I recently sent out an email asking what you’d like to see on the blog for 2022. So every month I’ll be answering your questions. Here’s the first one…
“Hi Philip: I’m a big fan of your music. I saw you and Jim Chapel in Carmel, Indiana a few years ago. I’ve been taking piano lessons for little over a year now. I bought all of your songbooks and am waiting patiently until I can start playing them. 🙂 I would love to know more about how you write music. Do you have a particular process you go through or do you wait until an idea comes to you? How does your music affect you when you find that special sound? Thank you for sharing your music with all of us.” Mike in North Carolina.
Thanks Mike! To answer Mike’s question, every song is different. Sometimes songs come very quickly and others stew for a bit like a crock pot. For example, my song ‘Dark Night of the Soul’ came very quickly. I actually had this left hand pattern in E minor under my hand just from noodling around. I thought, that’s interesting, what kind of melody would go with that pattern? Then I saw the patterns unfold from this tight left hand pattern to a more expansive arpeggio in the left hand, to full on left hand arpeggios with the melody and slight variation on the melody in octaves. The song takes a while to unfold and fully run before it ends as softly and quietly as it began. The song essentially composed itself.
I’m left handed so much of my music is left hand driven. I lot of times I’ll have a left hand pattern I like before the melody comes in over the top. It’s almost like jazz in a way where there’s vamping in the left hand and then there’s a right hand melody playing over the top. You’ll hear that in lots of my music including songs like Dark Night of the Soul, Captivated, Unbridled Spirit, etc.
When I find that special sound it’s incredibly satisfying. Usually if it’s something I like I’ll remember it without ever having to write it down. In fact I write everything in my head and notation doesn’t happen until after the song is recorded.