Update: For sheet music or to adopt this tune, head over to gregscheer.com.
This second tune was written for a setting of Psalm 147 in long meter (L.M. or 8.8.8.8). The trick with this one is that there are multiple and/or shifting places of stress within each line of the text. Inner rhythms are great for poetry, but difficult for hymn tunes: if you create a tune with too strong of a rhythm, the words will be mis-stressed (distressed?); if you write something amorphous to accomodate all the subtleties of the text’s rhythm, you’ll end up with musical oatmeal. So I wrote lines that have a strong sense of flow and forward movement without a lot of angular rhythms.
You may be wondering, “Greg, how do you come up with your tune names?” Good question. Most people name their tunes for the place it was composed, a church, or a person. I prefer to name my tunes:
- A. something ridiculous, and/or
- B. something that will jog my memory about which tune it is.
In this case, I couldn’t remember why I called this tune INDY. Was it because it reminded me of a tune by some indie band? Indianapolis, Indiana? Ah, now I remember: it’s in D.
