Composing a New Song...Contemporary Worship style

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Some of you may already know that I love to write poetry and music. Friday night, I spent the evening listening to new songs and sharing my own with Joey, Marcus, and Anthony, for our first ever 'song writers' meeting.  We all go to the same church and write either music, lyrics, or both.  Dan, one of our pastors, who is also a song writer, couldn't be there. Joey, is our worship leader, and he is an incredibly knowledgeable and talented musician.  He will be teaching us theory and giving us 'assignments' to work on.  But one of the reasons for the get-together, which is very informal, is to play our latest song or two and get feedback and help from everyone else.

You are Holy, You are Great.. (new version)

Csus                              C

Lord, Your Word's a spotlight 

Dm                  

Shining on our hearts,

  F                               G

Showing us just who we really are.

Dm

And as we bow before you,

F

Minds filled with regret,

Dm                                             G

Your Holy Spirit calls us to repent,

Dm                                                 F

And the sacrifice you paid is glad - ly - spent...

Chorus:

and we cry..

Csus       C        Gsus       G

You are Holy, You are great,

                F          Dm        G

You are worthy of our praise.

Csus       C               Gsus        G

You are Lord, and You are king

        F      Dm           G

To you alone we sing.

         F     G             Csus-C

To you alone we sing.

Verse 2.

You made us for your pleasure

Our hearts are yours alone.

Your love will always keep us close - to - you.

You called us on this journey,

and your sovereign hand will guide,

You are always right there by our side,

And In your awesome presence we will abide.

Repeat Chorus.

I had already written this once  and it just wasn't working. I posted it a while back here. You can see the words and listen to a video of me playing the original version there.

Frankly, it just didn't feel right to me. I love the chorus for the most part, but not the verses. I wrote so many poems growing up that I tend to 'over rhyme' and over structure my music. It literally comes out that way with very little effort on my part. But I don't want it to be stuck in the '80's. I want it to be more contemporary.

Three Helpful Tips for Music Composition

I learned three great things that helped me refurbish this song and make it more contemporary in style. First, that every Key, like for instance the Key of C which includes, C, F, and G, also has three minor and one diminished chord that belong in the family. It is very easy to transition between the three major chords using the related minor ones.  Instead of feeling limited to only three chords to write a tune with, I now have SEVEN!! I wanted to write a more worshipful melody to match the message. The original melody I wrote was just too up beat which didn't compliment the message of the song.  Yesterday, I spent several hours writing a new tune for the verses. I had already come up with a new tune for the chorus, but not for the verses. It's so much better now I think!

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The second thing I learned is that it is very common for song writers to come up with a great chorus and then have blah verses. That was very true of this one.  And I tend to make my verses too rhyme-y. I haven't been able to develop the 'prose' style that is so common in contemporary music until this week.

Following Joey's suggestion, I summarized the main ideas of my verses and then tried to work with that. It was amazing! I was able to break out of my old-fashioned rhyming pattern.   Joey challenged me to go home and just play the verse melody over and over until I got it the way I wanted. However, having the extra chords really made this easy!

And one more thing I learned was that in any key, there are common chord patterns that are usually made out of the three major chords. By varying the pattern, I can come up with a more interesting composition. 

 In my song, I used the key of C. Here are the chords that make up that key along with the rest of the minor chords that belong to that family according to the  Roman System. The Roman capitals represent the major chords used for the key of C...but you space them out to allow for two minors in the 2 and 3 position and a minor in the 6 position.

Key of C

I     ii       iii    IV   V     vi       vii

C  dm     em   F     G    am    bdim

My songs almost always use only the major chords which are colored in red. By adding the minor chords that go with them, I can add so much more variety and interest to the song!  The pattern of my chorus is 1 5 4, and now my new verses are mostly 2, 4, 5.  I love my new song now!! I can't wait to bring it to our next meeting. :o)

This wasn't the best recording I've ever done, but I really wanted to share it with you guys. I thought you might enjoy this little 'peek' into how i write music and what can sometimes go into the process.  I'm always so thrilled when a song 'comes to me'. I never know when that is going to happen, but it is always a special day for me when a new song is born.

Hopefully, you will enjoy the words to this one and the message. :o)

Happy Homemaking!

You are Holy, You are Great! A Sunday Song

Photo by my son Christian
 
I had a different post planned today, but since I'm cleaning house fast and furious before dear hubby comes home (hurrah!!! He's finally coming home!! (with Jacob in tow too), I thought I'd post this song I wrote last year. I'm sharing it for Sunday Song at 5 Minutes Just for me. Natasha loves music and every Sunday she hosts a 'show and tell' of everyone's favorite music. My friends Deb and Bee should join her!

 A              E               D          A

By your blood, we've been set free,

                D                         A

By your word, the truth we see.

