You might remember my latest post, when I teased out that the design for my new guitar painting was inspired by my first songwriting experience? Well, here it is! My original song “Come to God’s Garden”! I added the song lyrics to the screen. The song is about my own garden, and how it feels to share the beauty of it- and God’s love- with others.
First song I’ve written myself! If you’ve been following my learning to play guitar (while also painting on guitars) journey, you’ve probably noticed that all I’ve played and sung up until now are covers of other people’s songs, but to truly grow as a musician, it’s a very good idea to write a song of one’s own. The challenge of choosing each chord to go along with original lyrics requires that we know these chords well enough to play them, obviously, but also, we must have a strong grasp of how they sound.
This is sort of like forcing the brain to work backwards, which will make ordinary playing of covers feel much easier, having had to think so hard about the “ear” of a chord (kind of like how we all had to learn how to do math so that when we use calculators, cash registers, or computers we have an understanding of how it’s all supposed to come together). When we push ourselves to learn how to put chords together ourselves, it should lead to more intuitive guitar playing, and less reliance on looking at the chords in the future. The goal overall should be to memorize songs over time. Memorization frees us up to connect emotionally with the song and engage with the listener.
I’m excited to have written my own song and I know I’ll write more! Of course, my first song is simple, as I only know novice – intermediate level chords. In my song I used G, C, and D (easy beginner chords, usually the first ones learned) and also A, Am, and F (later beginner, intermediate). I use an easier version of F that doesn’t require a barre. I have small hands and I might never reach that stretch, but I’m OK with the more basic version.
It’s possible all of my song writing efforts will result in easy to play songs with few chords, and if so, it means that new guitarists like me will be able to play them!
Happy playing and doing what you love, God bless you and yours! xoxo
Very inspiring for a first-time song sung from your heart. It was honest and you showed great admiration of coming to God in the Garden. Keep writing and letting the Holy Spirit guide your every thought and as you receive inspiration keep notes for your next song. Excellent. Sincerely. Chaplain Al And Lila
Thank you for your encouragement, it definitely helps to get feedback from a chaplain and his wife. I’m happy that you could see that my song was heartfelt. I will take your advice to keep notes for future songs!!!