Songwriting camp in Stony Point NY - Summer Songs

 I recently spent six days in Stony Point, NY at the Summer Songs songwriting camp. Had a great time. Did my first co-write, first time on stage with a singer, first duet.

Worked on a few things, the original song was Crazy for Loving You, a cowrite with Rhetta Collier.

https://youtu.be/J0McvcfXFYk?is=ABU7611TzGQQ4lev

Not sure why this song isn't showing on my channel, billchin-bw4zz

https://www.youtube.com/@billchin-bw4zz

Anyway, I am happy with the way the end result. 

A bit more about the camp, about 60 attendees. Median age, skews older. Maybe 8 people under age 30, many are recent retirees. Camp involves classes in the morning, song circles, performances on the main stage, plus a few other group events. It isn't cheap, but isn't expensive for six days of camp, meals and accommodations.

Guitar progress Winter Dreamland and more

It's been a while since I posted. I made some progress on guitar. I now have three guitars, the entry level Enya Go, a mid level Ibanez, the third is a Taylor GS Mini.

My original song Winter Dreamland is quite a bit better than my song Kindness of a Stranger a year earlier.

I am in the slow learner category. Many three month beginners can do more than I can at 21 months. I am enjoying the journey and enjoy what I can do. Certain skills such as lyric writing and arranging, are well developed from my many years on other instruments.

I participated in February Album Writing Month 2026. Mostly I did skirmishes. These are one hour songwriting prompts with an unofficial deadline of one hour to write and record. I am still very much a beginner on guitar, so little chance I can record in that time frame. I did try and complete the lyrics in the hour. I found some remarkably deep lyrics from seemingly random prompts.

A few more that I like:

Nobody Sees Me

Sun and Reign

Action not Words (Acta non Verba)

Quiet Desperation

Translucent Heart

Winter Dreamland

New guitar Ibanez AAM300CE

 With the stock market at new all time highs, a small reward for me. I buy a second guitar, an Ibanez AAM300CE. It features a spruce top, mahogany sides and back, and a larger audio hole in the top. It is a bit smaller than a dreadnought.

Here is a short with me playing My Favorite Things

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JftpqQ4RHMY

Five songs: Heal a Broken World

EP title Heal a Broken World. These are my five favorite submissions for February Album Writing Month. The other nine (out of 14) are in the next post B-side.

Here is a link to my YouTube channel

https://www.youtube.com/@billchin-bw4zz

Five song titles: 

Kindness of Strangers

Thy Will Be Done

Glory

Hand of Jesus

Hitchhiker’s Testimony

Verse and chorus for Kindness of Strangers

When lightning fills the sky or the streets are full of danger, I hope for someone like you. When my car is broken down, or I’m feeling broken hearted, I hope for someone like  you.

The kindness of a stranger can heal a broken world. You can make a different today.

Verse and chorus for Hand of Jesus

Are you lost without a compass? Are you circling in the dark? Do you need a new direction? Are you hiding in the crowd?

Will you take the hand of Jesus if he speaks to you out loud?

You can hear him in your dreams, You can hear him when you wake, He is calling out your name. Come home. Come home.

Verse and chorus for Thy Will Be Done

I ttravel to the desert to lift some grains of sand. I look up to the sun and feel a greater hand. I hear a voice around me, Tell me, Tell me son. Tell me all your troubles and let my will be done.

I tell my troubles to the Lord, with an open heart. I trust that he will guide me, a beacon in the dark. God is here to walk with me, Let Thy Will be done.

Glory is an instrumental here, but I wrote these lyrics:

In the stillness of the morning, feel his presence, call his name. Dear Lord Jesus, I surrender my decisions to your grace.

In His Glory, Christ the king. He is risen, praise his name.

Lyrics for Hitchhiker’s Testimony

I stick out my thumb in the morning mist, Nobody sees me, Nobody cares. Here I am on the road of life, Nobody sees me, Nobody care. 

A car appears out the mist. Driver asks Do you need any help? I ask for a ride to town. We get to talking and I share my concerns about my loneliness. Driver says, I am headed to church, come in and sit for a while.

When I sit down the driver is gone. The lesson is from Matthew:

I am with you always

With that line, I start to cry. After the sermon the pastor stops by.  He asks how I got to town. I tell him Tracy gave me a ride. He says, there is nobody here by that name.

It dawns on me, what happened. God sent an angel for me. Saved my life. That’s why I believe.

