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Now that the new Music Motivation® website and the Music Motivation® blog have merged together, you may continue to receive email updates when new blog posts are submitted, but, you must subscribe to the new Music Motivation® blog feed. Simply click here to subscribe to the new blog feed to continue receiving updates, and notices about new blog posts from Music Motivation®. I value your feedback and comments and would love to assist in any way possible. Feel free to email me at info@musicmotivation.com. Thanks.

Written by Music Motivation®
Copyright © 2010 Music Motivation®
All Rights Reserved

Visit musicmotivation.com!!

I apologize for not having written a new blog post in a few weeks. I was gone for a few weeks to California (on vacation) and was sick for the most part of last week. I addition to all of these distractions, I have been focusing most of my time on combining my Music Motivation® website (www.musicmotivation.com) and the blog (www.musicmotivationblog.com) into one website. If you click on either of these websites, it will take you to musicmotivation.com which is now my primary website for the Music Motivation® blog, pdf downloads, free music, website links, Music Motivation® products, video, widgets, etc. I have transferred everything (almost everything) over from this blog the the updated website. The Music Motivation® website will be updated on a daily basis with everything that was mentioned above. Feel free to visit the site. I'd love to get your feedback about anything. Let me know what you think of the site and if there is anything you'd like added to the site as resources for music students, music teachers, parents, etc. I appreciate your feedback and comments. Thanks again.

Written by Jerald M. Simon
Copyright © 2010 Music Motivation®
All Rights Reserved

New Music Motivation Blog

I have a new Music Motivation blog. Please visit www.musicmotivationblog.com. The website is similar to this, but will have much more capability, functionality, and availability of products, downloads, videos, tutorials, and links. Check it out and let me know what you think. Thanks.

"Triumphant" by Jerald M. Simon ($16.95)

"Triumphant" by Jerald M. Simon (retails for $16.95)

Here are some sample pages from my latest book, Triumphant. It features 10 original piano solos I have written to inspire and motivate both piano players and those who listen to them. The 10 original piano solos are: (1). "Triumphant", (2). "What could Have Been", (3). "Prestige", (4). "Stepping Stones", (5). "Conviction", (6). "Standing Tall", (7). "Ahead of the Game", (8). "Looking Up", (9). "If At First You Don't Succeed...", and (10). "Starting Over". I will post audio files soon.

"Jazzed about Christmas" by Jerald M. Simon ($11.95)

Click on each individual song below (in the widget player below this post) to hear the 18 Christmas songs I've arranged from my 7th book, "Jazzed about Christmas". The book "Jazzed about Christmas" can be purchased for $11.95 from your local music store or online at www.shop.musicmotivation.com. I'd love to hear your feedback about the arrangements. Each one has been jazzed up and is in the key of C for the beginner and intermediate piano students. Let me know what you think.

Written by Jerald M. Simon
Copyright © 2009 Music Motivation®
All Rights Reserved

"Jazzed about Christmas"

"Jazzed about Christmas" by Jerald M. Simon - Retails for $11.95

to purchase "Jazzed about Christmas" visit www.shop.musicmotivation.com.

I have finally finished my seventh book, "Jazzed about Christmas". This book features 18 fun and easy to play, teacher friendly Christmas Favorites! Each song has been jazzed up. The 18 Christmas favorites are: (1) "Jingle Bells", (2) "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas", (3) "Up On the House Top", (4) "Deck the Halls", (5) "Joy to the World", (6) "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", (7) "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", (8) "O Christmas Tree", (9) "Angels We Have Heard On High", (10) "Silent Night", (11) "The First Noel", (12) "Good King Wenceslas", (13) "Bring a Torch Jeannette, Isabella", (14) "I Saw Three Ships", (15) "Still, Still, Still", (16) "Dance of the Suganr Plum Fairy", (17) "The Holly and the Ivy", and (18) "We Wish You a Merry Christmas".

To purchase a copy of "Jazzed about Christmas", please visit www.shop.musicmotivation.com, or your local music store. If your local music store is not yet carrying Music Motivation® products, they may contact Music Motivation® at: P.O. box 1000, Kaysville, UT 84037-1000 or retail@musicmotivation.com for the distributors' contact info. Or, if they would like to contact the distributor directly, they may contact Chesbro Music Co. at 1.800.243.7276. The product number for "Jazzed about Christmas" is MM00001009. The ISBN is 978-0-9790716-8-3. If you have more questions or would like to know more, email Music Motivation® at info@musicmotivation.com.

Here are a few sample measures of each Christmas favorite. I hope you enjoy. In a day or so, you'll be able to listen to each arrangement.

