Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum An odd uplifting inspiration for me

I have been rather down in the dumps lately due to this incessant RAIN! The Mississippi is flooding because of it. I am sure it will stop sometime (it always does.)

Early this morning, I went out to the patio to have my coffee. The rain was falling steadily still and as I sat there brooding I began to hear very definite sounds (music?) against everything from the tin roof on the garden shed to the puddles of water in the yard to gardening implements lying on the wall surrounding the patio. As the rainfall ebbed and then increased the tempo followed of course.

Eventually I found myself improvising a melody in my head to the percussive sound of the rain. This was so pleasant I came inside to try and recall it at the piano. Alas, it didn't sound as well without the rain or perhaps my playing .

One of my better mornings with the rain which has hung around now for 80% of the last two weeks. Just wanted to share this experience.

How far up the Mississippi are you? I'm on the other side, in the Missouri bootheel. The rain and flooding are wearing on me too. Good that you found a use for it/were inspired by it. Rain only inspires me to sleep

I think that's pretty nifty!

Someday you'll be able to get that melody in your head transmitted to your fingertips!

And that will be mega-nifty!

I'm about 35-40 miles NE of St Louis proper.

Before I took up piano it used to inspire me to curl up with a glass of wine or coffee and a good book. But you're right it does make one want to sleep in late. Still I'm pretty weary of the gloom and cloudy days.

Thanks Cheryl,
One can only hope `eh? I'm trying right now to get it onto staff paper ( I'm poor at this) before I forget it. Then try and get it into my fingers

Good going, Ragdoll. That's what it's about.
Now if you get yourself a recorder. So you can keep listening to it while composing. It will stop raining.

Mark Twain?

It's been raining a lot here in west central Georgia too... in fact, last night was "a rainy night in Georgia".

Of course, with all the rain we've had lately, and bits of sunshine, my grass is greener than I've seen it in a while; and, my small herd of goats like that.

I've been trying to come up with an original song about my goats, but there is just not much inspiration there...

However, I wrote a song a few years ago entitled "In the shadows of your love"; some of the lyrics say "as long as we're together it's always sunny weather in the shadows of your love".

Sorry, my thoughts are drifting all over the place... I think my mind is waterlogged.

Rick

You can always work on Chopin's "Raindrop" prelude. It has that steady drip-drip-drip feeling, and the passing thunderstorm.

ABF member Schubertian did the best recording of this - he added thunderstorm sound effects! Here is is.

Sam

Thanks Ron,

It was certainly an unusual thing. I have a recorder but every rainstorm sounds different of course. I do however have a cd of rain effects that I may listen to. Some with thunderclaps for those Forte parts.

Oh he's a good one, I like his sense of humor and relate to the stories of river life and travel. Hemingway, Steinbeck, Sinclair, Hardy. Eclectic tastes...just like my music.

Oh Sam, thanks for that suggestion. I have a book (beginners) of classics that has that piece. Maybe I'll take it for a test drive later this year. I listened to Shubertian's recording of it; it is beautiful.

Or Debussy's Jardins sous la pluie (Gardens in the Rain).