-encompassing solution. But it's a very helpful start. I'll show you this melody rubric in hymn #1012, Anytime, Anywhere, by Angie Killian. Before we dive in, let me explain some of the challenges of...

Anyone who's ever tried to arrange a hymn or song for their Ward or Stake Choir knows there is MUCH more to this challenge than meets the eye. Of course, you have to make the obvious decisions... ...who sings what... ...which harmonies do you keep... ...which do you change... ...to modulate or not to modulate... ...to have the choir move together at all times... ...or to have some cannon-like staggering in some of the voices... ...how many verses of the original to use... ...which key to ask...

Hmm... can you imagine Janice Kapp Perry singing the Blues in Sacrament Meeting? Well, she ALMOST does in her newly released Hymn #1011, "Holding Hands Around the World." But before I show you how she uses this fun bluesy techniques... along with 3 other powerful techniques from this new release... I'd like to invite you to a LIVE training THIS coming Saturday. I'll be picking apart my new arrangement of Shawna Edwards' song, "This Is Jesus." When she asked me to write it, I had a few ideas...

Despite the weirdness of playing this hymn on the organ in Sacrament Meeting (as most primary songs are)... ...there are a lot of nice things about the newly released Hymn #1011. Though, it DOES have a strange shape. But we'll talk about that in a moment. First, let's look at two helpful writing techniques you can easily use to enhance your own writing of primary songs. This first one is so easy, even for total primary songwriting beginners. But it's often overlooked. It reminds me of Alma...

If only we could take a pill and magically have the musical powers of the universe open to us like a vision from heaven. Sometimes we shoot ourselves in the foot. And I've got a little magical pill for you today that can solve this. At least, it as helped me many times. Better still, it's just ONE little tweak. Allow me to elaborate. Sometimes you've just gotta stop overthinking when it comes to picking your chords. Yes, harmonic progression charts... ...standard chord progressions......

You don't really NEED complicated chords or super-intricate melodies to create captivating music. Sure, they can help. A whole world of amazing possibilities opens up the more harmony you know. And yet, what's often even more awe-inspiring to me is how simple uses of basic harmony ideas can keep my attention and draw me in just as much, and sometimes even more. By small and simple things are great things brought to pass. Sometimes, all it takes is 3 little notes. Simple notes. Notes right...

Does the spirit actually feed you melodies? Can it? Should it? Do you only write when such a moment occurs? Here's how it works for me. I thought I was finally having my own heaven-opening composer moment. As I walked through the lush Saski Gardens (where the royal palace used to stand) in Warsaw, Poland on my first Sunday during the year I spent there as a Fulbrighter (2011-2012 academic year)... Melodies seemed to be descending upon me like the dews from heaven. I couldn't help feeling a...