Engage kids with songs

Julie and I play music for the youth (up to 4th grade) at our church once a month. Over the Easter service, we played three services with about 150 kids at the largest service. The big challenge was keeping the kids engaged for 30 minutes. A few things that we have noticed that help keep kids engaged:

· Providing an opportunity to add to the song. We do Karen Drucker’s song “Thank You For This Day” and we ask them what they are thankful for? We then do the verse with their suggestions. To close the song out we do a final verse and ask them to just shout out their responses, everyone participates. Another opportunity was having them add sounds like on “All God’s Creatures,” with verses that end like “the old coyote (howls)....”

· Using hand motions – We always play Barry Ebert’s song “Growing With Spirit.” Most of the kids know the sign language parts for the song. We also do “This Little Light of Mine” where the kids hold up their finger as a light. Lately we’ve added “Give Yourself to Love,” and we made up hand signals for the chorus. It helps the kids remember the chorus and they have something to keep their hands occupied.

· A one line chorus with a simple melody – Barry Ebert wrote the song “Gingerbread Man,” and the chorus goes “run, run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man.” This repeated numerous times throughout the song and the kids sing it without you.

· No more than a four line verse – In almost all these songs, there’s never more than a four lines verse before some sort of engagement.

Having kids clap along hasn’t worked that well for us since we both have instruments and can’t lead them in the clapping. A dangerous way for engagement (sometime good or something bad) is having them dance along to a song. Potentially out of control....

If you have any other tips or suggestions for engaging kids in the songs, please leave a comment.

Musical treat - Leonidas Gonzalez

We were in a hotel in Quepos, Costa Rica and heard outside a band playing "Knocking on Heavens". It sounded great and we headed to the bar to hear more. What greeted us was a solo guitarist, playing a classical guitar, with a Boss drum machine. There were only two other folks in a very large room. Being happy hour we figured what do we have to lose and sat down to listen. What a great decision! The guitarist, Leonidas Gonzalez. was amazing. He played a few Latin tunes and realizing that we were Americans started playing Eagles, Bob Marley, Bob Dylan and a host of others. We asked for Santana and he not only nailed all of Carlos's licks but added more on top, all on a classical guitar. What was especially impressive was his blending classical, rock, and Latin styles. Clean, fast, and improvising while keeping to the melody. We ending up being captivated for almost two hours. I think he was equally thrilled having an appreciative audience. As we finally said our goodbyes and left to eat dinner, I realized how lucky we were to have had the opportunity to listen to him play. I can't help wondering, how many amazing musicians there are around the world, who are happy to play no matter the size of the audience.

Songwriter - Hayes Carll

I heard this great song with the hook, "She left me for Jesus." I haven't been able to get it out of my head, so today I tracked it down on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyxEO9dqi44. I also searched for lyrics and discovered Hayes Carll.

I ended up going through a number of his songs and have become a huge fan. A few things that really impressed me:

1) Great hooks - Another song was "A Bad Liver and Broken Heart." Need I say more?

2) Simple chords, but memorable melodies - After hearing once, I can remember the melodies.

3) Each verse gets better - At Song School, Peter Himmelman talked about making the second verse better than the first. Hayes Carll has that down, with the best in the third verse.

4) Short but sweet - I didn't check the timings, but I'm sure they are around 3:00 minutes.

I've now got three Hayes Carll songs that will make it round the campfire.

Capos for songwriting

I just returned from the 2009 Song School. Again an wonderful experience that I'll try to recap over the next few weeks.

I took classes with Justin Roth and Bill Nash on using capos and partial capo. Want to open up your playing, take a class from either one of them. Below is a place to start.

1) Changing the voicing - Using a normal six string capo, you can easily change the voicing of your song without changing the key. For example start playing a E A B pattern with no capos. Move the capo up 2 frets and play D G A. Move it up another 2 frets and play C F G. Same key of E, just different voicing and more flexibility in the fingering.

2) Drop D without re-tuning - You can use a drop D capo, standard capo covering only 5 stings (leaving the low E open), or a 5 string banjo capo to get the drop D sound. If you place it on the second fret, you are really playing a drop E tuning.

3) Short cut or partial capos - If you place a three string partial capo down from the top (A,D,G strings) on the second fret, you can stil play around in E with some open strings open to play with. Hint: With partial capo on two, you need to cover the base on 2 to use the Em shape. Using a Shubb capo (that is not in the way), you can also put it on the bottom (D,G, B strings).

