This piece is the introduction of my entire recital, designed to establish the aim and purpose of the concert as a whole as well as holding a deeper meaning within itself. As the title suggests, the concept is going back to the beginning; lyrically and symbolically that means going back to the simplicities of relationship with God just him and me, with nothing else, no religion, no congregation, no bright lights and deep symbolism, just him. Musically to me, this is the use of just a couple base chords F major and D minor, but to keep the piece from feeling stagnant and allow myself to explore my understanding of chords better I have chosen to incorporate a lot of inversions and more complex variations. For me the biggest difficulty with this piece has definitely been in making the chords and choosing the most appropriate inversions to create chord progressions that sound whole and complete despite essentially being two chords.

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The main inspiration for this piece musically was in two main pieces; Aint Not Grave by Bethel Music and We Will Ride by Lindy and the Circuit Riders which, at least in part, focus on only two chords yet manage to sound, at least to me, very unique, both musically and stylistically. What I found so unique about Aint No Grave was that, looking at the chord chart it is It almost entirely made up of E and B7 chords with A coming into the instrumental part and an alternate chord G# to the E. I think that what makes this piece so drawing despite this is the low instruments, and heavy percussion over a constant drone, that keeps tension throughout the piece (I also think the obvious country sound is something that draws me in, but that is perhaps more so because I'm not used to it than it being a unique feature I wish to replicate).

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My vision for this piece is that it can be played in the background for an extended period of time in some form of lyric-less loop while people enter the performance room. Once it is time I'd like the piece to naturally flow into the intended structure and gently build up. I once read a study that said that music played in the background, or simply music that people have heard previously when heard 'properly' for the first time will cause the person to enjoy it more and be more engaged with it. While the person may not remember the song specifically, their subconscious does and as such the mind believes the song to be catchy and memorable, and it enjoys the familiar. We see this in the use of motifs in movies to evoke emotion from past scenes and even when we listen to music in our world and then experience it for the first time on the radio or spotify. Perhaps not for that reason but to aid it, similar themes and ideas are taken from The beginning part one and two, and made into themes and motifs for the band to cycle through as people enter the building. The band have been provided with a chord chart of 4 different progressions that they will cycle through at their own discretion through hand cues and signalling, and will be queued in when they need to cycle through the last progression and into the piece. While I said the drive from the heavy percussion was part of what made Ain't No Grave interesting to me despite it's simplistic chord structure, For this piece I am focusing on the constant drone and bass instruments contrasting a higher, more dainty sound to create an ambient but structured feel.