Turn Your Testimony Into Song

Looking forward to seeing you today at the usual time, 1 p.m. MT / 3 p.m. ET. Here's the link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/8202360194 Doug "And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ... that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." –2 Nephi 25:26 "For it was given unto as many as called upon God to write by the spirit of inspiration; and by them their children were taught..." –Moses 6:5-6 🎶 EMAIL ENCORE MENU 👨👩👦 PRIMARY SONGWRITING...

I love it when LOTS of people come out to sing in ward or stake choir. But it can cause some problems. Usually, the more people you have, the more likely you are to have some singers who aren't as strong. Now, I'd never EVER discourage someone from singing. I just think that's mean, wrong, and robs them of the wonderful joy of expressing themselves and their testimony in a very unique and satisfying way. As a ward choir arranger, that means I have to take responsibility for the various levels...

When turning a primary song into a ward choir piece, it's important to consider how you'll provide a musical wind upon which the choir can spread its wings and fly. This is the 2nd episode in this little series. Yesterday, in the first episode, we discussed the important principle of providing support when writing for your ward choir. If you didn't get a chance to read it, you can do so here. Today, we will help our choir mount up with wings as eagles. There are many ways to apply this...

A student recently asked for some help as she prepares to turn her Primary Song into a Ward Choir piece. Mainly, she wanted help with how to change the piano part to make it less of a primary song and more of a ward choir piece. To illustrate, I'll use a new arrangement I recently completed for my stake choir of "Come Thou Fount." The principle I want to focus on today is... Support The organ is a more natural accompaniment instrument of a choir. It has a vocal quality to it. The piano is...

Who doesn't want to write a better melody? I can't think of any writers who would turn that down. Fun fact... ...sometimes, you can make your melody better WITHOUT touching it, tweaking it, or changing it one bit. We discussed one of these ways a couple of weeks ago on the birthday of the great French composer, Gabriel Fauré. It was all about his Yoda-like refrain he'd constantly say to his students... "The bass line is with us." A lyrical bass line can most definitely affect the overall...

Let's be honest. Writing a good, memorable, immediately singable melody is challenging. In fact, it's funny how often master composers and songwriters of all times and all genres think some of their finest melodies are of no consequence. One such melody that comes to mind is "The Long and Winding Road" by the Beatles. Even though he shares the writing credit with Paul McCartney, John Lennon hated this song. Yet, it is often included on "favorite" lists of Beatles songs. This is also true of...

Today, we are continuing our discussion of Hymn #1014, "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need." If you missed the first of 6 tips, you can read them here. So, let's jump in. Tip 4 = From "Blah" to "Beautiful" Chord Change in 2 Steps It's easy to fall into the trap of "blah" or "boring" when writing hymns or songs. This is especially true if you use what we call a "parallel period." A "parallel period" is when the 2nd half of the melody starts the same as the 1st half of the melody. It's a...

Newly published LDS Hymn #1014, "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need," works a little emotional-doctrine magic. It seems obvious enough once you play it and someone points these things out to you. But it can be MUCH harder to create these things from scratch yourself. I mean, let's think about this. You've FINALLY figured out your text... which, as you probably know, is often THE hardest part of writing a song or hymn. You got all your emotions, your story, your life-lessons into that text....

As I've been working on a new early intermediate piano arrangement of our newly published Hymn 1013, "God's Gracious Love," I've noticed some useful writing techniques. Techniques that can help you write better Sacrament Meeting music. Before I get into 4 of these, it's first important to note that this hymn is actually 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...

8 simple words change my musical life, my composer point of view, and all of my musical endeavors forever. Here's the story. I used to write for my teachers. To get their approval. I used to write for competition panels. To win their awards. I used to write for conductors. To impress them. I used to write to show off. To stroke my own ego I used to write to flex my composer muscles. To show how great I am. Now I look back and think... "...what was the point?" Yes, I got the approval my...