Track 003 | In My Memory | Solemn Slade

A bright, almost singable, instrumental track filled with optimism and nostalgia

Though this song has been out for awhile now, I’ve just added new resources for it, including a performance video, sheet music, and stems. I’ve been building these beautiful song pages here on Substack and since this song has been getting some action on social media, I thought I’d give it the royal treatment here. As always, please let me know what you think about it in the comments below.

A bright and lighthearted, almost singable, instrumental track filled with optimism and nostalgia. The ambling figures in the piano communicate a mind filled with wonderful memories like a cool stream of water filling a canteen. The melody, from its tender entrance through its widening development to its triumphant climax, beckons the listener to see their memories in new ways and embark on the adventure of making new ones.

late summer roses by Anthony Ball

Many of you know that I also play guitar and I love singer/songwriter music. There’s a way of picking chords on a guitar that you’ll hear often in this genre (here’s an example). It provides forward motion without the percussive energy of full on strumming. Years ago, when I was working out a piano cover of Phoebe Bridgers’ song, Funeral, I stumbled on a way of reproducing this technique on the piano (watch the cover here) and since then I’ve utilized it often when covering guitar-driven songs like this one.

But I had never used this technique in a composition, so I decided to give it a try. I noodled around some chords and began experimenting with a melody on top. Sure enough, the melody that soon developed became as tuneful as the kinds of music that inspired its accompaniment. And once the ball got rolling, the song pretty well wrote itself.

I love how it turned out. It’s a side of me that I don’t often express. It’s sweet. It’s nostalgic. It feels like wonderful memories. That’s why Tony and I landed on the photo we did for the cover art. Roses at the end of their life yet still pretty. It’s like the way the beautiful parts of our lives hang on in our memories.

Stems

The different layers of the song, separated out from one another. Not only are they interesting in their own right, they’re handy for film makers who might only want certain elements. And, for pianists who’ve purchased the sheet music, they can be fun to play along with.

Pads and Bass

Piano Only

If you would like to download HD audio files of these stems as well as the original, mastered version, you can purchase those here for $5. I don’t yet have a fancy online store to sell things, so I set up a little PayPal link. Keeping it simple. Just click the button, pay (credit cards work, PayPal accounts, or Venmo), and then I’ll email you a link to the files as soon as I get notification of your purchase.

Videos

Sheet Music

The sheet music is a PDF download of the song for piano solo as I performed it above. It costs $5. Like with the digital music files, I’ll email you the PDF as soon as I get notification of your purchase.

Thank you for being here. Thank you for listening and reading. If you haven’t already, you can subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. In addition to new music and the process of making it, I also write regularly about art and creativity.

And please let me know what you think about the song in comments.