The Melody Spin Song Encyclopedia

Wedding Song Canon In D

skanson.com — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 17:07:31 +0000

The Canon in D is the most famous piece of music by Johann Pachelbel. It was written in or around 1680, during the Baroque period as a piece of chamber music for three violins and basso continuo, but has since been arranged for a wide variety of ensembles including this unique arrangement for two classical guitars with string continuo. It is well known for its chord progression of D major, A major, B Minor, F# minor, G major, D major, G major and A major which has become one of the most used in popular music.

The piece is commonly played at weddings and

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Brazillian guitar composition “Seducao em Rio (Seduction In Rio)”

skanson.com — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 16:14:49 +0000

This Brazillian guitar work evokes the sights, smells, and of course sounds of the romantic city of Rio. Can you think of a more romantic notion than falling in love in Rio de Janeiro. The guitar has played a major part in the evolution of Brazillian music, especially during the twentieth century. On this song the charm, beauty and sensuality of the Brazillian guitar flavor can be heard dripping with major seventh chords and a fast rhythmic motif that is like a mating dance.

The guitar has played a major part in the evolution of Brazillian music, especially throughout the twentieth century. As in Spain, the guitar is Brazil’s national instrument and is still the primary instrument used by many of Brazil’s most (more…)

Kevin Asbjornson’s Collage

skanson.com — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 23:18:24 +0000

Kevin’s easy listening music has a wonderfully calming effect on adults, as well as children, and evokes your emotions with a soothing reassurance. Let Kevin’s music help you reestablish centeredness and transport you to a place of inner well-being. Use Kevin’s music daily to find serenity in the midst of a culture of noise, hurriedness and continuous partial attention.

Pianist, Composer and International Recording Artist

Kevin is the founder and principal recording artist of PianoOne, an international record label and publisher. He has recorded three CDs of original contemporary piano solos: Collage, Inner Voices, and Awakenings. His recordings are also part of the (more…)

Acoustitherapy - The Holidays: A Guitar Collection

skanson.com — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:19:51 +0000

Enjoy this wonderful collection of acoustic Holiday music that is never loud or fast but always soft and soothing!The Story Of The CD…by producer Darren Curtis SkansonIt has again been a very busy fall at CCM both in the recording studio and at the label. We have been working on this new Christmas CD and we finally finished it. It is called Acoustitherapy “The Holidays: A Guitar Collection”. We would have had it ready for Thanksgiving weekend if it had not been for mister obsessive-compulsive here not being able to let it go until everything was juuuuuuuuuuuust right! Sorry about that.

I have so many wonderful musical friends, especially in the guitar department. So we decided to pool our talents and create a holiday CD that not only featured the guitar but also stayed with the Acoustitherapy theme of “Always Soft and Soothing”. So looking for songs in that vein, I had always wanted to do Mel Torme’s “The Christmas Song” or you might know it as “Chestnuts Roasting By An Open Fire”. So myself and Tom Capek my producer and Wayne Templeman, one of my cellists, did that one. Then I also worked up a great medley with my guitar duet partner Gregg Hansen. We took “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” and “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” and put them into a six minute epic version that not only plays both songs but also combines them over the top of one another. Whew! That took us 3 months just to get that arrangement! (more…)

Choros by Villa-Lobos

skanson.com — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 17:29:00 +0000

Choros by Villa-Lobos was the first in a series of “Choruses” written for a wide variety of instruments. Choros was origianlly written for solo classical guitar, the violin and cello parts were additions by Darren Curtis Skanson, his producer Tom Capek, and cellist Wayne Templeman. Villa-Lobos was the most famous and most prolific of all Brazillian composers and is also one of Darren Curtis Skanson’s personal favorites. As heard in Choros, Villa-Lobos‘ complexity of rhythms and harmonic colors are always so delightful. Please Google him to check out all his compositions!

The Choros #1 was written in 1920 and is the first of fourteen. This is a stylized version of the original genre of Choro, which sets in its forefront the amusing character that defines the style, using fermatas and unexpected accelerandos.

