Why this tune? January 15 is apparently National Bagel Day, so I couldn’t not mark the occasion with a new song. It’s also the midpoint of the January Song-a-Day Challenge organized by Sarah and Kat at Songwriting for Music Educators. They call this the “messy middle:” “The excitement of the initial challenge may have wornContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Bagel Day”
Category Archives: Original music
Tunes on Tuesday: Ain’t Misbehavin’
Why this tune? This Tuesday is also Day 7 of the January Song a Day Challenge organized by the talented team at Songwriting for Music Educators. For today’s song I updated the lyrics of the American classic “Ain’t Misbehavin’” by Fats Waller and Andy Razaf from 1929. The song entered the public domain on JanuaryContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Ain’t Misbehavin’”
Tunes on Tuesday: Onward
Why this tune? Tunes on Tuesday posts on Wednesday this week to celebrate the new year 2025. The start of the year is also the start of the January Song a Day Challenge organized by Songwriting For Music Educators, Kat Reinhert and Sarah Gulish’s initiative to help music teachers learn the craft of songwriting. IContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Onward”
Tunes on Tuesday: Hanukkah Time
Why this tune? This week’s tune “Hanukkah Time” is brand new, written earlier the same day as this post and the Tunes on Tuesday video. Songwriters are often asked if the words or the melody come first when writing a song. The answer for this one is neither. This song started with that drum loopContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Hanukkah Time”
Tunes on Tuesday: Here I Am
Why this tune? This week’s tune is very much a work in progress, another song in my “Torah Tunes” series inspired by the weekly Torah portion. “Here I Am”, for Parashat Vayera, takes its cue from Abraham’s first response when G-d calls him to sacrifice his son Isaac. The song doesn’t deal with that story,Continue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Here I Am”
Tunes on Tuesday: Stand Right (Election Day 2024)
Why this tune? On this Election Day Tuesday in the USA, I added a new introduction to an old song, hoping to share something we can all agree on. I wrote “Stand Right” soon after returning to Washington, DC in 2010, when I learned about the etiquette expectations on the local subway system. The DCContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Stand Right (Election Day 2024)”
Tunes on Tuesday: Haunted (Not Haunted)
Why this tune? I’m not a big fan of Halloween, but as a songwriter think its worth having some topical material for the season. I wrote the first draft of this song “Haunted (Not Haunted)” in 2023 during the annual 50/90 challenge at fawm.org. It started in a song “skirmish,” an exercise that gives youContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Haunted (Not Haunted)”
Tunes on Tuesday: Terminal
Why this tune? I started this week’s tune “Terminal” in January, and only got around to finishing it this week. It’s a musical complement to “In the Lounge” from my 2018 album, but this time about all those people who don’t have “the right to be in the lounge.” Even though I don’t travel asContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: Terminal”
Tunes on Tuesday: How do we know
Why this tune? I wrote this week’s tune during this year’s 50/90 challenge at fawm.com, an opportunity during the summer to gather virtually with a global community of songwriters to create, collaborate and share. The song prompt “sage” led to this musing about the challenges of finding reliable information when so many sources and peopleContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: How do we know”
Tunes on Tuesday: When the Morning Comes
Why this tune? We celebrate the start of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year 5785 תשפ”ה tomorrow night (Oct. 2, 2024). After a year that has been difficult for many of us (including me), I wanted to share a positive, hopeful message for the new one. “When The Morning Comes” tries to do that, celebratingContinue reading “Tunes on Tuesday: When the Morning Comes”
Oren Levine, jazz pianist and songwriter 