Posted : 11/03/2022
3 min. read
Posted 11/03/2022Sheltered
The Scene
Since April 2020 (the decade that was that month!) we haven't had our wonderful cleaners come to our house. It's now December, 2020. We're still unvaccinated and sheltering at home, but, things have loosened a bit. It is now okay to have cleaners and others come to your house.1 Normally, we head out on a walk to get out of their way and be separate as much as possible, but we hadn't left yet.
Today, the muse was using their vacuum. From upstairs came the drone of the vacuum cleaner, I mean the muse, and I rushed over to the piano. I thought of Percy Grainger's Immovable Do2 and that was how I started approaching the piece. Instead of a very high C stuck on the organ, it was a less high B coming from upstairs! The melody and chords came out differently, as one would hope when writing something original. I was surprised that all of the notes were just flowing out of me. Eventually, the vacuuming was complete, but notes still kept coming out. I finally took a break, and when I came back the next day more notes came out!
I eventually started getting crafty with it. "Hmm, what if I take this beginning melody and do something different with it here? What happens if I just throw my fingers down on the keyboard as if I was comping in a jazz group instead of composing a serious piece?"
When I got to the end, I felt it was done. I hadn't been able to write something that quickly in some time. And, it felt worthwhile.
My wife, Nancy, asked me what that piece was I was playing and I said it's something I just wrote. She said, I want to play it! So, I got a part ready for Alto Sax for us to play and it sounded pretty good like that! That's probably the way this particular version of it should be done. Although, solo piano works too!
I decided early on that this would make a good wind band piece. I thought, "It sounds too much like it's trying to unsuccessfully rip-off Sheltering Sky by John Mackey3." I decided, too bad. The muse spoke to me and this is my piece. If it never makes it to a wind band piece, so be it.
There was no name for this piece yet—well, it was Vacuum Cleaner Song #1, but that'll never stick right4? Nancy and I talked a bit and thought, we've been sheltered in place during the pandemic and perhaps Sheltered is an appropriate title! Once again, a bit close to Sheltering Sky but, it isn't even close to how good that piece is, really. Go listen to it, or watch it!
Is it original?
After a few days, Nancy realized that the opening motif was actually the song Wait Til the Sun Shines Nellie5. We both thought, what a great sentiment for being sheltered in place! I thought of this as a composition that uses a folk song, or in this case, an older pop tune, for inspiration. It went through the copyright process okay!
Play it!
It looks like a jazz chart because that's how I approached it originally. It should sound like a classical piece but really, the accompaniment can be improvised. Think of the chords as figured bass I guess.
Original Key
The original key of E major, based on the drone of the vacuum cleaner that day. It's not great for woodwinds but works well on piano!
Up a half step
Let's try it up a half step in F major. This is the key I started writing a wind band arrangement in.
Attributions
Photo by Yohann LIBOT (@yohannlibot) on Unsplash
- Not a doctor! For us, it worked out and we never got COVID but we were, and are, quite careful. Wear a mask!↩
- Remember when you used to have to buy music you wanted to hear on vinyl, CDs, etc.? Anyway...↩
- I am a Mackey-head though!↩
- Coming soon, Vacuum Cleaner Song #2!↩
- Written by Harry Von Tilzer, Lyrics by Andrew B. Sterling↩