“Country Gardens is an English folk tune that is often used in Morris Dancing. My lyre arrangement is based on piano arrangements by Percy Grainger, except I’m playing in C instead of Eb/E-flat, and not as quickly. Still, I hope you enjoy this cheerful melody!
Category Archives: Inspirational Music
Glissful Love #Poem #Music
Play or download the poem with lyre accompaniment.
What we don’t know, we cannot miss,
Except for longing deep inside.
The Music only Love provides
Brings Peace and Comfort, Joy and Bliss.
Now hear the magic of the gliss*
That lifts us to a higher place,
Where there’s no conflict we must face.
The Love we try but fail to find
Exists forever in the mind
Beyond our mortal time and space!
*Gliss, short for Glissando: Italian musical term meaning a continuous slide upward or downward between two notes.
—
This is a Decima for
Ronovan Writes Decima Poetry Challenge Prompt No. 27: Bliss. This week, it’s the A rhyme line.
Softly and Tenderly #Music
Will Lamertine Thompson wrote this hymn in 1880. The lyrics are based on Matthew 11:28, which reads, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”
“Softly and Tenderly” is Thompson’s best known composition and has been widely translated. It has spread throughout many Christian denominations beyond its origins in the American Restoration Movement and the Churches of Christ, where Thompson was a member.
I hope you find comfort in this lyre arrangement!
“Sweet Blessings” by Anne Crosby Gaudet #Music
This beautiful piece was composed by Anne Crosby Gaudet. She is a wonderful harpist, pianist, teacher, composer, and arranger from Canada. “Sweet Blessings” is an elementary level harp piece that’s easy and comfortable to learn and play. Anne kindly gave her permission for me to share “Sweet Blessings” on Mystical Strings! I’m playing zither (also called plucked psaltery), because the ringing metal strings are especially lovely.
Anne’s performance video can be found
here,
and her video tutorial for learning part of the piece is
here.
I used both the performance video and the tutorial to learn “Sweet Blessings” and picked out the rest by ear.
If you read sheet music, you can
purchase “Sweet Blessings” here.
I’m not affiliated with Anne or her shop. I just really enjoy hearing and playing this piece, and her teaching style is warm, accessible, encouraging, and helpful!
Even though this is a harp piece, you can use the video, tutorial, and/or sheet music to learn it on another instrument, the same way I learned it on zither. You’ll be glad you did!
Thank you, Anne, for your wonderful music and teaching time and for allowing me to share this piece!
When the Saints #Music
“When the Saints Go Marching In,” often just called “The Saints” or “When the Saints,” needs no introduction. This is good, because its origins are unclear. It’s a Gospel song, an African-American spiritual, and a jazz classic, such is its versatility. I’ve known it to be a campfire song as well.
I hope you enjoy this simple lyre arrangement!
“Off She Goes” Trad. #Music
This is a traditional fiddle tune, but even the country of origin is unclear. Some sources say “New England,” which would make it an American tune; others claim it’s English, as in England, United Kingdom. Still others claim it as a Scottish or Irish tune. It’s agreed that the form is a jig, but that’s about it. It’s usually played in the key of D, like many fiddle tunes. Here, I play “Off She Goes” in C, on lyre. I hope you enjoy this cheerful melody!
Lullaby of the Ages DSE #10 #Music
I wrote this song in June. You can listen to the lyre arrangement with lyrics
here.
Today you’re hearing alto recorder, then lyre and zither played together. The melody is on zither, with accompaniment on lyre. Note the bell-like ringing in this arrangement, made possible by having two sets of strings.
This is the tenth and final piece in my
Double Strung Experiment Series.
The next time you hear mention of double strung something, it will be a harp! I’ve had fun and learned a lot while arranging and playing this series, but I will also be glad to sit in a chair and play! I’ve been sitting cross-legged on the floor to make room for holding the lyre and zither balanced precariously on my lap!
I hope you enjoy this piece, and as always, I appreciate any comments and feedback you want to share!
Thanks, and thank you for listening!
Gratitude DSE #9 #Music
I wrote this piece in 2010, on a small Celtic lap harp on which I took a few lessons. I’ve lost that old harp recording, but you can listen to a ukulele version with lyrics
here.
This piece is also part of my
Zither Review,
as well as the
Lynda Lyre Review
I posted in March.
So, why this piece, and why am I sharing it yet again?
First, it’s a calming melody written especially for healing music sessions, and who doesn’t need more of that? 🙂
Second, this is the ninth in the
Double Strung Experiment Series.
Now you can hear the piece as if it had two voices. That is, the melody is echoed, and two sets of strings put the echo in the same octave, similar to the ukulele version, instead of one being an octave higher than the other.
If this makes your head spin, pay it no mind, and just enjoy listening! You will understand. 🙂
If you’ve read and listened this far, I really appreciate it! I’d also love to know if you have a favorite out of the versions I’ve linked here!
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot #Music
There’s an all too rare appearance of alto recorder along with zither today! The recorder tends to be loud, so I put a makeshift mute on it. Unfortunately, it flattens the pitch along with making it quieter. But I hope you still enjoy listening to this familiar tune, an African-American spiritual first recorded in 1909 by Fisk University’s Fisk Jubilee Singers.
The Best we Can #SoCS #Music
Original song on ukulele, because music is a container for everything!
1. The mind is like a fridge
That’s full of leftover containers.
We’ve got to clean them out sometime;
It’s really a no brainer.
We keep what’s good, throw out what’s bad,
Learn from the happy and the sad,
And turn the rest into the best we can.
2. If we keep keeping all the stuff
In our refrigerator,
It’ll get a little spicy, dicey,
Sooner before later.
Responsible for what we hold,
We must be mindful, daring, bold
And turn the rest into the best we can.
3. There is a Spirit deep inside
That’s waiting on our calling,
For strength that only It provides
To help us when we’re falling.
The mind is deep, the mind is vast!
So let the part that’s everlasting
Turn the rest into the best we can.
We’re not alone, and we’re not done!
Our journey’s only just begun!
So turn the rest into the best we can!
Let Spirit turn the rest into the best we can!
—
Written for Linda G. Hill’s
Stream of Consciousness Saturday #SoCS Prompt: Container.
Thanks for this great prompt, Linda! It’s been a while since I’ve written a song, especially on ukulele!
Mystical Strings 
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