Yesterday was Public Domain Day! It's a happy day for music arrangers like me who get a new set of songs to arrange for the year, royalty-free! Newly-released Embraceable You by George and Ira Gershwin is so romantic, with a beautiful engaging melody. Though I'm not a fan of Ira's lyric, "Don't be a naughty baby, Come to papa do," I can forgive this cringy, chauvinistic phrase, because the rest of his lyrics are gorgeous. Don't you love the term "embrace?" It sounds so much more sensual than...

Greensleeves is one of the most popular and one of the oldest songs in the western world; everyone knows it, yet music historians estimate that it was written back in the late 1500s! Also known as What Child is This with a different set of lyrics, it's a beautiful song we sing at Christmastime. There is a simple arrangement of Greensleeves in my Upper Hands Piano: BOOK 3 (p.32, with a discussion about suspended chords) so I thought it would be great to provide you with a more advanced...

🍁 We Gather Together 🍁 a traditional Dutch hymn, is a celebrated part of the American Thanksgiving tradition. In 2020 my daughter and I wrote a verse of contemporary lyrics just for fun, and I sent out an easy arrangement to my subscribers. This year I wanted to revisit the song with a new arrangement in a new key: B-flat (2 flats) which I think will be more singable, and a good key to get familiar with, as many popular pieces are in the "flat keys." I also added a moving bass line to...