Categories
Congregational Songs Live Psalms

Rest in the Lord, at Calvin Chapel

My friend Paul Ryan asked me to lead one of the “Sing a New Song” chapels at Calvin College this Fall. I had originally thought I’d introduce one of the songs from the “Global Songs for Worship” collection I’m editing, but as the date got closer I decided to teach my song based on Psalm 127–“Rest in the Lord, My Soul.” This decision wasn’t based (solely) on shameless self-promotion. It’s just that I realized it would be a good opportunity to lead a group of non-musicians through the process of transplanting a Psalm into a particular musical context. In the allotted 25 minutes we talked about the themes and difficulties of the original text, Michael Morgan’s metrical version of the Psalm, and my musical setting of Morgan’s text.

Don’t believe me? Then watch the video! Go to the Calvin Chapel web page, then choose the November 9, 2009 chapel in the scroll bar on the right. At about 4 minutes and 30 seconds into the video I begin my talk.

Categories
Choir Church

My Soul Will Magnify the Lord

As we enter that blessed season known to music ministers as “when will this ever end?” I find myself considering a Magnificat that is near and dear to my heart. I wrote “My Soul Will Magnify the Lord” while I was at Bellefield Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh. It’s part of a series of pieces based on the wonderful canticles found in Luke. The ingredients are choir, rhythm section, brass and soloist, all boiled up in a pop/rock/classical/jazz stew. And they’re all blazingly difficult to pull off well. (I’d get published a lot more if I could tame my muse.)

One of the most unusual features of this particular Magnificat is that it ends with the genealogy found in Luke 3. Crazy, you say? Like a fox, I say. No, really, it is strangely powerful to hear Mary sing about God’s mercy extending from generation to generation, and then hear their names sung one after another. One choir member at the time thought the idea was so unique that I should patent it.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a good recording from the Bellefield performance, so all I can share with you as the “choir of Greg” version.  You can see the music here. I might include it in this year’s Lessons & Carols service on December 13 at 6pm at Church of the Servant, so if you’re in the Grand Rapids area you should plan to join us.

Categories
electronic Rock and/or Roll

GR Press Phone Message

Last week someone wrote a nasty letter to the editor about a friend from church. It’s a long story, but what it boils down to is that a group of people in Grand Rapids are poised and ready to write mean-spirited letters to the editor of the GR Press any time they read key words such as “evolution,” “homosexuality,” or “President Obama.” But I guess they’re not the only ones who feel they are saving society one letter at a time–I was lured into the fray and wrote what I believe to be a beacon of reason in a turbulent sea of idiocy.

I was pleasantly surprised that one of these folks actually left a phone message for me at the church letting me know just how misguided my letter to the editor was. Really, it ranks up there with being lumped in with Robert Webber and the Antichrist by Jimmy Swaggart’s wife, Frances

In any case, I decided that this little aural work of art needed a frame, so I created a bed of music to accompany her message. Of course, I’ve edited out some of the details like the caller’s name and phone number, but you’ll get a pretty good idea of her rhetoric by listening to this MP3. It will also give you an opportunity to dance.

Categories
Production music

Chalk Music

My wife, Amy, works for Calvin College‘s interview program, InnerCompass, researching topics and preparing the hosts. A while back she convinced the producers of the show to interview Rob Bliss, mastermind behind such social experiments as Zombie walks and flying thousands of airplanes off downtown Grand Rapids buildings. At the time of the interview, he was organizing “Chalk Flood,” which brought young and old to their knees–to make chalk drawings on the sidewalks of the city. Very cool.

As work on the Bliss InnerCompass episode progressed, it became clear that the show needed to include a montage of footage from the Chalk Flood event, and that music was needed to match the fast-paced, playful feel of the footage. Even casual followers of this blog will realize that this was an opportunity I couldn’t refuse. But the turn-around time was tight–as in, it needed to be finished in a day or two or else the editors would use some non-descript, pre-packaged music like they use in used car ads.

I quickly decided that the music style should be frenetic minimalism. But I didn’t have time to compose one of my intricate, evolving pieces like Crossfade. It would probably have to be comprised of only percussion. As I thought about it, it struck me: what better percussion instrument could be used than pieces of chalk? Chalk produces a wonderful, visceral sandblock sound when you’re writing with it, and a clear ping when tapped against cement. So that morning I went out into the garage, set up my recording equipment, found the most resonant chalk in the boys’ collection, and began scratching/tapping out a rhythm that had been on my mind.

The result is the montage and music that begins at 1:12 of this online episode of InnerCompass.

When Groups Play – Inner Compass from Calvin College on Vimeo.

Categories
Church Demos

At the Cross (I Know a Place)

One of my favorite praise songs is “At the Cross” by Randy and Terry Butler. It’s simple, singable and has meaningful lyrics. But, like many praise songs I’ve never been convinced by the piano arrangements that appear with it in hymnals. Since my church relies so heavily on the piano for accompaniment, I decided to write a new piano accompaniment for the song. Take a listen to the robotic, Finalified MP3 of the arrangement.

Categories
Church Finale demo

ALLITERATION: a new hymn tune in 8787D

Update: Sheet music for this tune (still waiting for a text to call its own)
is now available at gregscheer.com.

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 (at the link above), and then write a text to go with it!

Categories
Demos

Crossing the Jordan

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…

Categories
Colin

Colin Goes Country

Colin Gordon-Farleigh has his fingers in many musical pies. His latest venture is a country project with my old friend Charlotte Kerce. And what’s a country project without country songs? Nothing! So, my faithful RSS feed friend, Colin wrote a four new lyrics and I set them to music and recorded them. You can download the MP3 demos or PDF leadsheets below:

Pavements of Gold: mp3, pdf

Sometimes Dreams Come True: mp3, pdf

Love Away the Hate: mp3, pdf

You Are My Rock: mp3, pdf

Categories
Demos Rock and/or Roll

Tight Rope

I’m always inspired by a challenge. My latest compositional challenge has come in the form of my good friend’s wife’s cousin, Morgan Bracy. (It’s all about who you know…) Morgan is a fantastic singer working in Nashville who I met a few months back. We decided to write some songs together, and the first fruit of our labor is “Tight Rope.” She wrote the lyrics a while back and I wrote the first draft of the music while in Singapore. Last week I recorded a rough demo of the song. The demo is ugly, but the melody is catchy.

Categories
Church

GESCHICHTE: Sufferings of Jesus

Update: For sheet music or to adopt this tune, head over to gregscheer.com.

My friend David Landegent has written many hymn texts, most recently concentrating on scripture-based texts. One of his recent texts, “Sufferings of Jesus” is based on 2 Cor. 1:3-11. He wrote it with the tune ASSURANCE (Blessed Assurance) in mind, but I felt that tune was too sprightly to encompass the themes of suffering and consolation found in his text. And you know what Greg does when he thinks a tune is too this or that for a given text, right? He composes a new one. Here’s an MP3 of the new tune, appropriately–if obscurely–named GESCHICHTE.