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On long road trips I often see in the distance towering mountains touching clouds as if they are touching a portal to heaven. I watch vast rolling plains that manage to hold the entire world in place while still propelling me forward with tiny hands on the end of grass stems or with the jolting punch of tumbleweeds. I see majestic forests, literal cities of trees, or the occasional copse, but all holding council of what to do with us humans.

From afar these bastions of nature are imposing, stealing our breath and our attention. Looking at them, we are immediately transported into imaginary elven realms or into the traps of forest bandits that rob from the rich to give to the poor. My mind sees from the outside the possibility of a hidden realm. “There has to be a whole other world in that place,” I think.

Every forest to me is enchanted. Looking at them, I feel compelled to enter even though there is a certain mysterious unwelcome. “Don’t tread here,” I often hear in my mind. Yet, tread there we do. As we approach, the trees are menacing, branching hands pointing at us. But as we walk into the realm of dryadic hosts there is a new world. We immediately feel unseen, protected from the rest of the human world yet laid bare to the aliens whose home we’ve invaded.

Everywhere are living organic cousins and friends: vines, foliage, young saplings, small young children growing out of the craggy roots, reaching for a small morsel of sunlight to feed their bellies. There are foreigners as well, others who have dared to enter: creatures of every sort. Their stirrings sink my stomach injecting me with a flash of fear until I turn around and see the flickering vestige of a furry tail or an insect fleeing at top speed. “They are living here, safely,” I notice. The trees are sheltering them.

It doesn’t take too long. I begin to recognize the foreign noises and the voices of the trees and their family. The wind helps them speak, rustling their floppy green vocal chords. Then, all at once, I feel more awe than fear, and more respect than dread. I think I hear, “If you’re nice, it’s okay for you to be here.”

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Key and Mode: B Flat Dorian mode (for an uncertain and mystical feel)

Time: 4/4 (for a feel of steady movement, strong down beats and easy timing variations)

Level: Late Intermediate/Early Advanced (primary difficulty is key, reading notes on ledger lines, some rhythms and style notation)

Simplification Tips: When there notes on ledger lines, figure them out and drop them or raise them an octave. When there are octave chords, play the higher note to simplify.

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A COMPOSER’S COMMENTARY

This song was born of a remnant. It was a strain of playing around on the piano with the scratch of a title, “trees”. I couldn’t seem to get past the first few stanzas so I let it go and didn’t come back for a while. As often happens, I hadn’t taken the time to write down what I visualized when I thought of trees, or an enchanted forest. As soon as I took the 10 minutes to visualize forests in my mind and to write down the feelings they inspire in me, I began to imagine the musical elements needed to bring those feelings to life. I came back to my scratching and persevered. It struck me on an early Sunday morning after meditation on the visualization. Then, the entire rest of the song poured out of my body in two hours-ish.

This is something all composer’s need a reminder of: sometimes songs appear all at once and sometimes they speak after a long introduction and time to consider the partnership. After this one, I felt triumphant and tired. I still wanted to sit on it for a day or two. There is this feeling that comes when a song is “finished”. I let it sit then listened and played it a bit. I felt satisfied. Some songs that satisfaction doesn’t come. When there is no mutual agreement between me and the song, I just put it away and come back to it when it presents itself to my thoughts again. When it’s ready to talk.