Author: Greg Scheer

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Colin Finale demo

Let’s Stand Together

In October I got an email from out of the blue from a minister in the UK who was interested in having me set some of his hymns to music. Colin Gordon-Farleigh and I have been collaborating ever since. Today I finished our 10th song. It’s called “Let’s Stand Together.” Colin has given me permission to post our songs here at my music blog, so I thought I’d go ahead and start with the newest one. As usual, you have your choice: listen to the mp3 of the cheesy Finale playback, or print it out and play it yourself.

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Contests Finale demo

Grace Through Every Generation

I’ve mentioned elsewhere about the CRC sesquicentennial (that’s 150, for those of you who are counting) hymn contest I entered a while back. I submitted three songs–one for each of the sesquicentennial theme scriptures–and got runner up for one of them. The winning hymn text was written by my CICW colleague Bert Polman. The text will be introduced to the denomination using the tune NETTLETON (“Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing”). That’s a good tune choice in that it’s familiar (and a great tune), but I felt like it needed something special, so I wrote one:
Grace Through Every Generation (mp3)
Grace Through Every Generation (printed music)

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Live Rock and/or Roll

True Confessions

The new year is a good time to reflect on one’s life. A few years ago some of my reflections turned into a song named “True Confessions.” This recording is from a chapel at Northwestern College. I’m on vocals and guitar, Cory Grimm is on the other guitar, Adam Grimm is on bass and Joseph Barker is on drums.

True Confessions by Greg Scheer, October, 2003

The second hand keeps on ticking, the hours fly, but I
find the days grow short as the years go by.
Half my life may be gone—even though I’ve tried and tried
I’m still not half the man that I thought I would be.

But I’m older and wiser, and happy and tired, and richer and wider,
and just now getting comfortable living inside this skin.
Even though half the things that I thought were me recede—
just get forgotten—lost in the living.

My true confessions,
my best intentions,
I guess in the end that
is all I can give.

My true confessions,
my best intentions,
I guess in the end that
is all I can give.

Dive below the surface and you’ll find things in me
that even I don’t know or choose not to believe.
But I’m open to your reviving streams. You see,
I want to be a tree whose roots grow deep.

CHORUS

What on earth is the problem with humanity?
Why do we run to wrong? How can we be so mean?
But if I had been Adam and you were Eve, I think
I’d bite any apple that you offered me.

The serpent is speaking
so convincing and sweetly.
The spirit is willing
but the flesh is weak.

Since the garden of Eden,
with our sweat we’ve been reaping
the price of our pride
and our disobedience.

CHORUS

I’m in trouble sometimes, but I still believe I’ll see
the goodness of my God while I’m still living.

Categories
Choir Church Contests Finale demo

Deeper than the Sea

I wrote this setting of Psalm 36:5-9 for the CRC sesquicentennial hymn contest. I lost. But then the Psalm came up in the lectionary, so I decided to create an arrangement for choir, piano and congregation that we’ll use January 14 at Church of the Servant. Chords are included so it can be accompanied by guitar and bass to get that “folk choir” kind of sound.

Here is the score: (I had to remove it–it’s now published by GIA)

Don’t have a choir? Don’t despair! Here’s the leadsheet for praise band: (pdf-praise)

And a rough demo in a somewhat Chris Tomlin style: (mp3-praise)

Categories
Church Live

The Babe of Bethlehem

When I worked at Wildwood Presbyterian Church in Tallahassee, Florida, we had an annual “Festival of Carols” service during Advent. (Can I really call something “annual” when it only happened twice?) Basically, this was a lessons and carols service, but I knew that would sound too high church, so I called it a “Festival of Carols.” In any case, in 1999 the theme of the service was “An American Christmas.” It featured Christmas songs from Canada to New Mexico, with lots in between.

The first song of the evening came from the shape-note (Sacred Harp) singing tradition. Instead of singing it in shape-note style, though, we performed it with solo voice (me), mandolin (me) and guitar (Mike Houghton). This isn’t a particularly good performance–I botch a note in the first few measures–but it’s a great song. In fact, I like the song so much that I used it again this year at Church of the Servant’s lessons and carols service. This time we sang it in proper shape-note style, with bright chest voice and men and women doubling the soprano and tenor lines. But I don’t have a recording of that.

Without further ado, here is “The Babe of Bethlehem.”

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Uncategorized

Welcome to the Musical Diary of Greg Scheer

The other day I visited Chris Smit’s new blog and I was inspired to try my own hand at a music blog. Of course, I invented blogs, so I’m no stranger to the form. But at this point in my life I don’t see the need to bore the masses with every thought that comes into my head. Instead, I feel the need to bore you with my music.Much of my music is available at my “official” website, www.gregscheer.com. I encourage you to visit that site and buy lots of music. But this music blog is something different. This is the place where I’ll post songs and demos that are freshly written, on my mind, or still in process. I may even dip into my collection of old recordings and pull out something embarrassing like “The Carrot Song.”

So thanks for visiting. Feel free to subscribe or come back often, as I intend to update frequently. Also, it would be lovely to get some comments on the music I post.

Peace,

Greg