Music

Heaven On Earth
I wrote this song in Fiji while I was standing waste deep in a pool of emerald water at the base of a waterfall. It took us two hours to boat and bushwhack our way to that waterfall.

Inspiration
This is the first song I ever wrote on a computer. It was made with FruityLoops, and it’s somewhat famous amongst my friends for the “ridiculous drum solo” hehe.

Marathon
I wrote this right after “Inspiration” because I wanted to write a song with lyrics that I could actually sing. It’s still a favorite of mine. I didn’t have any sort of plan when I started writing it, which is why it starts with, “Once upon a time, oh so very long ago.” It was basically an ad-lib. Also, don’t tell anyone, but I’ve never actually run a marathon. One day.

Older Brother
I wanted to see if I could sing two parts and mix them together in harmony (because Sister Hazel does it so well), so that’s how this song got started. It came out pretty well I think. However, I should have made the background harmony a bit softer as it can be overpowering at times. The song has nothing to do with my real brother, Chris.

World Today
I wrote this song while I was on Semester At Sea leaning over the aft railing of the S.S. Universe Explorer and enjoying the late-night sea air. It is easily the best song I’ve ever written. The reference in the song about the swimming pool comes from the fact that the S.S. Universe Explorer had a swimming pool on deck, but it wasn’t heated so you had to go polar bear diving if you wanted to swim while sailing up by Russia and Alaska.

American Pie

I wanted to learn how to sing Don McLean’s American Pie, but it ended up being slightly outside of my vocal range.

Christmas Hymn

This is a Christmas hymn by Jon Schmidt. I’m a big sucker for Christmas songs.

Sacrifice

This is the theme song from the movie The Piano composed by Michael Nyman.

Zanarkand

This is a song from the Final Fantasy videogame composed by Nobuo Uematsu. When you hear that somebody is playing video game music on a piano you probably think they are a total nerd, but Mr. Uematsu really deserves credit for creating a beautiful piece.

Guitar

About a month ago I decided to start learning the guitar, and here’s where I am so far.

Kansas – Dust In The Wind

Me playing an easy version of Kansas – Dust In The Wind. Chords are C G Am.

Hootie – Let Her Cry

I screwed up the beginning “lamp post” and “the most”, but the second verse onward I think was better. This is one of my favorite songs, and it’s actually pretty easy to play. The hard part is singing at a different beat than the strumming.

Green Day – Good Riddance

Another great song =)