Things get really interesting when you try alternative tunings and partial capos. Bill demonstrated a full sound and some amazing complex songs using Travis picking and just one finger. I won't try to explain, just experiment!

I immediately took our song Saturday Morning and applied this. I had been playing A, Bm, C#m without a capo. With a partial capo on 2, played G, Am, Bm. I then experimented leaving some strings open for a fuller sound. Originally the sound was OK, but using partial capos things really opened up. It was also easier to play. Thanks, Justin - I'm sold!

I see capos as a way to change the landscape of the guitar. New landscape, new possibilities for songwriting.

PS - You can see Julie and I (my best side, with purple shirt) in the front left corner of the picture on Planet Bluegrass' site http://www.bluegrass.com/. I really was there!

The English language is not universal but music is

Rob Roper in his blog wrote an interesting comment in his blog about playing music in the Netherlands.

“Almost all the Dutch speak English--some very well. But I could tell when I was singing my songs that, for many of them, they missed the nuances of the lyrics-- slang words, metaphors, etc. So in choosing which songs to play, I started using the songs where I created a good melody, and/or had an interesting rhythm. The English language is not universal but music is”

Rob hits the nail on the head here and I think his statement holds true at home. People connect with lyrics and rhythm. I've noticed the same thing playing out. A few of my throw away songs lyrically (songs that I put placeholder lyrics until I came up with the perfect words), are some of the best crowd pleasers.

As songwriters we are always in search of the perfect lyrics. Maybe instead we should search for the perfect melody and rhythm?

Songwriting - Dynamics

The other night, we got into the discussion on songwriting dynamics. When listening to a friend's song, he started out strumming and singing loud and kept the same pace and volume throughout the song. While the song itself it was good, it was missing dynamics that would make it interesting. In 2007, I posted techniques for changing the dynamics, in songwriters, take your listener on a journey.

A good place to study dynamics is American Idol. Last year's winner, David Cook, was the master at what I call the "American Idol build." He would start quiet, build to full out rock, and then drop to almost a whisper on the last line. His recent CD went platnium in three weeks, so he must be doing something right.

I saw another good example of a different kind of build watching the Blue Canyon Boys, bluegrass band. In bluegrass they change the tempo, speeding it up with each verse. By the last verse, they've got your pulse racing!

A comment I heard the other night was I'm just playing the song the way I wrote it. It's true that every song I write starts out with almost no dynamics. The dynamics come in the polishing phase, between writing the song and getting ready to play it for someone. I'm constantly tweaking my dynamics for the room I'm playing in, the audience, or my mood.

StereoFidelics - Energizing

Needing to get reenergized about music, I went out with Rob Roper to listen to music at the Meadowlark, a place for up and coming songwriters. As usual, the first three acts were good. I was about to leave when I saw the last act walk in, the StereoFidelics. After setting up the drums, the drummer started tuning a violin and I thought this should be interesting. The guitarist had an electric and acoustic guitar. He also had way to play a base pad with this foot and an array of electronics. Sound interesting? It was!


I guess I would classify them as a jam band, for lack of a better term. What was amazing was the speed in which they played and the amount of music they were able to create. To tell you the truth, I couldn't remember one of their songs until I listened to their music today. But who cares, I remember the music, fast, clean, high energy... I could go on and on.

In a lot of discussion about songwriting, there's talk about structure, form, melody and lyrics. Seeing the StereoFidelics reminds me to throw all that out the window (on occassion). Could I tell you the form of their songs, no? Could I tell you what they are saying in the lyrics, no. Would I listen to them again, probably tonight if I can drag Julie out.

By the way, I will be performing a new song for kids at church on Sunday. Maybe I'll add in a few riffs (or maybe not).

Two Paper Town

In Denver today, sad news that one of our major newspapers, the Rocky Mountain News was shutting down. In hearing the news I remember hearing this same story and emotions expressed in a song, Two Paper Town by Steve Seskin.

I've gone back and listened to this song. Steve in 2007 wrote the story for today and if folks would have listened then... That to me is the essence of songwriting.

