Turn Your Testimony Into Song

Let's bust a few myths about the process of writing Primary Songs. Because I see too many people not having the opportunity to express their testimonies in song simply because they believe some of these myths. Okay, here we go... Myth #1 "I can't write an original Primary Song because I don't have any ideas of what my song should be about." Okay, fair enough. Here's a quick way to fix this. Ask yourself... "What is the 1 thing--if I could only have 1 thing--that I want to make sure my...

Worried to sobs, he shook me awake... Christmas Eve 2012... About 5:30am... My 5-year-old son's little voice begged me to get up and help him. He was clearly terrified of something... I figured a nightmare... evil little elves stealing his Christmas presents or something... "I can't go away for 2 years, Dad! I just can't! That's so long! I'll miss you and Mom too much!" "What are you talking about, bud?" I responded. "On a mission, Dad! 2 years is so long!" Wow, I wasn't expecting my...

It's so easy to slip into this trap. Even for first-time Primary Songwriters. Imagine all the hard work of writing your primary song... ...all the energy of pouring out your testimony into little black dots on the page... ...writing, re-writing, adjusting, re-voicing, re-harmonizing, re-melodizing, lyricizing, and finally overcoming all the challenges of writing your testimony time capsule song... ...and then when you finally convince the Primary President in your ward to allow you to teach...

Writing a primary song that gets the kids WANTING to sing... EXCITED to sing... a song that STICKS in their heads... We ALL want that. But how can we get it? Is it just magic? Or good luck? I won't say there aren't magical moments when writing... because I've experienced them. But they are rare. What you want to turn to are the 3 governments of music. Melody. Harmony. Rhythm. The most ignored of the 3 is... Rhythm. But all it takes sometimes to turn an okay song into something better... or a...

This morning I had a blast hosting a new mini-workshop, Picking the Right Chords for Your Primary Song. If you weren't able to attend, no worries. You can watch the recording here: This free mini-workshop is in preparation for our next 8-week LIVE Primary Songwriting School Workshop, which begins THIS coming Monday. If you'd like to consider joining us, you can read all about it and hear about the experiences of others who've enjoyed it. You can even hear many of their songs, all on this page...

I'm SUPER excited to see you tomorrow for our free and fun Picking the Right Chords for Your Primary Song mini-workshop. You're going to walk away with some great tools to pick chords for any primary song. In our 90 minutes together, I'm going to give you some helpful shortcuts so you don't have to sign up for a college music theory class. And the worksheets and free "stay until the end bonus" can and will help you each time you write a song or any other Sacrament Meeting music. Of course, in...

Few things chill my blood like that moment in the temple when Lucifer warns all covenant makers. Yikes! And you know what, he had a point. I'm sure you've noticed it. His point was, that if we allow it, we can, without even realize it, give him power over us. Our kids and grandkids can easily give him power over them. With each little strand of that flaxen cord, he great deceiver puts a nuice around our necks. And if we don't put off this natural man flaxen cord, fashioned from our own misuse...

I get guff from lots of songwriters for being too hard-core when it comes to obeying the "rules." This always makes me laugh because in my own compositions I'm constantly trying to find convincing ways to BREAK the rules... because when done well, this can help you create a wonderfully unique and personal voice as a writer. So, why do I harp on so much about the "rules"? Because to really BREAK the rules and discover uniqueness, it's best (based on my 20+ years of professional composer and...

As we prepare for our fun Picking the Right Chords for Your Primary Song free mini-workshop this Wednesday, I want to tell you about a real songwriting miracle. Not too long ago, one of my Primary Songwriting students got some amazing news from the Church about her new Christmas-themed primary song. Her name is Heather, and she'd been feeling the need to do more with her music. So, she joined one of my 8-week LIVE Primary Song Workshops where we write an entire song together from start to...

I love a good pedal harmony: a long, repeated bass note with varied chords above it. Of course, you can take these WAY too far. I remember hearing a cellist who'd played in the Tabernacle Orchestra tell me... "I'm really tired of playing pedals... we play them a lot." I think anyone who plays the same kind of music for any extended period of time will get a little tired of it... no matter what type of music it is. That being said, various forms of pedal bass harmonies are great ways to START...