March 15, 2006
first try
as mentioned at the end of my longest post ever, I've been thinking about attempting to write a new tune to an old hymn, much like these guys do (among others). the ultimate goal would be to sing it for church someday, and maybe start developing experience as a songwriter.
so I posted a newbie question at the Indelible Grace forum, and I got a great answer from the man himself (the pastor who started IG). so I set out looking for an old hymn to try out. I knew that the OPC has the text of the old Trinity hymnal online, so I started poking around and found a couple that I liked.
next was to try to make a melody suitable for the text. as I read and prayed through "I Need Thee, Precious Jesus" a few times while I was feeding Alice tonight, I was wondering where the tune would come from. it was a bit intimidating. then I remembered that back when I would just sit and noodle with the mandolin, I'd make up relatively pleasing little tunes all the time, and a lot of them sounded like lullabyes. this gave me a little comfort in knowing that maybe I really could do this? we'll see.
so instead of just reading, I sung the text, and out came a little melody. Alice seemed to like it. it's a bit repetitive, but I think it has potential. I can hear Buddy Miller or even Gillian Welch singing it, but not quite an Indelible Grace tune (but that's fine with me). it sounds nothing like the usual tune I found for this song, which I intentionally avoided until afterward. and now that I look, it turns out the author of the text also penned "Oh, how I love Jesus", which is a favorite.
anyway, I sung through my tune a few times so I would remember it. the problem is I cant read music very well, much less write it out. so I got out the mandolin and picked out the tune and got it down quickly. then I scratched it out in tab, or at least a rough version of tab. then I picked up the guitar and tried to find the chords. I'm not good at finding chords in general, but so far it's just C and G. the good news is that I can play these chords. the bad news is that 2 chords make for a pretty boring song (even most pop songs have 3). I think there's more in there somewhere, but I'll have to work at it, and maybe enlist some help.
so we'll see if my little version of "I Need Thee, Precious Jesus" ever sees the light of day. either way, I'm pretty excited about my first try.
Posted by bobw at March 15, 2006 11:11 PM
keep the good news coming.
Good job, bob!!! I know it will be an enriching experience for you and your family, no matter what you do with the tunes.
This reminds me of a funny story. In Theory I, Mr. F the Horrible gave us a bunch of texts to write hymntunes to. Grace W and I were thrilled to find that Stevie Wonders "Baby, everything is all right" had the same meter as "jesus, source of my salvation, conqueror both of death and hell". heh. heh. Unfortunately I didn't bring that one to class.
It does sound like an interesting project. I hope you will share your mp3 when it is done.
hehe. I'd like to see Mr. F's reaction to that. reminds me that Amazing Grace (among many others) can be sung to the Gilligan's Island theme song. very worshipful.
and we'll see about an MP3. I'm not sure I'm that brave, although we've talked about recording the songs we do in church.
thanks to all for the encouragement. it's a good thing I wrote down the tab, as I've already forgot my tune :-) we'll see if I think it's any good the next time I try to play it.
|
