Last month, I finished recording my last acoustic song. For the past three years, I have been creating acoustic and instrumental arrangements for each of my 52 songs.
I wrote most of my songs when I was young. My newer songs (from the age of 50 on) became a script for me to change my life.
My only acoustic song composition since 2016 is named “Take My Hand.” That song really helped me navigate through health issues and times of discouragement.
Songwriting is a craft that takes work and dedication. I’ve sometimes wondered why I haven’t composed anything new in a while. My best guess is that I haven’t felt the need or inspiration to compose; especially with all the time-consuming recording and editing that has kept me busy.
Music has been my passion for the last 15 years. And I can admit that sometimes it has been exhausting. But I love my freedom and devotion to doing what I love.
On most weekend mornings, I was up early to record guitar parts for one of my songs. There was less traffic noise, but occasionally birds chirping outside my window were worse. Sometimes, I would simply march outside in my robe to throw lemons in the direction of the birds. It worked, even though it was embarrassing.
When I finished recording, my fingers were tender and sore – despite my tough calluses.
I titled this post “Alone” because it was the last song I recorded on my long list. It was composed after a break-up when I was 17 years old.
“Alone” had three simple stanzas. The haunting chords channeled grief, instead of romantic longing. I thought perhaps it was a prophecy, because I had not yet experienced grief at that age.
Recently when I recorded the vocal for it, I did change two words. The line of “what is left since you died” felt too harsh. I changed it to “what is left since you’ve gone.”
My current life is a comfortable place, unlike the chaotic turmoil I endured raising my children, navigating my parents’ decline, and ending my long marriage.
How do I feel now about being alone? That is an interesting question because I am seldom physically alone.
I live with my son and his girlfriend in a small apartment. It is no secret to them that I crave time alone in order to freely sing and record. Whenever they have plans, they both remind me that I will have some quiet recording time to look forward to..
Lyrics from my song “The Unknown.”
I learned from my former married life how lonely it was to be with someone I didn’t connect with. I felt completely isolated with my feelings, but it all changed when I began to express myself through writing.
In my current single life, I have many treasured connections with friends. They are a blessing to me. I regularly receive loving feedback and comments from people all over the world.
I used to perform at an open mic, but now I perform from my own bedroom. Even though I can play as often as I want, I’ve chosen to play once a week – on Sundays at 6 pm.
It might sound strange to talk and play to a computer screen; there’s no applause or a host introducing me. But after four years and hundreds of performances I’ve adjusted.
When I finish my hour of singing, I feel peaceful and filled with amazement that I pulled it off. That’s because I have a lot of chords and words to remember each week.
The effort I put into recording has been a constant in my life now for the last decade.
Sometimes it’s tedious and tiring. And yet, there are those magical moments when the beauty of what I’ve created leaves me tearful and overwhelmed by emotion.
I would like to share more about my process with blue audio links that play what I am describing.
My first step was to create a guitar arrangement for each song. I recorded five separate parts: low guitar, high guitar, strums, harmonics, and nylon guitar.
Harmonics were a wonderful way to create a different sound on the guitar – they sounded like bells.
When I began recording all my songs three years ago, I didn’t have a grasp of the harmonic notes. I only occasionally added them to the intro or solo area. But as time went by, I put them almost everywhere in my songs. They were very subtle, but added a wonderful effect.
These are harmonic notes for my song “Farewell.”
During the time I was recording guitar parts, I sang vocals along with the low guitar. I recorded at least a dozen vocal takes and worked with those to find the best parts.
There’s something about the vocal and guitar that is very different from the vocal and arrangement. Both of them are special to me and I release them separately.
Alone Vocal & Arrangement 2026
Once I completed the guitar arrangement, I set up a session with my arranger, Devin Farney. His talent was extraordinary. Piano was his “forte,” but he was also quite knowledgeable about creating the other instrumental parts.
In only an hour, he played about 12 different tracks. They were in the digital format of midi, which allowed me to edit them and choose what sound I wanted for that track.
Devin came up with magnificent piano parts for this song. Below is a guitar and piano version where I creatively combined three different tracks of piano. For the arrangement, I used an electric piano sound that worked well with a less involved piano part.
I didn’t expect much from my 50-year-old song composition “Alone.” It had no chorus or hook; it was sad. However, I wanted to honor this poetic ballad with a recording, as I did with all my other songs.
Those chords I composed as a teenager really grabbed my heart. They hauntingly captured a cold and lonely moment so long ago.
A few weeks have gone by without any music recording.
With my newfound free time, I’m writing again. I realize that I haven’t written or shared much on my blogs for a while.
I’ve been working on releasing lots of new tracks on the app Insight Timer, as well as other platforms.
I find myself longing for something to record again – something new would be magical. I even signed myself up a week long songwriters’ retreat in June. That will certainly be an adventure for me!
Could I discover some new music?
A few chords have already begun to form . . .
myjourneysinsight 