I apologize for not sharing more about my music. Performing live sessions on Insight Timer has been really wonderful for me. I’ve been practicing all of my songs, which has been time consuming.
I’ve continued to slowly write another course for Insight Timer. Just choosing the songs has been so sweet. There are many stories I could tell about every one of my songs!
For this post, I am sharing two song lessons I’ve recently completed.
Both my songs “Never Gone Away” and “With Me” have lovely melodies. My piano arranger did a great job with both of them. I share a clip for each song. They start with a creative ambient version that is followed by the more faithful melody.
To read my lessons, I am attaching the main song story links where there are also performances and older recordings.
I am excited to share my interview with Brian Smith. My beautiful healing journey continues and I hope my story will help anyone navigating grief to hang on to hope.
I was choosing songs to write about for another course on Insight Timer and this was my first song choice. I wrote my lesson and contacted my piano arranger to create beautiful piano for “You Were There.” He did not disappoint. Above, are the melody and ambient versions of his work. I did considerable editing to bring the music into my heart.
Both the ambient clips, (which followed the chords and feeling of my song) and melody clips were so gorgeous – that I decided to release them as part of a meditation track on Insight Timer.
My course is underway and for this post I am sharing these two sweet piano clips, as well as my updated slideshow with a vocal.
To read my lesson, here is the main song link for “You Were There.” There are also many stories I wrote while composing my song, as well as recordings.
Below are three of my most recent releases on Insight Timer. (The most recent one is a combination of melodies from both my courses on Insight Timer.) They can be accessed by clicking on the image:
HEALING PIANO MELODIES
MAGICAL PIANO – SONGS OF HEALING & HOPE PART 2
SONGS OF HEALING & HOPE MAGICAL PIANO COMPLETE
My magical piano tracks are related to a new course that is not yet available on Insight Timer. It is named “Songs of Healing & Hope.” More about my course can be found on the second menu for “Courses” at the top of this site.
It is interesting for me how much I’ve enjoyed creating solo piano. I am a guitarist and don’t even know how to play piano!
But I have found the world of editing piano to be magical. Every single midi note on the computer makes a difference – whether it’s sustained or it’s velocity is soothed.
I asked my talented piano arranger to give me two different types of piano styles for each of the 10 songs associated with my course. One was a melody clip, which had an intro, verse, chorus and tag. I planned to use that clip at the end of each song lesson for my course. The second, was a creative “ambient” version. I used those clips as sweet notes that floated in the background of my lessons.
Whenever I received my arranger’s rough recordings, I immediately immersed myself within the notes. For melody clips, I attempted to make them as faithful to my guitar version as possible. I’d sing the melody aloud, and when words caused notes to repeat, I would simplify it. I’d also change chords if they didn’t quite match the guitar notes I wanted.
Every melody clip I worked on quickly became my favorite. If I had to pick my top three, they would be: Music Saved Me, Angel in the Sky, and The Unknown. To hear those melodies, as well as clips from my first course, go to this link about my recent track release of “Healing Piano Melodies.”
The ambient/creative clips were incredibly unique. I fell in love with them, even though they weren’t always reminiscent of my song. But with careful listening I could usually find subtle chords and melodies hiding in them.
Piano editing was a lot like working on a jigsaw puzzle. I condensed 15 minutes of piano into five minutes or less. I listened to multiple motifs and excised sections that I liked. Connecting all the pieces required different tempos, ritards and great patience. Below are my three favorites for Take Me Away, My Dream and The Unknown.
Once my course was finished, I wanted to put the clips together to form a meditation track. There were 20 clips and I entertained different possibilities for combining them. I could have a track of only melodies and another one comprised of ambient clips. But after a lot of listening, I decided that I liked a mixture. Many people appreciated longer tracks for meditation; all the clips together would have been over an hour. I decided instead, to create two tracks with five songs/10 clips each.
Being a professional illustrator has some advantages. I hardly paint anymore, and prefer playing around with Photoshop. Just for fun, I’ll share some of my cover designs I fooled around with.
Below is an earlier release of solo piano with the same format for my first Insight Timer Course: “Healing Grief Through Music.” Clicking on the image accesses the meditation track.
This has been a challenging time for so many people, myself included. I am grateful for having healing music in my life. I picked the word magical because it evoked joy and lifted my spirits. I love sharing the music that soothes and comforts me.
I loved these roses so much, that I had to stop and take a picture.
I hear those piano clips playing in my mind all the time. It elevates my life.
For almost a year now, I’ve been working on the ten acoustic songs that comprise “Door To My Heart” Medley. The versions with vocals have been delayed, as I haven’t been singing very much. The piano guitar medley is very close to being finished.
Releasing solo guitar has been a recent venture of mine; the result is soothing and especially appreciated by my Insight Timer audience.
Some of the songs for this medley were recorded two years ago, but I have new versions of several of them. My most recent one was for “Watching You Grow,” and the tempo is considerably slower.