In my ear I hear the driver’s voice:

I am with you always

FAWM B-side February Album Writing Month

I participate in February Album Writing Month FAWM. The stated goal is 14 new original songs for the month. 

This entry has some of the are lower quality recordings and song sketches:

Link to my YouTube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/@billchin-bw4zz

Things are Rough All Over, line from the book The Outsiders. I write about two people that tried to kill themselves. True tales from the front of the war against mentail illness.

Your Private Idaho 2: Main person is tormented. Describes life as a private hell. Trades places for a day with a happy person. He realizes, he brings his demons with him where ever he goes. Doesn’t matter if he goes to a happy, peaceful place, the demons are in his mind. This tries to capture the nature of severe mental illness.

Break Up in F Minor, Fictional breakup song within a song. Two songwriters are involved, and one records a Dear John type of song to break up. First time I sing and play the piano ever.

Unresponsive, Blink if you can Hear Me. Fictional account of an ex who gets called by the hospital. Could be a several years later follow up to Break Up in F minor. The former partner is unresponsive with no other visitors. Visitor sings a song, remembering the happy times, trying to get a response.

Wish You Came with Instructions. Fictional story about a single dad trying to cope with his baby daughter after mom dies during child birth.

May a Star Shine Upon You-Elen Siluva Llena. One line of Elvish for Lord of the Ring fans. Please forgive my pronunciation of Quenya

Place Holder in Your Heart, Songwriters often use place holder lyrics. Most famous all time is Yesterday by the Beatles, which started with the place holder, Scrambled Eggs. This song is about being a place holder in a relationship. Person suspects that he/she is just there until someone better comes along. 

Circle of Crows and a Tiger. One of the first people to follow me during FAWM (February Album Writing Month) has the screen name GlassCrow. A song sketch with mystical crows communicating with the Tiger (me).

Dance with the Holy Spirit. Light hearted song about dancing away your worries

What it means to be a Christian

 I'm excited to post my first full guitar song, What it Means to be a Christian

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJZ29LAC1ms

Lyrics:

What does it mean to be a Christian?

What does it mean to believe?

What does it mean to be a Christian?

What does it mean to be believe?

God the Father, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirt, God of Light

Can I be honest? Can I be kind?

Honor my parents, let my light shine

Can I love mercy, Can I act justly

Can I walk humbly with my God?

How does it feel to be a Christian?

How does it feel to believe?

How does it feel to be a Christian?

How does it feel to believe?

Can I feel faithful? Can I feel grateful?

Can I feel joy inside?

Can I feel loved? Can I feel peace?

Can I feel blessed?

Jesus Christ died for me on a cross at Calvary

So I can feel faithful. I can feel grateful.

I can feel joy inside.

I can be honest, I can be kind,

Honor my parents, let my light shine

I am a Christian, let my light shine…

Bible references

Matthew 5:15-16 Let Your Light Shine

Micah 6:8 Act Justly, Love mercy, walk humbly with God

New guitar: Father's Day message--Secret to life

I bought a guitar, an acoustic carbon fiber travel guitar made by Enya.

I posted 33 seconds of me playing and singing. I am a beginner beginner so could not get clean notes on the frets. I sound okay because the left hand is doing nothing. The capo on 2 is doing all the work.

The song is a variation on a Faith Hill song Secret to Life. I changed the music and message to make it a Father's Day message.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/__fs-PlzChk

Church Bells in Dublin (penny whistle)

 I uploaded my penny whistle original, Church Bells in Dublin to YouTube.

Susato brand whistle recorded on Iphone SE.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SigaZOXjy8

Into the Meadow Piano World ABF 50th recital

Into the Meadow is in C major. To me, has the feel of spring.

It is my submission for the 50th Adult Beginners Forum Recital link1

The Piano World Adult Beginners forum has had amateur virtual recitals every quarter for over 12 years now.

Direct download is link2

Enjoy.

Natalie's Lullabye Aug 2017 recital

I take the opening from Natalie Merchant's song, Verdi Cries, and develop the theme. The result is Natalie's Lullabye (link1). Key of D, short and sweet.

A live recording of Ms. Merchant singing Verdi Cries and playing piano is at this YouTube link.

Echoes of the Seven, Game of Thrones

Light of the Seven is from the TV show Game of Thrones. Ramin Djawadi wrote the original. 

I took the starting phrases and composed recorded what a peice that I call Echoes of the Seven. The recording is part of the May 2017 Piano World virtual recital (link1). The direct download is at Box (link2).