This is the example from "Jingle Bells"

This is the example from "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas"

This is the example from "Up On the House Top"

This is the example from "Deck the Halls"

This is the example from "Joy to the World"

This is the example from "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"

This is the example from "Hark the Herald Angels Sing"

This is the example from "O Christmas Tree"

This is the example from "Angels We Have Heard On High"

This is the example from "Silent Night"

This is the example from "The First Noel"

This is the example from "Good King Wenceslas"

This is the example from "Bring a Torch Jeannette, Isabella"

This is the example from "I Saw Three Ships"

This is the example from "Still, Still, Still"

This is the example from "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"

This is the example from "The Holly and the Ivy"

This is the example from "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"

Written by Jerald M. Simon

Copyright © 2009 Music Motivation®

All Rights Reserved

"Hymns of Exaltation" is Finished

"Hymns of Exaltation" by Jerald M. Simon ($13.95 plus tax)

To purchase a copy of "Hymns of Exaltation", please visit www.shop.musicmotivation.com, or your local music store. If your local music store is not yet carrying Music Motivation® products, they may contact Music Motivation® at: P.O. box 1000, Kaysville, UT 84037-1000 or mailto:retail@musicmotivation.com.

I have finished my sixth book, "Hymns of Exaltation". I hope you enjoy listening to these arrangements. I had a wonderful time arranging each hymn and I am delighted to share them with you. I wanted to arrange each of these hymns because the melodies and lyrics mean so much to me. I will be coming out with a CD of the arrangements shortly. I'd love to hear your feedback about the hymns. I will soon be working on a new book of hymn arrangements as well. Please feel free to email me with any suggestions of hymns you'd like arranged by clicking here. Thanks. I look forward to your comments.

To begin listening to the songs, I recommend turning off the widget player on the right side of the blog. When you first come to the blog, the widget player automatically begins to play music. Scroll down until you see the widget player (which is right below the "Sign up below for our FREE Monthly Music Motivation® Newsletter" spot - three down from the top and above the "Do You Play a Musical Instrument" survey) and press the play/pause button to pause or stop the music. The widget player has my name at the top and a picture of the book Sea Fever below my name. The first song playing is Gray Dawn Breaking from Sea Fever. Begin listening to each individual hymn arrangement by pushing the play button below the example of each individual song.

This is the first page of "For the Beauty of the Earth" from Hymns of Exaltation.

This is the first page of "Be Still My Soul" from Hymns of Exaltation.

Listen to the arrangement below.

Click above to listen to "Be Still My Soul" arranged by Jerald M. Simon

This is the first page of "Nearer My God to Thee" from Hymns of Exaltation.

Listen to the arrangement below.

Click above to listen to "Nearer My God to Thee" arranged by Jerald M. Simon

This is the first page of "I Stand All Amazed" from Hymns of Exaltation.

Listen to the arrangement below.

Click above to listen to "I Stand All Amazed" arranged by Jerald M. Simon

This is the first page of "Abide With Me" from Hymns of Exaltation.

Listen to the arrangement below.

Click above to listen to "Abide With Me" arranged by Jerald M. Simon

This is the first page of "I Need Thee Every Hour/Lead Kindly Light" from Hymns of Exaltation.

Listen to the arrangement below.

Click above to listen to "I Need Thee Every Hour/Lead Kindly Light" arranged by Jerald M. Simon

This is the first page of "More Holiness Give Me" from Hymns of Exaltation.

Listen to the arrangement below.

Click above to listen to "More Holiness Give Me" arranged by Jerald M. Simon

This is the first page of "I Heard the Voice of Jesus" (also known as "O Sing a Song of Bethlehem", and "If You Could Hie to Kolob") from Hymns of Exaltation.

Listen to the arrangement below.

Click above to listen to "I Heard the Voice of Jesus" (also known as "O sing a Song of Bethlehem" and "If You Could Hie to Kolob") arranged by Jerald M. Simon

To purchase a copy of "Hymns of Exaltation", please visit www.shop.musicmotivation.com, or your local music store. If your local music store is not yet carrying Music Motivation® products, they may contact Music Motivation® at: P.O. box 1000, Kaysville, UT 84037-1000 or retail@musicmotivation.com for the distributors' contact info. Or, if they would like to contact the distributor directly, they may contact Chesbro Music Co. at 1.800.243.7276. The product number for "Hymns of Exaltation" is MM00001007. The ISBN is 978-0-9790716-5-2. If you have more questions or would like to know more, email Music Motivation® at info@musicmotivation.com.

Written by Jerald M. Simon

Copyright © 2009 Music Motivation®

All Rights Reserved

"Hymns of Exaltation" by Jerald M. Simon

"Hymns of Exaltation" by Jerald M. Simon - $13.95

I am almost finished with my 6th book, "Hymns of Exaltation". There are 8 songs in the book:

(1). "For the Beauty of the Earth", (2). "Be Still My Soul", (3). "Nearer My God to Thee", (4). "I Stand All Amazed", (5). "Abide With Me", (6). "I Need Thee Every Hour/Lead Kindly Light", (7) "More Holiness Give Me", and (8). "If You Could Hie to Kolob".

I tried to pick songs that were well known Christian songs - familiar to the majority of Christian religions. In a few months, I will come out with the CD of the arrangements. I am in the process of outlining several hymn arrangement books to be done in the next year and would love to find out which hymns you personally would like arranged. Feel free to email me with your suggestions and comments. I look forward to hearing from you.

