This is, literally, my musical diary–notes fresh from my pen and recorded in a few hours. You can find my finished works elsewhere; here, it's all about capturing the moment!
The other day I was shopping for some kitchen stuff when I came across a banana hook. These things are awesome, because they let you hang your bananas to ripen like they do in their natural habitat, resulting in perfect, evenly ripened bananas.
My enthusiasm soon turned into song.
My first impulse was to make it a lounge lizard song extolling the virtues of various kitchen tools, from the point of view of a guy who thinks it would impress the ladies. But it soon morphed into a joyous surf rock romp. I especially love how the lyrics feel slightly naughty, as if there’s a double entendre. (There’s not.)
I’ve got a banana hook,
and I know how to use it.
Baby, won’t you take a look,
take a look at me?
‘Cause with my banana hook,
and the way I use it,
I ripen my bananas
so evenly.
One of the great things about FAWM (February Album Writing Month; http://fawm.org/) is that encourages you to just write. You’ve got to write fast enough (14 songs in 28 days) that you can’t second guess yourself. (Is this a great idea, or merely good? Will this come across as melodramatic? Is this my style? Etc.) The looming deadline encourages you to experiment and risk failure.
Which brings us to today’s post. One part Michael Bublé, two parts Barry Manilow, and all sad, it’s not my typical fare. That’s alright. It’s February Album Writing Month.
(Special thanks to Maria Poppen for laying down the heart-wrenching violin tracks.)
Quiet as midnight in your little home
A table for two for a party of one.
You’re still not sure where it all went wrong
All you know is you’re alone.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself.
‘Cause you can’t stop this at all.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself.
Can’t stop the rain from coming down.
Can’t stop the dirt turning to mud
Can’t stop the pain from soaking into your soul.
Can’t stop thinking about love (but you can)
Stop feeling sorry for yourself.
‘Cause you can’t stop this at all.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself.
I was challenged to write music for a somewhat irregularly metered hymn text based on Ecclesiastes. (Okay, not directly challenged, but I accepted it as such.) Since the text talked about stretching and striving, I thought this rising melodic figure (with a chromatically descending bass) fit the them quite well.
The author commented that he could hear the cast of Fiddler on the Roof singing it. I’m unsure whether I should take that as a compliment or not…
If you want to revel in the nitty gritty of the musical details, see this PDF.
Update 1/11/22: Sheet music for this tune is now available at gregscheer.com.
A few months ago I wrote a tune for a text by Herman Stuempfle. Strangely, when I went searching for a text to accompany this week’s sermon on the Wedding in Cana, I was led again to Stuempfle. Even stranger? The new text, “Come, Join in Cana’s Feast,” fits the same tune!
Because yesterday’s service was led by the Joyful Noise Orchestra, I had some cool instrumental options. I’m a huge fan of jazz with orchestra, so I broke out my hollow body Ibanez and wrote some string parts, a la Wes Montgomery’s Bumpin’. Throw in Lauren Figueroa on vocals and Joel Klamer on tenor sax, I figure you can’t go wrong.
Here’s the the MP3 of the service. Below, for your listening pleasure is some real music: Wes Montgomery’s Bumpin’.
The Church of the Servant choir is singing movements of Vivaldi’s Gloria throughout the year. Recently we sang “Dominus Deus, Agnus Dei” (“Lord God, Lamb of God…that takes away the sins of the world have mercy upon us”) during the confession.
Many of these movements can be found in public domain editions, but others have incomplete resources. Such was the case with this movement. There were plenty of choral scores, but no realization of the figured bass that was light enough to leave room for the cello. (You’ll remember that in a lot of Baroque music the continuo was a bass line with chord symbols called figured bass. The Baroque keyboardist was expected to improvise chords above the bass line. Today, few players have this skill.)
You would think that filling in chords above a bass line would be a simple task tapping into skills learned in freshman theory, but it’s actually surprisingly hard to get into the stylistic mindset of another composer and flesh out their music in a convincing way. You can assess my success here: PDF. Of course, compositional success can only be achieved when implemented by actual musicians. In this case, I had the best: Erin De Young sang the solo and Andrew Plaisier played cello. I’m blessed to be at a church with people like this!