Enjoy.

Noah and the Raven

I recorded this in November 2016 for the Piano World recital (link1). It has been raining a lot here in Southern California. The song/tune is about Noah and his conversations with a Raven. Noah is famous for building an ark. The Raven is a symbol of his self doubt. Here is the link to the MP3 (link2).

Gemini August ABF recital

Gemini is my August recital piece. The title comes from the call and response structure to the piece, reminding me of twins. It is in the key of C, recorded on a Casio PX150 digital piano. I use Audacity to boost the volume.

MP3 link. The Adult beginners recital with the many participants is at link2.

Enjoy.

The Capistrano suite

The Capistrano suite is three short piano pieces. They are inspired by the swallows of San Juan Capistrano. They return to San Juan Capistrano (Southern California) in March, and leave for Argentina in October.

The old mission building circa 1776 is sometimes used by the nesting birds. The town celebrates the return of the swallows on St. Joseph's Day (March 19th).

There are three movements, about six minutes total:

Leaving Capistrano (in Bb)

Light as a Feather 

Clear Blue Sky

Here is the link to the mp3. This my May recital piece for Piano World (recital 42). The recital isn't live quite yet, but here is a link to the forum (link2). Enjoy.

Clear Blue Sky - live

I've been writing music for a while now, long beyond my four years on piano. Clear Blue Sky is some of my best work (mp3). This is from a live performance, recorded at Namaste Cafe in January 2016. It is a Kimball grand piano, with a mic, pumped through a p/a system, recorded on a voice recorder. Kudos to the sound man for helping make such a clean sounding field recording. It is part of the Adult Beginners Forum virtual piano recital for February (#27 at link2).

Rainbow revisited

For the 40th Adult Beginners Forum recital, one suggestion was to revisit an early piece. Somewhere Over the Rainbow was one of the first pieces I learned when I started in March of 2012. Here is the link to the new version (link). Enjoy.

The Southwind (old Irish folk tune)

The Southwind was one of the first tunes I learned on pennywhistle. I adapted it for piano. Here is the link

It is my contribution to the August 2015 Adult Beginners Forum recital. The entire recital can be played at link2

Enjoy.

Con Te Partiro (Time to Say Goodbye)

My May 2015 ABF recital piece is Con Te Partiro. Instrument is a Casio PX150 digital piano. This time I recorded on board, then played back "live" and recorded the audio to a voice recorder. Hopefully, this makes for a recording with more life.

Here is the link to the MP3 (link).  Piano lovers can find the entire recital of over 50 submissions at link2.

From the Wiki

"Con te partirò" (literally "I will leave with you") is an Italian song written by Francesco Sartori (music) and Lucio Quarantotto (lyrics). It was first performed by Andrea Bocelli at the 1995 Sanremo Festival and recorded on his album of the same year, Bocelli. The single was first released as an A-side single with "Vivere" in 1995, topping the charts, first in France, where it became one of the best selling singles of all time, and then in Belgium, breaking the all-time record sales there.

A second version of the song, sung partly in English, released in 1996 as "Time to Say Goodbye", paired Bocelli with English soprano Sarah Brightman, and achieved even greater success, topping charts all across Europe, including Germany, where it became the biggest-selling single in history. Brightman and Bocelli produced a version with Brightman singing in German and Bocelli in Italian, with this version being available on the CD Time to Say Goodbye. That version alone has now sold more than 12 million copies worldwide, making it one of best-selling singles of all time.

Mockingbird, February 2015 ABF virtual recital.

New upload is called Mockingbird. I started with a left hand motif and developed it. It is in C minor. The title comes from the call and response nature of some phrases, which remind me of how mockingbirds imitate other bird calls. Link1 to MP3 at box.net.

I submitted this for the February 2015 ABF recital. Those that love piano music can listen to 60+ piano uploads by other amateurs with this online player (link2 to text thread, link3 to player).

Between Raindrops C minor

The most popular word used in song titles is almost certainly "love." Second or third is probably "rain." There is something about rain that evokes emotion. This is recorded on a Casio PX150 digital piano set on half bright, half classic. I pipe it to the computer then use Audacity to boost the volume level of the recording. Here is the link to the MP3.

I submitted this to the Piano World Adult Beginners November recital. Here is more about that link2.  I am on the second page of submissions. Even though, it says Beginners, many are accomplished pianos with five, 10 or more years of experience.