A                E                D    A

By your strength, we'll daily be a

          D       E      A

living sacrifice for thee.

A             D          E            A

For your pleasure we were made,

A            D                        E

for you kindgom we were saved,

A               D             E          A

For your presence, Lord, we pray,

            D                   E

as we worship you today..

             D         E        A

as we worship You today.

Chorus:

D             A     E           A

You are holy, You are great.

            D      E         A

Your worthy of our praise,

D             A            E          D

You are Lord and You are king,

     D                      E

To you alone we sing...

        D    E           A

To you alone we sing.

Vs. 2At your cross, we'll gladly kneel,

At your feet, your mercy feel.

At your word, we will obey,

At your throne, we'll boldly pray.

By your stripes, we are healed,

By your word, our sin revealed.

By your mercy and your grace,

We will one day see your face...

We will one day, see your face.

Repeat Chorus:

Bridge:

A            D          E         A                     D       E           A

May our lives be free of blame,  bringing honor to your name,

A             D     E         Bm                   G                        E

May we never be the same, cause we gathered in Your name...

Photo by Christian Rodgers 2009

How to Make a Music Tote Bag

Shona bought three of the 'girly' tote bags that I was selling at my craft booth last week. But obviously hot pink just wouldn't suit a boy...and Matthew, her oldest would not go for it...for sure!


She asked me if I could make a tote bag that was 'masculine' enough in style...for him to feel comfortable carrying his music books to class in. My son, Christian, has the same problem...books and sheet music everywhere!

She was thinking that musical notes on fabric and a leather strip on the top of a black tote (preferably) would work well. As it happened, the fabric store was all out of my favorite musical sheet music fabric with a white background and I'm so glad!! Necessity is the mother of invention and it's always true in my case.
Is there anything more masculine and musical than a 'bust' of Bach?!...in black?!

My daughter was shopping for me, since I'm busy sewing Christmas gifts, and called on the cell phone..."Hey Mom--They're all out!--Now what?" So I told her to get what was available--the black fabric with the names of famous composers on it. I knew they had either composer's names or musical notes on fabric. As it turned out, the only other choice was cream with musical instruments all over it. That would be fine for a girl, but I thought probably not so fine for a boy.


I love silhouettes..don't you?! There is something so classy about them..and it's the perfect art for a classical music tote bag.


Plenty respectful...and masculine as can be. (Matthew's daddy loves "busts" of famous people, but I told Shona that he can't have this one!) I'll make him one too, if he really likes it--Ha!



I hope it was OK to write Matt and personalize it.  (Christian loses everything--so names are a must.) . I thought I had heard Shona call him that.

I wrote his name in a as 'masculine' a style as I could think of and practiced several times with gold fabric paint on white paper first. The leather trim I added came out kind of bumpy. I hope we can call that "artistic". It was too soft and stretchy for the purpose. Anyway...I love this bag!!

It was so simple to make!

Steps: 
1. Print out a silhouette of Bach.
2. Iron stitch witchery on fabric of choice.
3.Peel off white paper and lay stitch witchery on back of the wrong side of the fabric. Iron for 15 seconds in each spot.
4. Let cool, then pin the silhouette shape on the right side of the musical fabric and white paper. Cut out silhouette.
5. Lay silhouette of Bach on center front of a black tote bag. Iron on for 15 seconds in each area.

6. Trace outline with gold metallic fabric paint. Let dry.
7. If you like, sew a 2 1/2" strip of fake black vinyl, right sides together, to the upper edge of tote bag.
8. Fold over vinyl and lay edge against right side of very top edge of tote.  Top stitch down using quilting foot.
9. Personalize with an artistic signature in gold paint.

Happy Thanksgiving!.....and a poem

My dear daughter-in-law, Elisabeth Rodgers, and I have been painting glass today. She's teaching me how to do it.  She painted the plate on the right and I painted the crystal candlesticks to match my favorite dishes...just in time for Thanksgiving!

I will be posting a little tutorial later, but for now, I just want to share a poem/song I wrote several years ago especially for this holiday.  Click here to listen to a recording:   http://www.box.net/shared/8hdj1xa5zi

In Everything Give Thanks..

For this new day that You have made,
Each detail you have planned.
The pleasant and the difficult,
Remind me to be glad.

For everything I need to live,
my food, my clothes, my home.
For all the blessings that You give,
my thanks to You I owe.

I thank you for your Holy Word,
to light my path each day,
and grace to follow you, Oh Lord,
if only I will pray.

Let no ungrateful words be said,
and may it never be,
that I would carelessly neglect
to give my thanks to Thee.

In everything I will give thanks,
For this is the will of God.
Since all things work out for the good,
to those who love the Lord.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Donna