In 1971, Priscilla Wright wrote a song based on the prophesies of Joel. It was a scripture song like many of its era, with verses that quote a biblical passage verbatim and a music style that mimics Jewish folk song. We ended up singing it on a Joyful Noise Sunday, so I wrote a quick little arrangement for strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion. Email me if you need a score.
Colin Gordon-Farleigh and I have written dozens of songs together, and now some of them are beginning to travel. Case in point: Canadian singer Jaye D Marie has included our song “Dreamin” on her latest release.
Update 1/10/22: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.
I’ve been using this arrangement forever, but for some reason have never posted it to my blog. PUER NOBIS is one of the great hymn tunes of the Church and is matched with many texts, including “O Splendor of God’s Glory Bright.” I tried to bring out its folk song flavor with a piano accompaniment that is energetic. As one pianist put it, “I’ll send you the bill for the physical therapist.” Keyboardist complaints aside, I feel like this arrangement brings out the sprightly nature of this tune in a way that often gets lost in the four-part hymnal.
Update 1/11/22: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.
A few years ago a woman in the church told me she’d love to sing a Christmas carol she remembered fondly from her childhood in Germany. Being a German speaker I was more than happy to oblige. However, I couldn’t find a translation that was completely satisfying or an arrangement that fit my church’s musicians.
It’s no wonder. The original German text is 15 verses long, and the musical arrangements span from Bach to German a cappella boy bands. This Fall I finally got serious about the song and dove headfirst into it with the goal of completing a new translation and arrangement for our Lessons & Carols service. It was insanely difficult to translate. The German rhyme scheme is extremely tight, leaving little flexibility. The melody plays itself over and over in your brain, but doesn’t behave like a “normal” melody. All in all it was one of the more difficult projects I’ve taken on in a long time.
Above is the recording from Church of the Servant’s 2015 Lessons & Carols service. Below is my translation of the four German verses I focused on.
1. Before your manger, here I stand;
dear Jesus, my life’s treasure.
A humble gift is all I have;
I pray it gives you pleasure.
O take my heart, my mind, my soul,
and take my life, I offer all
back to the One who gave it.
2. For even in my mother’s womb,
dear Jesus, you were calling.
You loved me long before I could
bow down to you, adoring.
Before I ever walked this earth,
you planned for me a second birth,
to win my love forever.
3. I gaze on you with joy and love;
I’m filled with adoration.
No song of praise could be enough
to voice my jubilation.
O that my heart, my soul could be
e’en deeper, wider than the sea,
to hold your love o’erflowing!
4. One thing I ask of you, my Lord,
dear Jesus, hear my prayer:
that you would make a humble home
within my heart forever.
O come to me and stay with me.
O let my heart your cradle be.
Fill me with joy unending.
1. Ich steh an deiner Krippen hier, o Jesu, du mein Leben; ich komme, bring und schenke dir, was du mir hast gegeben. Nimm hin, es ist mein Geist und Sinn, Herz, Seel und Mut, nimm alles hin und laß dir’s wohlgefallen.
2. Da ich noch nicht geboren war, da bist du mir geboren und hast mich dir zu eigen gar, eh ich dich kannt, erkoren. Eh ich durch deine Hand gemacht, da hast du schon bei dir bedacht, wie du mein wolltest werden.
3. Ich sehe dich mit Freuden an und kann mich nicht satt sehen; und weil ich nun nichts weiter kann, bleib ich anbetend stehen. O daß mein Sinn ein Abgrund wär und meine Seel ein weites Meer, daß ich dich möchte fassen!
4. Eins aber, hoff ich, wirst du mir, mein Heiland, nicht versagen: daß ich dich möge für und für in, bei und an mir tragen. So laß mich doch dein Kripplein sein; komm, komm und lege bei mir ein dich und all deine Freuden.
Update 10/1/20: Sheet music for this song can be downloaded here.
Two years after Naaman Wood and I began collaborating on “Restore Us, O God,” the song has finally been sung by an actual congregation. I think you’ll agree that it went swimmingly:
Of course, its success is due in part to the Church of the Servant Guitarchestra, which got its Klezmer on for this one. It’s also due to my congregation’s enthusiasm for singing. Listen to the way they dive right in when I invite them to sing.
All in all a successful debut of the Wood/Scheer writing team. What’s next, Naaman?
Can’t get enough? Take a look at the leadsheet (see link above) or listen to the first and second drafts.
