Songwriting is the act of baring one's soul to another in the form of words and music.
Composing a hymn was a little more difficult than I thought it would be because of the structure of the way a hymn is set up. When I compose a contemporary song, I have a lot of freedom to switch up the rhythms and melody from verse to verse or even chorus to chorus to suit changes in lyrics.
Today I want to go into the background behind May’s song – “As I Ponder My Eternal Value”. The first verse is about trying to recognize and appreciate our own value, worth and potential. I think that before we can truly value other people as individuals, we need to value ourselves. We are all like a $100 bill, worth the same amount. Some $100 bills might be crumpled up and some might be crisp and new, but they all have the same worth, 100 dollars. Each person is like a $100 bill…..equally valuable.
Happy Music Monday – My bonus song this week is the first song I wrote and recorded. I wrote it back in my junior year of high school and it was later recorded (around 2003) by our talented friend Bodie
Happy Music Monday! Here is the sheet music for I’m Gonna Be There. I have a love for Jazz music that grew during my college years. I was in a group at Utah State University called the Sunburst Singers and we did a lot of Big Band/Jazz music and I even wrote a few arrangements in that style during that time. I wanted to explore my inner jazz, with this song.
The story behind “I’m Gonna Be There” by Marilee Kay Leishman I’m Gonna Be There – Post In a little room near the entry of our last house, we had a keyboard set up. On a particularly boring day, I
Happy Music Monday! My son, Eli, is turning 10 this weekend! Since it is his birthday month, I wanted to record and share his lullaby. I made up a little lullaby for each of my children to sing to them
Happy Music Monday! Before I dive into my little rant today on perfectionism and creating something that is good enough, here is the sheet music for “Not Alone”. I’ve also attached the lead sheet for this song as well…
Here’s what inspired the song, “Not Alone”. After two of my three children were diagnosed with a rare and eventually fatal disorder, I had a hard time adjusting to our new normal. And in reality, every time one of my
Happy “Music Monday”! As I was working on “Love, Loretta” for my friend Loretta, 🙂 she mentioned the song I was writing for her parents, to one of her friends…which resulted in her friend hiring me to write a song.
Happy Music Monday! Here is the Sheet Music for “Turning Toward” Click the download button belowto download it. Writing the Melody When I sat down to write out the sheet music for Turning Toward, I wrote out the vocal melody first.