HALLOWEEN SONG (David Smith)

“Halloween Song” recorded on “Circumstance” (FSNT 267) c2005 David Smith / Sumisusan Music / BMI This song was a long time in the making, it initially came about when I intended to write a simple song in which the bass notes were the melody. I ended up harmonizing the bass notes with triads, which gave a “spooky” sort of sound with some severe harmonic shifts. I later added a triplet melody line of broken chords somewhat inspired by the D minor prelude from Book I of Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier. The obvious thing to do was then to harmonize that line into triads, which ends up amplifying the “Halloween” aspect some more. This happens over a hard-driving swing from the drums, and is a rewarding challenge to play. Included are transposed trumpet and tenor parts, a guitar/piano part, and a concert lead sheet for the rest of the rhythm section.