Written by Jerald M. Simon
Copyright © 2009 Music Motivation®
All Rights Reserved

Composing 101

Anyone can write music! Some people think composers only write music when they are inspired. That is true, but composers who only write music when they receive inspiration limit themselves and their creativity. Many composers receive even more inspiration when they begin constructing a composition using theory as their core structure. It empowers and enables them to envision the composition at each stage of its creation because they use their understanding of intervals, chords, scales, and progressions to perfect their musical ideas. As a result of their theoretical ingenuity, their inspiration increases.

A good composition requires the use of music theory to mold everything together. To anyone who does not understand the theory of music or who feels less than qualified to utilize it, I encourage you to learn it. Do it. Jump into the world of music theory. Jumping into the unknown is the most frightening part. Once you jump you're free falling and gravity takes it course (in a way that sounds like you'll die on impact, but honestly you won't). Every great composer understands how music is created, what segments and parts make the whole complete and how to take a simple melody and make it into a musical masterpiece. Harmonies are added and the form takes shape. Rhythm is an intricate part of music and composers use it to their advantage.

For fun, lets try writing a simple (when I say simple, I mean very simple) song - in this example it will be a melody. We'll use the notes C, D, E, F, and G (this is the C major penta-scale because it is the first five notes from the C major scale).

All good compositions begin and end on the chord or with the note after which the key signature is named, unless the song is written in a mode - in which case it would begin on the note of the individual mode.

Since we're in the key of C, we'll begin on the C note. We'll start with a right hand melody. The easiest way to teach composition is to assign each of the letters (C, D, E, F, and G) to a number. In this case we will number them 1 (C) 2 (D) 3 (E) 4 (F) and 5 (G) (which also happens to be the fingering for the right hand). I like to have students come up with any random, and I mean random, order of notes. The only rule is to begin and end on C (or 1 in this case). Here we go...

These are random numbers beginning and ending on 1 (using the numbers 1 - 5).

Our number sequence is 1, 4, 2, 3, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. The letters that correspond with the numbers are: C, F, D, E, G, F, E, D, C. Below I've included the musical notes that correspond to each of the numbers. The notes are quarter notes.

Now I've taken the same notes but have changed them to eighth notes.

Once you feel comfortable doing this with five notes you can apply the same technique to all of the notes from the scale (start with the key of C major to begin with). After using whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, and eighth notes individually, try using them together. This is an example of the same notes as above, but now the rhythm is mixed.

Composing is such a wonderful way to share your ideas. In the beginning, you may not receive inspiration. Angels may not sing to you and tell you which notes to write (I'm still waiting for that one to happen to me too). Understanding and using music theory will enable you to create melodies and harmonies which will inspire you to continue creating more and more music. Your music will inspire you, but more important, it will inspire those who listen to it.

Good luck composing. It's a wonderful skill to learn and anyone can do it. As a matter of fact, everyone should do it. You learn so much as you create music of your own and others learn a great deal about you through the music you've created.

I do composition workshops, seminars, and music camps with music teachers and their students and I can tell you everyone can compose. You don't need to be an Einstein or even the next Mozart. All you have to be is you. What you bring to the table is so important because you bring your experiences, your likes, dislikes, view of the world around you, etc. Everything you do shows forth in your music. Start writing now! Who knows, maybe you will be the next Mozart. Maybe your compositions will change the world. Until you start creating you'll never know.

Written by Jerald M. Simon
Copyright © 2009 Music Motivation®
All Rights Reserved

Sea Fever

I recently finished my fifth book, "Sea Fever" The book contains 10 original piano solos I have written which were inspired by the poem Sea Fever written by John Masefield. The book is broken down into 10 individual lessons - one for each of the 10 songs (1) "Sea Fever", (2) " I Must Go Down to the Seas Again", (3) "The Lonely Sea", (4) "The Wind's Song", (5) "Gray Mist", (6) "Horizon", (7) "A Star to Steer Her by", (8) "Buried Treasure", (9) "Tempest-Tossed", and (10) "Gray Dawn Breaking".

I have included a sample page, the first page, from each of the 10 songs from the book. I will be recording the songs so they can be heard as well. Eventually I will produce a CD with each of the 10 songs from the book. Let me know what you think of the sample pages. The book retails for $13.95 and may be purchased online at www.musicmotivation.com, or from your local music store.

This is the sample page for the song

"Sea Fever".

This is the sample page for the song

"I Must Go Down to the Seas Again".

This is the sample page for the song

"The Lonely Sea".

This is the sample page for the song
"A Star to Steer Her by".

This is the sample page for the song
"The Wind's Song".

This is the sample page for the song
"Gray Mist".

This is the sample page for the song
"Horizon".

This is the sample page for the song
"Buried Treasure".

This is the sample page for the song
"Tempest-Tossed".

This is the sample page for the song
"Gray Dawn Breaking".

If you would like to purchase "Sea Fever", visit your local music store. The book is $13.95. If your local music store is not yet carrying Music Motivation® products they may contact my company Music Motivation® at info@musicmotivation.com for the distributors' contact info. Or, if they would like to contact the distributor directly, they may contact Chesbro Music Co. at 1.800.243.7276. The product number for "Sea Fever" is MM00001005. The ISBN is 978-0-9790716-4-5.

Written by Jerald M. Simon
Copyright © 2009 Music Motivation®
All Rights Reserved