Musivangelists Club NEW

Actually, YES! You totally can.

I’ve spent my career as a composer seeking out, studying, dissecting, and applying all the tantalizing musical "feels" I can learn and inserting them into my own music as often as possible.

I used many of these musical “warm fuzzy” secrets when composing my 2 operas for the John F. Kennedy Center, my Chilean suite of piano pieces for my Carnegie Hall debut, a full-scale Mass for the Catholic Church in Poland, Sacred Cantatas for my St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Cincinnati, and many other works and performing ensembles.

I also use them each time I compose a hymn arrangement, Ward Choir piece, Primary Song, or any other Sacrament Meeting music.

First and foremost, I want you to realize that this is a 2-part equation. To create powerful testimony-building music, you need CRAFT and INSPIRATION. You cannot succeed with only one of these two equal parts.

Now, I know that you know how to get inspired by the Spirit. I have no doubt in my mind about that.

But how is your craft? Do you have the sharpened tools at your disposal to, when the Spirit moves you, turn those feelings into solid, resonant, powerful music?

I'm certain you have some degree of craft in you. If you can play the hymns and primary songs, you absolutely do.

But you need to understand that...

That is to say, you need to trade off doing some "learning" and some "doing."

This is why I regularly offer many Live Workshops, so you can sharpen your "Craft of Composition" with me by your side as you compose Primary Songs, Hymns, Arrangements, Cantatas, and more.

But where will you get your ongoing "Craft of Harmony" practice? That's what I am showing you on this page.

Before I get into the details, I want to acknowledge that you may have some DOUBTS too. You may doubt that you have what it takes to write spirit-filled, testimony-drenched music.

So before I go into how I'm going to help you build a solid craft to fuel your inspiration, I want you to hear me loud and clear...

I've seen it over and over again with my students. I KNOW you can do this because, I know you have desires to serve. Therefore, you are called to the work... just like is says in D&C 4 about missionary work. This is just another form of the missionary effort. One that can penetrate hearts that might otherwise NEVER be softened. And I'm going to do everything I can to sharpen your craft and help you believe in YOURSELF, so you can bring the world His truth as much as possible!

Okay, now, let's get into the nitty-gritty...

I'm going to help you write powerful testimony-building music by honing your "Craft of Composition" and "Craft of Harmony" inside this program.

It's a 12-module course that teaches you an entire year's worth of college theory, but in a more simplified, easier-to-understand way. When I host this course as a live workshop, it's $795 to join. It teaches you the exact methods the great composers use to write powerful, spirit-filled music.

The study of good voice-leading is as important to writing music as studying the Book of Mormon is to a missionary.

This course is designed to give you a firm foundation of musical grammar, syntax, and fundamentals of writing that stand the test of time, no matter what style of music you write. Plus, it includes assignments for each module and answer keys.

The 4 types of motion and how to use them without committing the most common voice-leading errors. How to avoid motion that goes against the grain of acoustic properties, giving your music an empty, emotionless sound.

A 3-step process for creating any and all kinds of suspension between voices (suspensions are those greatly fulfilling steps at the end of the piece that bring the music home... like at the end of "I'm Trying To Be Like Jesus").

How to properly leap without causing your musical line to crack. Why common tones are your best friends when moving from one chord to the next. Plus, I'll show you what you should always do next after leaping in your bassline to a dissonant interval.

The most fundamental chord progression and how to keep it interesting with the "principle of prolongation."

What never to double in your first inversion "dominant 7th" chords, and why Mozart, Bach, and all the others avoided this voice-leading taboo.

When landing firmly on the WRONG note, and on a big downbeat, is one of the most delicious things you can possibly do in your 4-part writing. Plus, how to turn a "whoops, I got there too early" mistake in one of your 4 parts into an opportunity for a lush resolution of a phrase.

A semi-dark-chocolate chord to tastefully create a rich and warm texture.

The Beatles' "Hey Jude" secret to extending this hit song by shifting harmonic solar systems via the Sub-Tonic Chord.

One of my personal favorites, and often used in my Church music... How to use the Sub-Tonic as a quasi-Dominant 7th resolution to freshen up your harmonic landscape.

The "switch-a-roo" favorite chord of Schubert (which I'm particularly partial to as well) that makes the mediant so loverly (well, one of the reasons).

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The writing of powerful melodies is one of the most important tools in your testimony-music toolkit.

Each month, I will select a great melody from various eras and genres. Sometimes they will be great melodies by classical composers. But they can also include melodies from the Great American Songbook, from the musical theater tradition, from pop music, and film scores.

The ongoing study of great melody writing will help you sharpen your sword of the spirit as you continue to write music to leave a testimony legacy for your family.

Perhaps the most challenging part of writing powerful testimony music and Sacrament Meeting music is the writing of the piano accompaniment.

To help you increase your powers of musical soundscaping, each month, you will receive a piano mantra (which is like a temple for piano accompaniment writing) along with various ways in which I personally would use this piano mantra... including... using this piano mantra along with the Chord Progression of the Month.

This is one of the most useful, most helpful types of tools I can give you. And, you are welcome to steal, model, and/or use exactly as I've written them in your own music, if you'd like to.

These courses are like the harmony gospel, according to Dr. Doug. If you enrolled in a university program... where I used to teach... it would take at least 2 years to go through this amount of courses. But you have access to them all whenever you need them, and at your own pace!

You can skip around, dive into different tutorials you want to learn from, and even complete harmony exercises included. I've even included answer keys to the exercises so you can check your work.

Included in this library, you'll discover the following courses...

Complete Chord Library. Short, easy-to-use video tutorials of all diatonic chords and the "most common" chromatic chords. Plus, you'll learn how to plug them into the Harmonic Progression Chart so you know where to take each chord next.

Composing Melodies & Variations. In this tutorial, you'll dig into how great melodies are composed. Without melody, music wouldn't stick nearly as well. And neither would the gospel message set to music. Now you can learn to craft more powerful melodies and know how to develop them through the power of "variation" technique, just like the master composers.

Intro To Harmony. Need to start from the very beginning? This is the place to start! You'll get a solid foundation in the fundamentals of harmony right from the very beginning. This will prepare you perfectly for the rest of the courses inside the Club.

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What will life be like a year from now when your grandchildren can gather around the piano and sing the Primary Songs or Hymn Arrangements you composed? How will it change their lives and help them through struggles on their missions, in marriage, throughout life?

What will it mean to you to leave such a powerful testimony legacy?

If you’re ready to start filling your mind and heart regularly with great musical ideas you can use in your original pieces, I hope you’ll consider clicking the green button below to become a member of the Musivangelist's Club.

I’ll see you on the inside,

PS - Where will you be a year from now? Or 2? Or 5?

Will you continue feeling like you wish you could write Church music that helped build testimonies?

Or will you have written several primary songs, hymns, arrangements, and more? Pieces your family can keep with them. Pieces that will leave an imprint of your testimony on them for years to come?

It's true, you don't need a fancy degree to write meaningful, beautiful Church music. What you need is just enough guidance to help you give a musical voice to your testimony in a kind, supportive way writing alongside others like you.

The Musivangelist's Club is a wonderful family of like-minded LDS music enthusiasts working together to bring the world His truth.

Let's make sure the songs you're supposed to write and sing don't get left inside you when your journey comes to a close.

Enter your information below to enroll today in the Musivangelist's Club.

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