Just About Enough
b'Episode #169: Just About Enough (Song starts at 3:47)\\nToday was a wintery day. I went outside and there wasn\\u2019t even a \\u2018hint of a breeze\\u2019. That phrase appears in verse one of this episodes featured song. Then I heard a \\u2018muted bird call\\u2019. Those words are also in lyrics , so I thought hey, that\\u2019ll do for this week\\u2019s episode.\\nI wrote \\u2018Just \\u2018About Enough\\u2019 for my wife, as an anniversary present. This is song #585, which was written in 2012.\\nThe scene that sets the mood for the song - and our relationship, as it turns out - was very peaceful: In the early stages of our relationship, in NZ, we snuck out for a very early morning dip in a hot pool. Bush and mist surrounded us, rabbits hopped by, quail pecked at the grass. There was a vague hint of a breeze and muted bird calls. Pretty peaceful, eh?\\nIt\\u2019s nice to have a chance to reflect on memories like these as I record my podcast episodes. It\\u2019s like a weekly performance for me. I sit at my piano as I talk, demonstrating ideas on the keyboard and or singing, to illustrate what I\\u2019m talking about.\\nI have a released delivery. The plan is for it to be entertaining and informative. Thanks for all the great feedback, folks. Thanks for tuning in again this week.\\nIf this is your first listen, thanks for tuning in, I hope you enjoy the song, the lyrics, the music, the chat about how the song came together, what inspired it. Memories come through as I talk, which I\\u2019m happy to share as well, so you get a real \\u2018behind the scenes\\u2019 sort of a \\u2018songwriter speaks\\u2019 kind of a presentation.\\nI hope you enjoy hearing about what is a love song I wrote for my wife - the great thing about a song is the listener can glean what they will and take ownership, to a degree. Music sure does trigger emotional reactions. It\\u2019s a great thing.\\nIt\\u2019s a pleasure to be a composer. It\\u2019s also great to be sharing the songs and talking about them here.\\nNow, back to that opening line: I let my pen wander as I recalled memories of the years we\\u2019d spent together since that day - including starting a family and all that entails. Lots of joy and lots of work.\\nBut with the lyrics, I kept steering it back to the story of a romance. 2 lives intertwined.\\nThe music happened easily, as is often the case for me, for which I\\u2019m very grateful. Before I started playing, I thought I\\u2019d try and write a medium tempo flowing sort of a song. So I let my fingers play on the keys as if I was finger picking a guitar.\\nThat gave me the momentum and away I went, improvising a melody over the changing chords.\\nChords are like colours. Some are more related than others and become logical choices to string together. In theory terms, what makes them logical choices is that they are related chords, they all came from the scale of the song - literally the key: do re mi\\xa0 fa so la ti do\\u2026.the chords , the melody, the bass notes are all from the scale\\u2026..\\nHere and there, I decided it would be a good idea to modulate briefly to another key, using a semi related chord. It catches the ear.\\nWas it a consciously \\u2018clever\\u2019 choice? Most of the time, my choice of chords is an instinctive thing. The theory Is underlying. The thing is, when you\\u2019ve done something often enough, a lot of the technical stuff comes through\\xa0 naturally.\\nAnd that\\u2019s what you want. Because then the music sounds like a natural flowing melody and arrangement.\\nThis was a \\u2018words first, music second\\u2019 song. As I improvised the melody, I instinctively and quickly edited the words. I dropped words and syllables to make it fit the melody.\\nIt\\u2019s a fun process. Again it happens quickly for me. I mention this not because it\\u2019s a \\u2018clever\\u2019 thing to do, it\\u2019s because I stay inspired as I write this way.\\nIf I had to thrash away for days on a song I don\\u2019t think I would\\u2019ve written many at all. Because I\\u2019m a busy person, in the arts. I teach piano, paint seascapes, cartoons, record albums, make videos, blog my work and week..\\nYou can read the lyrics to the featured song of each episode here on my weekly blo...'