A Friend

This very special song is a bonus song for our subscribers. It was written as an ode to the friendship between the writer and her dear friend, Jo Joyce. Since this is the issue that corresponds to Valentine's Day, however, we thought it might be appropriate to include it here. For many older students who have outgrown the cute little cards, but who aren't old enough for the romantic aspects of Valentine's Day, friendship is the perfect focus.

The piano accompaniment is not much more than an outline of the chords. A good deal of fluidity and freedom of movement is recommended if you prefer to play it on piano. If you have guitarists to perform it, that's even better. On our recording, we used several layers of guitars, including two acoustic guitars, a twelve string, and a mandolin. Each layer has a unique sound and performs a unique texture.

The trumpet solo is indicated in cues on the piano/vocal part. This solo could be played by any C instrument as is, or it could be transposed according to your needs. The solo was written for a trumpet for a couple of reasons: 1) Jo is a trumpet player, and 2), we had a very fine trumpet player joining us for this recording session (John Rommel) and we wanted to utilize his talent well.

We also decided to feature a vocal soloist instead of using an entire chorus. Our soloist was not a child, at least not any more. Melissa Schott was one of the singers who began with us way back when. Now she is a college student and is pursuing a career in music. As you can hear, she has matured very well. We asked her to perform this song for us when we heard she was in town during our session. Of course, you can have a choir or ensemble perform the piece as you wish. Or, you can choose to feature one of your talented soloists as well. Stylistically, Melissa sets a fine example.