Harmonically, the Choros #1 follows strictly the popular pattern (more…)

Brazilian Samba Caliente

skanson.com — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:41:24 +0000

Brazilian Samba Caliente - “Lively, fun and passionate, this Brazilian Samba guitar composition will make you get up and dance. Brazilian Samba is one of the most popular forms of music in Brazil and is widely viewed as Brazil’s national musical style. Brazilian Samba developed as a distinctive kind of music at the beginning of the 20th century in Rio de Janeiro (then the capital of Brazil) under the strong influence of immigrant black people from the Brazilian state of Bahia. When Brazilian Samba first originated, it was thought to be scandalously provocative because of its sexual nature. This “Hot” Brazilian Samba was inspired by Darren Curtis Skanson’s good friend and wonderful guitarist Russell Donnellon.”

Brazilian Samba History - The roots of samba dance and music come from Africa. The samba festival or carnaval comes from Brazil’s mother country Portugual where carnaval was in the form of an “entrudo” (more…)

Malagueña

skanson.com — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 18:24:06 +0000

Malagueña has been performed by everyone from Roy Clark to flamenco master Carlos Montoya and is a classic guitar selection. A folkoric type of song in its origins, the Malagueñas became one of the traditional styles of the flamenco style in the 19th century. In true translation, A Malagueña is actually a woman living in the Spanish port city of Málaga, on the southern coast of Spain, in the province of Andalucia, but the Malagueña evolved into a dance form of Flamenco music more than a specific piece. However, people have come to recognize certain elements of Malagueña as a specific piece of music.

For the guitar solo of Malagueña, (more…)

Ave Maria

skanson.com — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:03:16 +0000

Ave Maria sheet music with guitar tablature (TAB) for classical guitar solo, classical guitar with violin, classical guitar with cello, and classical guitar trio. The sheet musics that are featured here are arrangements of both the Bach/Gounod Ave Maria and the Shubert Ave Maria. You may be familiar with Ave Maria because it is a wedding music favorite right along side
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The Holy City

Timeless Tuneworks — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 17:41:46 +0000

Song History - The Holy City is a traditional Christmas Carol by Stephen Adams. The chorus and the verse of The Holy City are remarkably different, as the tempo decrease remarkably for the Chorus. As, with so many tunes, the Chorus is better known than the verse, The Holy City is often thought of being called “Jerusalem, Jerusalem” as these are the opening words of the hymn’s (more…)

Fur Elise Beethoven

skanson.com — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:33:17 +0000

Fur Elise by Beethoven for Classical Guitar - “Beethoven is the greatest of all Classical composers. Surprisingly, Fur Elise lies pretty well on the classical guitar. Some of the faster passages in Fur Elise had to be altered because of range considerations, but all in all, I think maestro Beethoven would approve! The classical guitar arrangement of Fur Elise has the famous melodies but also the two development sections which are equally as spectacular and fun as the main melody sections.” - Darren Curtis Skanson

History - Fur Elise was written in about 1810. Beethoven scholars and critics are not entirely certain who “Elise” was, but he most reasonable theory is that Beethoven originally titled his work (more…)

Angels We Have Heard On High

skanson.com — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:18:30 +0000

About this arrangement of Angels We Have Heard On High - For the recorded version by Darren Curtis Skanson, string orchestra with classical guitar makes this arrangemant of Angels We Have Heard On High truly unique. However, the guitar arrangement was designed to stand by itself. Darren always has a knack for maintaining motion and interest in his solo guitar arrangements. Angels We Have Heard On High is an example of just that!

“To open the CD A Light Classical Christmas, I was looking for a selection that I could really get cooking! So I took the traditional hymn Angels We Have Heard On High and swung it. For you non-musicians, that means I made it bounce more by turning it from the traditional 4 beat feel to one that feels more like 12 beats with triplets (a galluping group of 3 notes) on every downbeat. If you count along with (more…)

Away In A Manger or Luther’s Cradle Hymn

skanson.com — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 14:42:48 +0000

This arrangement of Away In A Manger is for classical or fingerstyle guitar. The download has regular guitar sheet music in standard notation as well as guitar tablature (tab).

