The Musical Diary of Greg Scheer

Hymn tunes are funny things. They are compact little musical expositions that are given a few dozen measures to introduce and develop a theme. But more than that they are to be sung. A hymn tune may be musical genius in miniature, but if a congregation can’t sing it, it has missed its mark. I wrote the tune ALLITERATION as an alternative to RUSTINGTON. It gave me a chance to work out a few musical ideas, and now it’s your chance to pair it with an 8787D text and give it a try in a real life setting. Listen to the MP3, download and print the PDF, and then write a text to go with it!

When I lived in Tallahassee I played a lot of mandolin and took part in “bluegrass night”at a friend’s house. As that music worked its way into my blood, it inevitably came out in the form of a new song: Crossing the Jordan. I have a special fondness for this song, and I hope someday someone will take it upon themselves to perform and record it better than I do on this demo. It could be a bluegrass group, or a gospel quartet, or…