Songwriting and video to tell a story

I was asked by Allee Willis, a Grammy winning songwriter, to post a link to her newest video, Hey Jerry. What’s so interesting about the video is how it captures the life’s work of 91 year old, drummer, Jerry Thrill. In 3 minutes and 41 seconds you get numerous clues about Jerry’s life and the music she played and still is playing. I was tempted to fly out for their video release party just to meet this interesting character and hear more about her life story.

This video is a great example of how different media; song, film, and art can combine to create a fuller picture of what you are trying to portray. Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYZkFOZoP-o

House Concert Surprise

I’ve wanted to go to a house concert, but never did I expect hosting one as a first step. Here’s the story.

We had scheduled a surprise B-day party for Julie at a local bar. Julie always wanted her family and friends to hear her play, so I invited at least 40 friends and family and a great line up of local songwriters. The only requirement was that Julie had to sit in on one of their songs.
On the Monday before the Saturday show, Rob Roper went to the bar for lunch (it’s also a restaurant, no he wasn’t drinking his lunch) only to see a sign “closed for renovations.” After verifying that it was truly closed, we went in frantic search for a venue. You’d figure, great musicians and a crowd would entice some bar owner, but no luck. Finally as a last resort, we decided on a house concert in our basement. The next challenge - how to keep it a surprise? I got the family to come to a surprise dinner at a local restaurant, while Rob and friends rearranged our house (yes, I was feeling brave). The surprise at the restaurant was good, but having an additional 20+ people back at the house was great. They did an excellent job with rearranging our house.

Now to the concert, Julie and I played an opening 3 song set. What a perfect setting. We had a full room (actually packed) and attentive audience that we could see. We were then followed by Rob Roper, Ken Morris, and Eddie Wesslhoff. What talent in our house, so cool! I remember sitting on the basement stairs listening to Ken Morris. I couldn't imagine music sounding any better.

Thanks to all who helped pull it off and sorry to any who didn’t receive my emergency change of venue e-mail.

Memorable Performances

We were sitting around camp at Song School and a reporter stopped by to ask “what was our most memorable performance of past festivals.” Being a little flip, I said Big Joe Kinser, She Only Loves Me When She’s Drunk. I went on to tell the reporter that the best music happens at Song School, not the main stage.

Two days later, I see it in print. There’s a photo of me, Joe’s names, and a bunch of names you’d instantly recognize. However, I still stand by my choice. Here's the story,

It was the last day of Song School 3 years ago. We had a night filled with great performances. The last performer of the evening comes up, a big guy, small guitar, cut off shorts, etc. I remember thinking here’s a person out of his element, first time at Song School, and he has to follow all these great acts. However, he captured me from the first line, “She only loves me when she’s drunk, when she’s drunk I’m a bar room hunk...” I went home singing that line and to the dismay of my wife for the next year. Three years later, I still remember that song and moment. I just found it on UTube - check it out.

Another moment I remember is Paul Reisler getting up on stage and singing, “I can’t remember, what I forgot.” He never sings on stage but his vocalist was a no show. You could see his hesitation until the first words came out. An incredible performance that brought tears to my eyes.

I guess my point is, it’s not the production, it’s the emotion. Emotion of the performer and the listener. It’s being your authentic self on stage and with your song. It’s a magical blend of right place, right time, right song ...

Open stage on vacation

We were on vacation in NJ and amazingly enough ran into this guy Hugh at the Garden Tour who knew my blog and actually said he enjoyed it. When he invited us to play at an open stage, I couldn't resist.

With a day to borrow instruments and practice, we set off. I was using my nephew's guitar and Julie played our daughter's 3/4 sized violin. It turned out to be a fairly good crowd (including many of our family) at Finn's retaurant in Brick that night and we managed to have fun. What was great was that Hugh and another guy performed their own songs, songwriting alive in my hometown, cool.

Check out hugh's music on myspace.

American Idol - A lesson in performance

Yuk! I hate to admit it, but I've become an American Idol fan. What an amazing place to launch your career. It's also a great place to study song arrangement and performance.

On song arrangement - First, all songs short are cut short. I didn't time them, but I'm guessing around 2 minutes per song. The singers then arrange them however they like. What becomes very clear is those that build to somewhere and those that stay pretty flat. After watching a few shows, it's very clear that those that build in energy as the song progresses, typically get the best reviews.