“One of the sweetest of the traditional carols, away in a manger is actually sung to 2 different melodies. This classical guitar version of Away In A Manger features both. I used those 2 melodies for Away in a manger in separate parts of the song and added Brahms Lullaby as an introduction and unifying element. The most familiar Away In A Manger melody constitutes (more…)

We Three Kings Sheet Music For Classical Guitar

skanson.com — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 15:13:20 +0000

“This arrangement of We Three Kings is for classical guitar and starts with the guitar outlining a beatiful minor nine chord. The effect is returned for the cool and mysterious ending. This soft triplet feel creates images of We Three Kings and their journey.

If you are in a quiet place when you listen to the recording of this song, check out the icy shimmer of the violins and cello at the beginning and at the end of We Three Kings. I love those parts. They are done by a tremolo technique on the violin and cello where the bow is moved rapidly back and forth over the strings and played with a light “flautondo” or floating touch. We also have the very string parts from the record available (more…)

O Holy Night for Classical Guitar

skanson.com — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 14:28:12 +0000

Darren Curtis Skanson’s arrangement of O Holy Night. Sheet music in standard notation with guitar tablature (TAB) for classical guitar.

Song History - “O Holy Night” (”Cantique de Noël“) is a well-known Christmas carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem “Minuit, chrétiens” by Placide Cappeau (1808-1877). Cappeau was a resident of Roquemaure, located a few miles north of the historic city of Avignon. He was a commissionaire of wines, and an occasional writer of poetry. It is said that Cappeau was about to embark upon a business trip to Paris when the local parish priest asked Cappeau to write a Christmas poem. On December 3, 1847, about halfway to Paris, Cappeau received the inspiration for the poem, “Minuit, chrétiens” which later became O Holy Night.

In the carol O Holy Night, the singer recalls the birth of Jesus. “Minuit, chrétiens” was translated into English and became O Holy Night by Unitarian minister John Sullivan Dwight, editor of Dwight’s Journal of Music in 1855 (note the abolitionist reference in the third (more…)

Mary’s Lullaby

skanson.com — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 15:00:26 +0000

Mary’s Lullaby with classical guitar and cellos is a slow contemplative work that is very peaceful and reverent. It is also my only original composition on the CD “A Light Classical Christmas”. Mary’s Lullaby has 2 distinct sections. The first section I imagine Mary singing softly to the Child about now much she loves him as she gently rocks the cradle to and fro. The second section I imagine her closing he eyes and singing about what He must do when he grows up. Tears of joy and sorrow streak down her cheeks as she rocks the baby slowly in her arms. Did Mary really sing a song like Mary’s Lullaby to the Christ Child? Well, (more…)

Away In A Manger for Classical Guitar

skanson.com — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 14:29:53 +0000

Song history of Away In A Manger - First published in an 1885 Lutheran Sunday School, “Away in a Manger” has two major melodies for the song, neither of them with certain authorship. The first two verses of “Away in a Manger” were originally published in a Lutheran Sunday school book in 1885. Two years later, James R. Murray published Away in a Manger as “Luther’s Cradle Hymn” thus creating the misconception that Martin Luther himself had written it. Although some attribute the words to Luther, Away in a Manger is usually considered American anonymous. Some credit the music to Murray; others think he merely harmonized an old German folk song.

This arrangement of Away In A Manger - “One of the sweetest of the traditional carols, away in a manger is actually sung to 2 different (more…)

We Three Kings Of Orient Are

skanson.com — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 14:25:27 +0000

Song History - We Three Kings of Orient Are is a Christmas carol (technically an Epiphany carol) written in 1857 by Reverend John Henry Hopkins, Jr., who wrote both the words and the music for We Three Kings of Orient Are as part of a Christmas. We Three Kings of Orient Are first appeared in his Carols, Hymns and Song in 1863.

