Making original music from the baby-steps

My musical inclination began in childhood since I watched my dad playing his 4-octave Casio keyboard. I was bought a little Yamaha kids’ keyboard which has a little more than an octave of keys and built-in melodies I still vividly remember. I annoyed my late grandpa by singing along with the pre-programmed songs and improvising some lyrics without any meaning. Among the songs included in the Yamaha’s two music cartridges were Auld Lang Syne, Minuet in G and La Paloma.

When I was in grade school, I started playing my dad’s keys and our family’s friend taught me a few basic versions of popular classics like Song for Anna, Groovy Kind of Love and Ballade Pour Adeline. I used to play with ‘Casio Chord’ setting, which means auto accompaniment. However, my piano teacher taught me how to read notes and play with both hands manually. She also taught me to improvise and make my own accompaniment based on the chords so I was not only playing ‘inside the box’. Whenever I get bored playing solemn love songs, I would increase the volume and the tempo to the point that it’s both challenging, funny-sounding and worse, neighbor-annoying.

I was in high school when my late aunt bought me this full-sized, six-octave Casio keyboard which I still use up to the present. It’s almost two decades old!

(A friend did an excellent repair job of the broken keys and cleaned it up thoroughly last year).
I performed at school a number of times in primary and secondary school, and in college, I began playing praise music in our church band.

My First Original Songs

Looking back, my first attempt to compose a song was futile. I remember hitting random notes and wondering how songwriters give their melody direction. Little I realized that genuine emotions could do. When I seriously fell in love with a high-school classmate, I managed to complete a song, boy-band style with complete stanzas and matching bridge. One of my classmates was good at playing the guitar and I asked him to play my song as I sang for the girl. Though the romantic relationship I was after didn’t materialize, that’s when I discovered patterns in common chord progressions and I actually began composing a song after another.

That first song I mentioned was one of my first entries in “Himig Handog” in the early 2000s, a songwriting contest held by ABS-CBN almost yearly. I didn’t make it through the initial screening though I submitted three entries that time. During the finals night of the competition, my aunt asked me which song I thought would be the champion. I said, “Kung Ako na Lang Sana” (I Wish I Could Be). She replied: “Just try harder next time.” I said: No! That’s the title of the song! Haha. The announcement of the champion was not exciting at all. I knew that song would be the champion. That’s how I had a hint that I had a good taste in music.

Songs of Praise

I was in college when I composed my first song of praise with God’s help. I remember gradually building up the song whenever I was in the jeepney going to school. It’s about my passion for inviting people to sing to the Lord and learn His doctrines. Our church held the first praise songwriting festival called “A Song of Praise”. This yearly event started in 2004. My first song of praise made it to the finals in 2005, then another song in 2006, 2008 and finally in 2010, my song “In This Journey” was chosen as the song of the year. That's when I learned how to arrange and mix music on the computer.

Later on, the church opened the festival even to non-members, amateur and professional songwriters. ASOPTV Music festival began airing on UNTV 37 in 2011. I was lucky to be able to participate in the third episode and a few more seasons thereafter.

Thankful for Everything

It’s a long story to tell but in every chapter of my life, I have a song to play. My first love, first heartbreak, first child, - you name it. After all, I remain thankful for the music and happiness it brings.

My Life as a Steemian

I joined Steemit in October 2017. I started spending more time with photography when I got my first DSLR in November and I realized I have never posted anything specifically about music. I posted about Wish Music Awards two months ago but it was about concert photography. Thanks to this writing contest, now I have a post about songwriting!

[The Largest Gospel Choir in the World]
An Unworthy Choir Member:

Though I enjoy vocal and instrumental harmonies, being an extreme introvert, I never pictured myself singing in a choir group. My basic musical arrangement skills usually work for solos. However, before I had known what’s causing my chronic sore throat, I found it hard to sing even hymns because of the problem in my throat. As a result, I began picking up the bass notes of our church hymns instead of the main melody. That’s where my interest in choir singing began. My first actual performance with the choir was with more than 8000 Chorale Members of MCGI, when we bagged a Guinness World: “Largest Gospel Choir.” This marked the beginning of my journey as a choir member, on October 12, 2015 at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City.

In the same evening, Ang Dating Daan, the longest-running religious program in the Philippines, celebrated its 35th Anniversary, giving away cash donations, wheelchairs and prizes to 12 charity institutions and 1500 Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) who attended the event.

Since then, my wife (who had been in the choir for a long time) and I began performing our duties together in the same group.

How I compose original melody and lyrics

Perhaps this is where I can share an unusual tip, which can help those who are planning to write their first song. Though I have lapses in short-term memory, If a piece of melody and/or lyrics is memorable enough, it sticks in my head. The same thing happens when I to fumble with any original melody or lyrical idea. I forget any uninteresting ideas and only retain those I am satisfied with.

This song: “Born to Praise You” was hardly ever noted down until its completion. I was working as a support desk agent and we’re not allowed to have anything to write with at work. The idea was memorable enough (since we just had our first and only child until now) so I didn’t rely on written notes to construct the song. The idea just grew and worked by itself within me.

For professional and novice songwriters alike, writing down or recording any new ideas is of paramount importance. At least for me though, deliberately not writing down anything could be part of the screening process, where only bright ideas get remembered. Your song may take 5-10 times longer to finish but if you have to struggle to remember a melodic or lyrical line, it's a sign that it's not good enough. It is a long process and requires patience.

My latest entry to the ASOP music festival (Now called ASOF: A Song of Faith) is titled: "You". It was inspired by my ordeal with obstructive sleep apnea (which caused my chronic sore throat) and in a way, paved the path for me to join the choir. Let me share with you the song's chorus and bridge:

You keep me breathing while I'm sleeping.
And that's enough for me to offer You thanksgiving.
My heart is beating without me knowing.
I owe my life to You 'coz no one else can do:
You keep me living.

As I live, I live for You, and if I die, I'd die for You.
For the Author of Life is You.

We're still working on some finishing touches for the regional (Luzon) festival which will be held in May. The festival organizers are ever so helpful and accommodating (both ASOF and ASOPTV). They give suggestions on how you can improve your entry prior to the actual presentation. If you're interested in joining, please visit www.asoptv.com.

Now, I can proudly say that music is not only my hobby. It’s a way of life and in many deep, hardly explainable ways, life-changing. - Even life saving.

Thanks be to God for giving me another chance to share my story through Steemit.

Thanks for reading/viewing!

[Credits to the Author of Life]

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Please stay tuned for my favorite everyday photos and the lessons I learned behind the scenes.