I did sing a vocal for the above song. To see it with a very personal slideshow, click here: Watching You Grow Slideshow
I’ve just completed a new course named“Songs of Healing and Hope.”Several other new meditation tracks will be coming out soon based on this course. Although my course is not yet published on Insight Timer, it is available for purchase on Bandcamp.
I might move forward to create a new course based on the lyrics to “Door To My Heart” songs. It would be such a joy to create another course!
I love this image that a friend shared with me for my “Door” song cover.
My moments of joy come whenever I work with Bobby. He is such a talented pianist. Bobby always says things that lift my heart up. With his musical training and my lack of it – I am beyond flattered whenever he compliments my songs. Examples of his enthusiasm come through with comments like: “Judy, do you realize what an amazing key change you have here?” or “I love this chord – please play it for me on your guitar” or “Your song is incredibly moving and I want to know all about it.” No wonder I loved working with him!
Bobby has been helping me add piano to the ten songs for a new course to be released soon on Insight Timer. It is named “Songs of Healing and Hope.”
For every one of the ten songs, we create two distinctly different piano solos. One follows the melody and the other I call “ambient.” The ambient clip isn’t actually ambient – it is just a creative interpretation of my song. Bobby has been very successful working on film scores and his improvisations always blow my mind. He gives me multiple motifs and each one is magical. The pleasure of editing his ideas to create a solo piano journey for my song is indescribable. Here I am, a guitarist – and now piano editing has encompassed my energy.
My new course is almost finished – we have only one song left. The piano clips add so much to my lessons. Trying to decide where to add music to my speaking is truly a creative joy. I also plan to create a piano meditation track of all the songs. I have already released a medley of the songs with guitar, as well as guitar and piano. The link to more about that is on my last post.
My song “In The Past” ends with this line: “Things that made me cry, gave me wings to fly.” To read more lyrics, stories, and hear performances and other recordings: https://myjourneysinsight.com/in-the-past/
“Wings to fly” is a lovely image that especially helps me during this difficult time. Please stay safe everyone.
Below are the two clips from my course lesson for “In The Past.”
“In the Past” Ambient Clip:
“In the Past” Melody Clip:
This silhouette is definitely from my past. I was 20 years old when it was taken.
Every lesson for my course incorporates musical clips: old arrangements, guitar mixes and piano solos. I have hire an arranger to help me create the piano clips and it’s fun. We do two different clips; one is more ambient and the other is faithful to my song’s melody. Each lesson ends with a piano solo melody clip.
Below is a medley of the melody piano clips for the first five lessons. Thank you for stopping by and I pray for everyone to emerge from this dark time with their health intact. The losses are staggering and I feel the collective weight of grief. It is horrifying to think about.
My life’s passion and energy has been devoted to maintaining hope of healing. I will continue on my path. Stay safe and sending my love.
January 23, 2020
I caught a terrible chest cold in early December and am still coughing. I would say I’ve been concentrating on healing for many months now. My life is calm and peaceful. I record guitar songs and work on piano additions to them. I have a few that i am simply enjoying recently. Below are new guitar recordings for my songs “Someone to Love You” and “How We Don’t Care.”
I went with my daughter to Huntington library last week. It was simply a gorgeous day and I appreciated that I could walk again!
December 1, 2019
I recently released three new meditation tracks on Insight Timer. The first one is named “Healing Guitar Dreams” and the image above is the cover for this track. It consists of a solo guitar medley of three of my previously released songs: Healing Song, Waterfall Dreams and Farewell.
The other two meditation tracks are a medley of ten of my songs. One is with vocals and the other is guitar and piano. My Insight Timer page link shares more about these medleys: Songs of Wonder – Vocal Medley & Guitar/Piano Medley
(Below are the covers for the medleys, which are illustrations of mine.
I am elated to have finished recording the last of my 52 acoustic songs
My newest project is one that I am very excited about. I have been enjoying a slightly different process of creating meditation tracks, which began with my new version of “Healing Song.” Instead of recording my guitar and adding in piano, I am doing the reverse. I had my arranger, Devin, create a lovely piano solo for my track “Farewell Love Song” and I am going to record a new guitar track that complements it. This process is definitely different for me and a lot of fun. I share a brief excerpt of the piano solo below, which is quite beautiful:
Thank you for checking out my music. It continues to fuel my joy and helps me greatly as I am healing from a broken ankle. I celebrated Thanksgiving with extreme gratefulness for all my blessings!
October 25, 2019
It has been a month now since I’ve been able to walk again. I recently celebrated my 60th birthday and it was a very joyful occasion of being surrounded by my dearest friends.
I have continued to forge ahead with new meditation tracks for Insight Timer. Recently I released a new version of an earlier track named “Healing Song.” I had a beautiful intro and outtro added, courtesy of my piano arranger, Devin. His talent is enormous and made my song amazing. I created a shorter version of my track to share as an audio excerpt:
I am getting close to finishing my last acoustic song. I create guitar, vocal and piano duet versions for almost every one of my songs.
I share my most recent one named “Only Tears.” Below is the guitar mix, a vocal mix, and guitar/piano mix for this song.
Judy Unger Music 