According to tradition dating back to medieval times, the 3 kings names were Balthasar, Gaspar (or Casper), and Melchior. They are often depicted as representing the three races although the song title We Three Kings of Orient Are suggests they are only from the orient. However, this was a common reference to anything east of the Holy land at the time the lyrics were written. So the Bible says they came from the East, but from where is not known. Arabia, Babylon, and Persia are popular choices. According to one tradition, Balthasar was king of (more…)

O Holy Night

skanson.com — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 16:11:19 +0000

Song History - “O Holy Night” (”Cantique de Noël“) is a well-known Christmas carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem “Minuit, chrétiens” by Placide Cappeau (1808-1877). Cappeau was a resident of Roquemaure, located a few miles north of the historic city of Avignon. He was a commissionaire of wines, and an occasional writer of poetry. It is said that Cappeau was about to embark upon a business trip to Paris when the local parish priest asked Cappeau to write a Christmas poem. On December 3, 1847, about halfway to Paris, Cappeau received the inspiration for the poem, “Minuit, chrétiens” which later became O Holy Night.

In the carol O Holy Night, the singer recalls the birth of Jesus. “Minuit, chrétiens” was translated into English and became O Holy Night by Unitarian minister John Sullivan Dwight, editor of Dwight’s Journal of Music in 1855 (note the abolitionist reference in the third (more…)

Joy to the World

skanson.com — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 16:42:18 +0000

Joy to the World Song History - ”Joy to the World” is one of the best-known and best-loved of Christmas carols. Joy to the World contains a message of joy and love replacing sin and sorrow. Though the triumphant words “Joy to the World” exemplify the Christmas feeling, this familiar text is actually a translation based on five verses from Psalm 98 in the Old Testament. The hymn is significant for its widespread use throughout Christian denominations and for the musical stature of the people who created it.The scripture-based words for Joy to the World are by Isaac Watts. If this carol brings you a true sense of joy, it may be because the music is drawn from George Frideric Handel’s inspiring (more…)

Carol Of The Bells

skanson.com — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 14:29:00 +0000

Song History - Carol of the Bells (also known as the “Ukrainian Bell Carol”) was adapted from “Shchedryk” by Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych, which was first performed in December 1916 by students at Kiev University. Carol of the Bells was a part of the Ukrainian National Chorus reportoire during its 1,000-plus concert tour around Europe and the Americas and was introduced to American audiences on October 5, 1921 at Carnegie Hall. Although “Carol of the Bells” has become a popular tune during the holidays, the original lyrics (more…)

Angels We Have Heard On High

skanson.com — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 14:50:14 +0000

Angels We Have Heard On High - Song History

Angels We Have Heard On High is a Christmas carol based on a traditional French carol known as Les Anges dans nos Campagnes. Its most common English version was translated in 1862 by James Chadwick and is most commonly sung to the hymn tune “Gloria”, as arranged by Edward Shippen Barnes. Angels We Have Heard On High’s most memorable feature is its chorus: Gloria in Excelsis Deo! (Latin for “Glory to God in the highest”) where the sung vowel sound “o” of “Gloria” is fluidly sustained through a lengthy rising and falling melismatic (more…)

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

skanson.com — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:12:56 +0000

We Wish You A Merry Christmas Song History - In the days of Olde England (16th century ), groups of traveling singers would entertain for food or pay. These groups were called “waits” and were extremely popular at Christmastime. We Wish You A Merry Christmas is one of those tunes that was sung by the “waits” who would afterwards demand a nice drink and some fig pudding! We Wish You A Merry Christmas had its origins as a popular secular carol from West Country of England. It is one of the few traditional holiday carols that (more…)

What Child Is This? (Greensleeves)

skanson.com — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 14:47:16 +0000