They repeatedly say that it is a singing contest, but what clearly becomes important is the performance. Tonight for example, the show was clearly stolen by Chikezie. While I'm not sure he's the strongest singer, his performance tonight was outstanding. What came across was his joy and love of being on stage. One of the best singers, David Archuleta, was off tonight and even though he has a great voice, he looked uncomfortable and I felt uncomfortable watching him. I keep being surprised and impressed by Brooke White's passion for her songs. She had tears in her eyes after singing "Let it Be" and from what I felt listening to her, it was very appropriate. She shows the importance of being authentic with what you sing. Finally, my favorite, Carly Smithson, combines high energy, passion, with powerful vocals. I'm expecting her to win.

I've also found the judges comments to be very helpful. Randy will always notice if you're out of tune or out of the groove, you can always tell that he's listening intently. Paula is the coach, always providing positive reinforcement and helpful tips. Finally there Simon, the critic. Each contestant wants his praise. When he gives you a thumbs up, you know you nailed it. If you didn't there's no place to hide.

All the contestants in this later round are excellent and I'd love to have any of their voices, as well as their courage to put themselves out there in front of millions. If only I was 20 years younger, had a great singing voice and nerves of steel...

Angie Stevens - Singer/Songwriter

I'm sitting in a hotel in Moab, UT recovering from a harrowing 8 hour drive through a snow storm. Along the way, I did had time to do one of my favorite things, study a songwriter's CD. On this trip it was Angie Stevens newest EP, "Queen of this Mess." Afraid to take my hands off the wheel, I got quite the opportunity to listen again and again ...

If you haven't heard of her, get ready. She's has quickly become a favorite in the Denver area, for good reason. We saw her play recently and my best description is powerful! In my voice lessons with Ben Senterfit he always talked about planting your feet and then putting your whole body behind your voice. He must have been thinking about Angie. I could see her do just that.

In listening to her CD, I wasn't bored with any song (rare for me). One technique that she has perfected is the build -- starting quiet, building power, getting quiet to almost a whisper, then building again. There always seemed to be motion. The fact that most of the songs were less than 4 minutes also helped.

In her song, "Thrift Store Sweater," she gave a great example of painting a picture with your lyrics. The verse that immediately caught my attention was,

My thrift store sweaters
My painted pictures
My heartfelt letters
Scattered on the floor

The one trap that I noticed was that all of the songs were about the same tough period in her life. While its a great time to write and get it all out, a happy song or two would be a nice change.

Rob Roper's Blogging

Rob Roper, a singer songwriter, just started blogging. Check out his blog at http://robroper.blogspot.com.

Steve Earle

American Songwriter magazine just did an excellent article on Steve Earle. A few points that struck me were:

The effort he put into songwriting,
"...spending 10 years in Nashville before anyone would put a record out..."
"the writers were given the keys so they could access the publishing buildings long after the other staff have gone home."
"Songwriters ... have to live in the margin"

He talks about technology and his first forays into ProTools. While its clear that he takes advantage of technology, he pointed out that "technology was getting in the way of the lyrics. They just weren't as important 'cause there were ways to compensate."

"I own couple of hundred guitars and a lot of gear, but I could get into my truck with one guitar and support myself."

There are references to his living in a neighborhood of artists. He describes Freehold, NJ as "Texas" because of all the southern people coming up there to work with Springsteen. (growing up a few miles away, this is news to me).

The article ends with him hearing one of his songs being played at a Yankee game 15 years later. "To me, that's making an impact... I think that's what you wanna go for."

Eileen Ivers - WOW!!!!

We had two friends call us to say that we need to see this violinist, Eileen Ivers. She was playing at the Denver Irish festival in a local park. It 95 degrees out, so it took that second call to drag us out into the heat. The sun wasn't the only thing on fire, I believe I saw smoke coming from Eileen Ivers fiddle.

I was hooked from the first song to the end of the show. I was first caught by how effortlessly she played the violin. The second thing was her immediate energy and great smile. The third and most importantly was music. Even though we could have fried an egg on the sidewalk, the crowd was moving throughout the show and I never thought about giving up my front row seat to hide in the shade.

In thinking about her performance and music, I walked away with a few observations from the show:

- Even though we came to hear a fiddler, it was the whole package that made the show. The band, called the Immigrant Soul was stacked with talented musicians. The violin, while a lead instrument, was only a component of the whole package. I've often seen the reverse when a lead guitarist takes over the show and the rest of the band is window dressing. I watched the guitarist, Greg Anderson, for most of the show. If I had learned to play rhythm like him, I'd still be playing bluegrass music.

