A Kind Heart

Credits: The bass, the acoustic rhythm/solo guitars, and the distorted rhythm/solo guitars are played by Cem. The drums are programmed by Cem. The song was composed in May 2022. This track was recorded in December 2022. It was released in December 2022 with the rest of the album.

Conception: The last song was composed for my brother. I wanted to put all my learning into a single piece. Per my guitar instructor’s suggestions, I created an acoustic rhythm built on three guitars complimenting each other. I carried that logic to the distorted rhythm with two guitars. I alternated the solos among the classical, rock, Spanish, and blues guitars. I included a bridge and introduced new soloing techniques like tapping and trilling. It was a fun song to compose and play. It reflects my relationship with my brother which changed over our lifetimes. Throughout it all, he always had a kind heart.

Execution: Three acoustic guitars open the song and introduce a layered sweet melody. A classical guitar plays the first solo on top. The song builds its energy as the distorted guitars take over the rhythm. The second solo is a melodic rock solo with some tapping in the middle. After the solo, a bridge is introduced and the third solo plays on top – more with a Spanish guitar flavor. After the bridge, the triple acoustic guitars reintroduce the main melody. The fourth solo uses a less distorted sound with a Blues flavor. As the rhythm gains momentum to distorted guitars, the fifth solo comes flying on the top with some trilling. The song slowly fades away as the solo jumps around different triads and techniques.

Mechanics: The song is written in C major with 4/4 measures at 112 bps. It uses the same chord progression I used on the 5th song – Farewell to Midgard. The main melody goes through C-G-Am-F (1-5-6-4) and switches between Am(6) and Em (3) for the third chord. The bridge uses F-C (4-1). The solo uses different styles on top of the same chord progression. For example, the third solo plays between the measures rather than starting and ending at a measure. It also has 1/16th and 1/4 notes all mixed – creating a Spanish guitar sound. Solos combine all the techniques I learned – tapping, trilling, bending, triads, and inversions.

Here are private notes.