Song History “What Child is This?“ - The tune of “Greensleeves“, which is the underlying melody for What Child is This , is a product of the sixteenth century. Greensleeves is an example of folk music in the truest sense of the phrase. Webster defines folk music as the “traditional and typically anonymous music that is an expression of the life of the people in a community.” It is an excellent “quick and dirty” (more…)

Silent Night

skanson.com — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 15:32:02 +0000

For Silent Night, Darren Curtis Skanson mixes Christmas music with classical guitar and New Age synthesizers for an incredibly unique rendition of the timeless classic.
This digital song download of Silent Night on classical guitar is in standard tuning with Synthesizer Choir, Strings, Bells, and Percussion

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“Check out the choir that accompanies Silent Night. Although it is (more…)

The First Noel

skanson.com — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 18:42:08 +0000

The First Noel is a traditional English carol from the 16th or 17th century. The First Noel is also known as Carol For The Epiphany. This combination of tune and lyrics first appeared in the early 1800s. The melody os The First Noel is unusual among English folk melodies in that it consists of essentially the same musical phrase repeated three times, and ending on the third of the scale. The French word Noël meaning “Christmas” comes from the Latin word natalis (”birth”).

“This version of The First Noel was done on solo classical guitar with guitar tuning of a drop “D”. Sometimes an arrangement is about capturing the sweetness of a melody as opposed to (more…)

O Little Town Of Bethlehem

skanson.com — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 15:16:51 +0000

O Little Town Of Bethlehem Song History - Phillips Brooks, an Episcopal priest, was inspired upon a visit to the town of Bethlehem in 1865 where he attended a 5 hour church service at the Church of the Nativity. On Christmas Eve, while returning to Jerusalem from Bethleham, he stopped in an open field to watch the dusk envelop the town. Three years later he was moved to (more…)

Joy To The World and Do You Hear What I Hear Medley

skanson.com — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:05:49 +0000

Song History - Joy To The World is one of the best-known and best-loved of Christmas carols and is now universally sung as one of the most joyous songs of Christmas. Joy To The World contains a message of joy and love replacing sin and sorrow. The history of the popular “Joy To The World” is truly unusual. Its lyrics originated in the Old Testament as published in Isaac Watt’s 1719 translation of the Psalms of David. When American composer Lowell Mason set these words to music in 1839, he added a notation alluding to George Frideric Handel as (more…)

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and We Three Kings Medley

skanson.com — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 14:56:27 +0000

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen Song History - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen was first published in England in 1833, when it appeared in Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern, a collection of seasonal carols gathered by William B. Sandys. The author is unknown. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen first played in the United States in its best-known modern form, from an early 19th century London broadside, followed by a more popular Victorian melody, from Sandys’ collection.

We Three Kings Song History - We Three Kings (Of Orient are) is a Christmas carol (technically an Epiphany carol) written in 1857 by Reverend John Henry Hopkins, Jr., who wrote both the words and the music as part of a Christmas pageant for the General Theological Seminary in New York City. We Three Kings first appeared in his Carols, Hymns and Song in 1863. Aside from being a writer and editor, Hopkins was also a stained glass artist and book illustrator. Actually, the original story for We Three Kings does not mention 3 kings - just magi or kings bearing three gifts. The 3 for the song We Three Kings comes from common folk interpretations.

“Notice the strange tuning if my 6 string acoustic guitar for God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen: E B E G B E . That tuning is an E minor chord. It allows me to capture that (more…)

Away In a Manger

skanson.com — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:30:24 +0000

Away In A Manger is one of the sweetest of the traditional Christmas carols. I used my Steel 12 String Acoustic Guitar

with Drop “D” tuning and a standard tuned “E-Bowed” Electric Guitar for this recording of Away In A Manger to make my electric guitar sound like a flute!

