With the Four of Swords (the sixth tarot composition from February 8th 2016) I tried to challenge myself to write a happier composition again. When I thought about the card meaning of rest, meditation, and healing I was reminded of the Tanpura drones in East Indian music. So, I began by hitting the Low E string of my guitar and experimenting with different scales. Next I found a drone backing track and improvised over that. The act of improvising over a drone is very calming for me and expressed my thoughts on meditating through playing music. 

 

The melody figure has four notes for the four swords. I think of this piece more as an interlude or music for mediataion rather than a complete composition. When I play this piece - or anytime I play over a drone - I feel very relaxed and it quiets my mind. I hope listeners feel the same way.

 

When I am improvising, I am using a combination of the scales - E major, E lydian and E mixolydian. I was very inspired by Derek Truck's Sahib Teri Bandi Maki Madni.