Music all the days.

I'm wishing I'd gotten to a computer to blog earlier than this. So much has been happening over the past few days, and I'm just hoping I can remember it all now.

It's sooo awesome to have Gerald home! For the obvious we're-in-love-and-planning-a-wedding reasons, but for artsy reasons as well.

My last entry mentioned that I stayed up and wrote one and a half songs:

GOD IS THERE
I decided to read the half-lyric to Gerald to get his opinion. I really thought it needed tonnes of in-depth research and study to make it emotional and poetic. Well, I think I was wrong. I started at the beginning (sing - a very good place to start!) and by the second verse, Gerald had his guitar in his hands. He started playing a few chords. I didn't have a tune written, but I knew the feel I wanted, and he was playing it! He started to sing the words. The tune fell in easily, and soon, we were singing the song! When we hit the third verse, we found 2 lines that needed to be re-written. I went away and did that, but otherwise, the song is exactly as it came out on that first night. See? How can you say songs are not a gift from God? I'm not that good. I couldn't just write something that instantly connects with people were it not for the Master Creator.

So, as we started to play with the tune and finding the correct key, something became really clear. This is not a song for me to sing! "What?", says my Inner Diva. "Every song is for me to sing!" Yes, but apparently not this one. As Ger sang it, his soul opened up. He found phrasing and nuance I couldn't even imagine. Every other song we've co-written has been for me to sing, but not this one. This one is his, and I couldn't be happier about it. Seriously. Even my Inner Diva is smiling. And I can actually hear lots of people singing this song. Gospel singers for sure, but country singers and folk singers and pop singers too. I think it approaches God in a universal, non-denominational way. And I don't mean that watered-down God we like to present to the masses. This is a God who cares and offers love and hope in the darkest conditions. We're recording a demo and will post it on my site as soon as it's done. I think this is a song that needs to be heard.

Funny - now that Gerald is the vocalist on the song, I feel just separated enough that I can jump on the bandwagon and yell, "Hey, come listen to this!"

WELCOME TO BETHLEHEM
The Christmas carol provided its own struggles for the week. First, I arranged the entire song in four part harmony - SATB. This is the first time I have done this since leaving school - sans supervision! It was a little nerve-wracking at times. I would write it, play it, screw-up my face, and rewrite it. In the end, I think it's okay. I can't say it's truly inspired harmony, but I think it's solid and workable.

I was going to bring it to choir rehearsal Thursday, but I left it at home! Arg! I'm bringing it tomorrow. I don't know if the choir would ever want to sing it. If so, big yay! But tomorrow, I'm simply asking them to be my test choir so I can hear what it sounds like and make any appropriate changes.

I'm also going to enter the Amadeus Christmas Carol contest. I may enter Welcome, or I may write a new tune for Joseph's Carol. They insist on new music, but not necessarily new words. Joseph's Carol is set to Faith of our Fathers, but I think the words are strong enough to warrant a new tune. But, I also came up with a new tune tonight that I think could be a unison lullaby? We'll see...

Oh, and I just found out about a new singers workshop Daywind is offering in October. How much would I love to go to that? It's probably just too cost prohibitive. Perhaps our next house should not be in the Beaches after all...