An E-Bow is a hand-held electronic bow for guitar. The small battery-powered unit replaces the pick in the right hand letting the guitarist mimic strings, horns, and woodwinds with unbelievable sensitivity. The EBow produces a powerful infinite sustain, rich in harmonics for incredible guitar sounds. Placing the device over metal strings makes them (more…)

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

skanson.com — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 15:27:21 +0000

Robert Persig wrote a book called “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” that was very important in my artistic development. My song Chasing The Ultimate, Lateral to me means striving for perfection thru inspiration and simulation and never, ever giving up on the chase. This is a philosiphy that I took directly from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is Robert Pirsig’s ”Chautauqua,” or traveling tale that takes the reader on a profound tour of ancient Greek philosophy as well as the marshes of western Minnesota, the plains of the Dakotas, the steppes of Montana. The fundamental concern in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is (more…)

Classical Gas

skanson.com — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 12:49:18 +0000

“Classical Gas is one of those selections you hear once and never forget. We had such a great time rearranging and recording this classical guitar piece. Classical Gas is also a song that inspired me to play classical guitar. Mason, you should have done a few more like this!” - Darren Curtis Skanson

Classical Gas 2000 (1968 Irving Music, Inc. (BMI)) This “Classical Gas” still uses the classical guitar as its central instrument but has a chamber orchestra to fill out the sound. Even without the percusion, Darren’s nimble classical guitar licks and driving style will have your foot tapping. The original classical guitar recording of Classical Gas by Mason Williams was released (more…)

Moonlight Sonata Ludwig von Beethoven

skanson.com — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 14:20:07 +0000

“The Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig von Beethoven (Sonata No.14 in C#-, Op.27 No.2) is and will be one of my favorite compositions of all time. This classical guitar arrangement is also o ne of my most loved pieces to perform. Although Ludwig von Beethoven is known for his more bombastic style, as in the 5th Symphony, I have always been (more…)

Classical Guitar Christmas CD’s

skanson.com — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 15:37:58 +0000

A Light Classical Christmas & Angels, Guitars & Joy ”Christmas music always on classical guitar brings a warmness and peace to my heart. In general, Christmas songs have holiday themes directly taken from Christmas or have themes

addressing the holiday and the winter season. Currently my recorded works of classical guitar focus on the group of Christmas music known as Christmas Carols.They are traditional and mostly religious in context and the choice songs reflects my memories of my youth in a small town in northern Minnesota.

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These two recordings have different flavors. (more…)

Autumn with Chances End Violinist Ryan Avery

skanson.com — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 14:21:21 +0000

Autumn uses acoustic 12 string guitar with violin lead by Ryan Avery of Chances End and cello accompaniment. Autumn was recorded August 2004, but was originally recorded for Catharsis Infinity (Watson&Company - 2003). on Autumn, Darren uses a 1973 Martin D Series 12 string guitar in standard tuning.

Autumn is my favorite pure song on this record and Ryan Avery of Chances End doing the violin solo was a great addition. “Autumn” was originally intended as a vocal song. Both hope and melancholy permeate this epic. A passage from the chorus of Autumn that sticks with me is: (more…)

Acoustitherapy Relaxation

Acoustitherapy.com — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 14:25:00 +0000

The Acoustitherapy Relaxation music compact disc is acoustic instrumental music that is always soft and soothing. The Relaxation CD has beautiful combinations of harp, guitar, flute, cello, violin, and piano as well as native and world instruments that are never loud or fast. Acoustitherapy Relaxation is music to calm your mind. For busy people, Relaxation is an hour of peace. It produces frequency patterns that are natural states of the mind when in a relaxed state. It induces soothing (more…)

Elle May sounds like Tommy Tedesco

skanson.com — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 13:08:09 +0000

Tommy Tedesco was an American master session musician and renowned jazz fusion and bebop guitarist. “The Most Recorded Guitarist in History” was a title conferred upon Tommy Tedesco, and it’s doubtful anyone else could lay claim to it. Tedesco’s astonishing portfolio and reputation were a result of his versatile sight-reading abilities and talent for interpreting – and delivering – whatever a producer or composer wanted, whether it was a TV or movie theme, soundtrack, or pop, rock, jazz, country; in short, (more…)