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Wednesday, May 11, 2011

"Walk With Me" solo composition

“Walk With Me” is a song with a very deliberate, chant-like melody and a very simple structure. There are only four verses—a chorus or bridge would have interfered with its mesmeric nature. To keep it from become boring, however, I decide to place an instrumental verse between verses three and four.

In blues and jazz, instrumental solo sections are opportunities for the soloist to improvise and create new melodic variations—they are flights of invention. In songs like “Walk With Me,” the instrumental is an extension of the melody and an opportunity for me to create a rising dynamic crescendo leading toward an even higher intensity ending. I needed to write the solo, just as I had written the melody,

As I mentioned in the last entry, the guitar part is both acoustic and electric, so I needed to hear that sound in order to compose the right phrasing. I set up my early 80s, black-faced Fender 30 in our workshop space, got the tubes heated up and spend a good 45 minutes getting the correct tone and distortion. Then I turned to the Garageband preproduction recording of the song, and created a loop over the instrumental section. I stuck my headphones on, muted the guitar track and played over that section, trying numerous variations.

After about 15 minutes, I paused the loop and pieced together some of these ideas. When the composition had melodic shape, I started the loop and played this “first draft” over it. I then repeated the process, adjusting elements, until the solo was finished.

I will now play that solo composition—allowing for spontaneous variations, of course—as part of my rehearsal every day until we record it, Saturday, May 21.


Walk With Me

© 2010 Sam Turton / Jane Lewis

Walk with me down this Road of Tears
Halle-lu, Halle-lah
Walk with me down this Road of Tears
Halle-lu, Halle-lah
Walk with me down this Road of Tears
Touch the face of your deepest fears
Halle-halle, Halle-lu
Hallelujah!

Walk with me down this Road of Earth
Halle-lu, Halle-lah
Walk with me down this Road of Earth
Halle-lu, Halle-lah
Walk with me down this Road of Earth
Plant our feet in the dust and dirt
Halle-halle, Halle-lu
Hallelujah!

Walk with me down this Road of Life
Halle-lu, Halle-lah
Walk with me down this Road of Life
Halle-lu, Halle-lah
Walk with me down this Road of Life
The burning days and the breathless nights
Halle-halle, Halle-lu
Hallelujah!

(Instrumental)

Walk with me down this Road of Love
Halle-lu, Halle-lah
Walk with me down this Road of Love
Halle-lu, Halle-lah
Walk with me down this Road of Love
The salted kiss and the sacred touch
Halle-halle, Halle-lu
Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!

 

 

2 comments:

  1. Enjoyed this song (and the others) last night at the Roxy - great feel.. Picked up one of your CDs too. Thanks for contributing to the event.

    Philip Cottrell

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Phil - we'll be recording this one next Saturday.

    ReplyDelete