Nashville - Day 6

Obviously not my sixth day here, but my sixth day of classes. And if today is any indication, this week is going to fly by far too quickly. If they had this kind of school in a full-time program, I seriously think I would sign up. This place is so amazing.

You know how singers always say we want to sing til we're old? Well, tonight I saw a vision of what I want to be. Tonight, we had a surprise visit from Rosa Nell Speer. She's in her eighties, and her health has prevented her from being a part of the school so far. One of the conductors persuaded her to get up on stage to play piano, and she banged out What a Friend We Have in Jesus. It was swinging and great. Then she, Ben, and Mary Tom got up and did an impromptu concert! Here are these three people in their seventies and eighties, belting out 3-part harmonies, being funny and rousing up the crowd. It was so inspiring! That's what we all aim for! That's what we want. In classical, or opera, or music theatre, you reach a point where people think it's "best" for you not to sing in public anymore. In gospel, that doesn't really happen. I guess it's because the message is more important than high notes or long phrasing. The whole event was just so incredible. I just feel so blessed to have heard these legends sing in such a family atmosphere.

The rest of the day was pretty awesome too. In theory, we're learning how to write 4-part harmony. I'm so excited! That's one of the things I wanted to learn. It's kind of like doing a puzzle. You just need to fit all the right notes into all the right voices. {If this sounds inaccurate for you composers, give me a break! It's my first day!}

I also presented my song lyric to Daryl. He's really excited about it. He thinks it's really good and solid. My next job is to add a bridge and a tune. I think he'll help me arrange it. I was going to show him some of my other songs, but I think I want to focus my remaining lessons on this song. By the way, the title is "I'm waiting here for you".

There are some fantastic arrangers here, so I'm going to have some of my songs arranged in 4-part harmony. My Christmas songs for sure, and I Call Out Your Name.

We did a lot of group singing today. Tomorrow, we're recording a cd of convention music. Can't wait to see how they do the recording set-up.

I actually have lots of homework to do tonight! And I'm still expected to get some sleep!

Love being here!