- The music was a marriage of different styles. While based in traditional Irish music, flavors of jazz, R+B, and African music were readily apparent. I even heard some acid rock sneaking its way in. She referred to this as "world music." The bottom-line was these different flavors made a gourmet meal that I savored.

- They mixed instrumentals with songs with lyrics. Their lead singer, Tommy McDonnell, had an interesting blend of Irish and R+B influences (I love this "world music"). To make things even better the audience was asked to join in on the choruses for a few songs.

- The whole show exuded energy. Eileen would bounce around the stage while playing amazing rifts. Irish step dancers came on to the stage. This energy spilled out into the audience and a group of kids moved up front to dance. I even remembered some of my old clogging steps.

At the end of the show they announced that they will be playing with the Denver symphony in February. I hope it's really cold so I can warm up by their music. I won't have to be called twice to see this show!!!!

What's missing with this songwriter?

We listened to a songwriter today who has the credentials, but for some reason we were unimpressed and the crowd didn't react. She has a great voice, great stage presence, and the music sounded good. So what was missing? Julie and I discussed this and came up with the following reasons (all small points but taken together...).

- The connection with the back-up band was missing. She was snapping her finger in time with a beat that we didn't feel. When I see someone visibly keeping time, I want to feel that time.

- All song introductions started with "this is a song I wrote." She was introduced as a songwriter, so why cover it again? After hearing it for the second and third time, it sounded self-serving.

- There seemed to be a mismatch between her presence, performance, and the songs. Between her credentials, dynamic stage personality, strong voice, and powerful delivery, our expectations were raised pretty high. Yet the songs she was singing weren't that dynamic. For example, poor contrast between the verses and chorus. Phrases had the same length and speed of delivery. With high expectations, we were expecting amazing songs.

She obviously was very talented, so I assume that we caught her on an off day. It could have been the new back-up band or just the mood of the room. However, to me this was a great example of things that I need to be aware.

It was also a reminder that I need to look at the expectations that I create in the audience. So far this has worked in my favor, they expect me to suck, so if I do halfway OK, I've exceeded their expectations.

Music makes the wedding

Julie and my wedding a few weeks ago was filled with music. We had a number of people come up to us afterward to say how much they enjoyed the ceremony and wedding. I believe music played a huge role in that (or maybe it was just the open bar before the ceremony).

We started out with a string quartet. We had members of Julie's symphony and her brother on trumpet. You can't beat strings for a wedding!

In the ceremony, Ben Senterfit, played the song that I wrote to propose with. Unfortunately, I was a little too preoccupied to thoroughly enjoy someone else singing one of my songs. However, from I can remember it sounded great. I need to get a CD!

We also had Julie's cousin Tim and our friend Mary Ann (who's sings "Little Fish" and "Ode to the Canyon" on my website) sing Kate Wolf's, "Give Yourself to Love." Mary Ann got us by adding a surprise verse at the end. She always wanted to be a songwriter and her first try was a huge success!

Afterward, we had dance music provided by Ben's band. I was impressed with the band's ability to play great dance music, but not overpower the room. The dance floor was packed all night and yet I could still talk to people throughout the room. You want a great band for a wedding, contact Ben. Unfortunately, they don't do the Chicken Dance or YMCA.

Thanks to our friends for providing the music to make it a memorable night.

And the award goes to....

I was watching the Academy Awards last night. Amazing thing, I didn’t fall asleep and was actually inspired to write a song. The song that I wrote this morning is titled Bound for Great Things. Check it out in my Songs in Process section.

The main theme of the evening was gratitude and celebration. It may have just been that I’m tuned in after watching the movie the Secret, either way this had to be my chorus.

I built my verses based on some of the nominees and their inspiring stories:

- Forest Witaker talked about watching actors at the drive-in and how it started his dream.

- Jennifer Hudson was trashed by Simon on American Idol (see it on YouTube) only to be nominated for 4 Academy Awards. Actually Simon did her a favor, her performance last night showed how much she had grown since that time.

- Al Gore was acknowledged for his contributions in educating us on global warning. For me it’s rising from defeat to greatness.

- My last verse was that you don’t need to be on the screen to have greatness. “It’s what you do that makes your heart sing.”