“Psalm 1” Saturday, 10/23/2021
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As I looked back over the original bits of manuscript for this piece, a 1986 date is at the top and an early version of “Look at the Birds” is written on the reverse side, with the same date. The idea for “Psalm 1” came about in a similar fashion as many of these scripture songs. I was meditating and memorizing the scripture. This verse was particularly important to me because of its emphasis with regard to the positive effect of knowing God’s word, not from only an intellectual point of view, but as a treasure of the heart.
Four or five years before, a friend of mine, Wayne Trimble, had taught on the parable of the sower. His emphasis regarding the keen and critical importance of the Word taking firm root in the heart of the individual, especially with respect to achieving and maintaining a deep and abiding relationship with God, came home to me when I discovered the beauty of Psalm 1.
I drew the basic structure of this piece directly from the lyrics allowing their natural ebb and flow to guide, not only the overall form of the song, but the melodic and rhythmic contour. It appeared completely counter intuitive to me to approach composing a song in any other way. However, when I first returned to Sam Houston for my masters degree, my roommate, Ken Parks, had baffled me with his approach to musical composition and song writing, always focusing firstly on the music. Lyrics, for him, were secondary. I remember his emphasis on creating a hook from scratch, with no initial lyrical association, purely musical. He saw this as the best method of ensuring that a fundamental musical idea would serve as the draw and “remember factor” in a song. He, also, seemed very confident that this was the method that most pop musicians used as a basis for writing their songs. I have never seen a poll or looked at any research on this, but Ken’s willingness to share this perspective encouraged me to listen to popular music and think about it from this contrasting point of view.
Though I never switched completely to the “Ken Parks method,” Ken definitely influenced my thinking regarding “the hook” in a song. From that point on, I began to consciously pursue deriving a clear musical idea, making the piece more “radio friendly.” Though other songs I had written certainly had musical hooks, Psalm 1 was, I believe, the first in which I was purposefully considering the importance of that element. I realized that if Ken could derive words for a catchy musical idea, that catchy musical ideas could just as easily be derived from lyrics.
Also, rooming with Ken, nudged me toward composing around the piano rather than the guitar. Though Ken was a trumpet player in high school, he had taken to piano as his main instrument and had moved toward singing. He shared with me the advantages of composing around the keyboard and recording musical ideas using a 4-track. Both he and my piano teacher, Charlotte Tull, emphasized to me the ease of playing the piano in either Eb minor or F# major. Much of this has to do with the way the keys fall under the fingers. As I was practicing Eb minor scales and improvising something for Psalm 1 in that key, I immediately realized there was something to what they were saying.
I notated the piano part through the first half of the words of Psalm 1. The second half, though I had the basic melodic ideas worked out, sat with the rest of the piece on the shelf until it was time for project one. The final version of “Psalm 1” for project one blends inspiration from Glen Miller, Benny Goodman, Harry Connick, Jr., Dave Brubeck, Stevie Wonder, black gospel and Sydney Bichet. A special thanks to Robin Owens of Dallas Winds for her contribution on soprano sax and her fantastic performance on clarinet. Also, thanks to Tara McCutchen on vocals and to her husband, Chad, on percussion. His performances on orchestral cymbals across the album provided a wonderful depth and his consult on the drums for this piece as well as for “You Are My Lord” proved invaluable.