Arrangement: AWESOME GOD

Ask for the old paths, where is the good way

For ask now of the days that are past...

Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land.

Awesome God.pdf

Awesome God.mp3

Wade Kotter

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Oct 10, 2018, 10:27:03 AM10/10/18

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Robert, forgive my ignorance, but what is CCM?

Wade Kotter

South Ogden, UT

"Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord"

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Robert Vaughn

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Oct 10, 2018, 12:31:31 PM10/10/18

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Wade,

CCM stands for "Contemporary Christian Music," which is (I think) generally considered a sort of "pop (Christian) music" influenced by secular pop and rock music. Your tradition may have avoided this type of music, but it is common in Baptist churches (probably others, but Baptist is what I know) that use praise bands, worship teams, and sing from words projected on a screen. Music is an art whose beauty is in the ear of the behearer, but I'm not a fan of most CCM.

Hope this helps. Maybe someone else can explain it better. (Anyway, the composer of AWESOME GOD was considered within that musical genre, CCM).

His glories sing,

Robert Vaughn

Mount Enterprise, TX

Ask for the old paths, where is the good way

For ask now of the days that are past...

Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land.

From: 'Wade Kotter' via Fasola Songwriters <fasola-so...@googlegroups.com>
To: Fasola Songwriters <fasola-so...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2018 9:27 AM
Subject: Re: [fasola-songwriters: 2736] Arrangement: AWESOME GOD

Wade Kotter

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Oct 10, 2018, 1:48:55 PM10/10/18

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That's basically what I thought, Robert; just wanted confirmation in case you were referring to something else. You are correct about our tradition, but there are a few of the mainstream LDS performing groups that cross over into some aspects of that style outside of worship services. What you have produced is a very interesting juxtaposition between modern lyrics that are pretty forceful and straight forward and a minor tune that reminds me a bit of the Christian Harmony or even Gospel style with the textual offsets in the second section but presented in a minor mode more typical of earlier shape-note style. I'm not sure if this is a song that I would choose to lead but I suspect there are singers out there who will find it interesting and probably fun to sing.

Wade

Wade Kotter

South Ogden, UT

"Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord"

Matt Bell

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Oct 10, 2018, 1:49:23 PM10/10/18

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Nice job! The treble is nice and melodic, and I think CCM would approve of the antiphonic bits. :)

Matt Bell

R. C. Webber

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Oct 10, 2018, 3:13:36 PM10/10/18

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It looks as though it might be fun to try. Maybe I can take it to Lexington on Sunday. The vertical centering of the single brace is an idiosyncrasy of the Myriad notation products. I don't like it either but put up with it in my compositions on the grounds that it doesn't cause major problems with legibility.

Randy

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Leland Ross

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Oct 10, 2018, 10:50:06 PM10/10/18

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Leland Ross

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Oct 10, 2018, 10:56:30 PM10/10/18

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Google just posted in my name while I was opening it. Sorry about the extra, useless post.

Robert, is the first half of the text your own rewrite, or is it mainly Mullins? I've never run across it. I think it works well here.

Robert Vaughn

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Oct 10, 2018, 11:09:14 PM10/10/18

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Thanks, Matt. I also find that comment interesting in light of the fact that I initially thought of making this arrangement kind of a two-part song, with the treble doubling the tenor, and the alto doubling the bass. Guess I just make myself do it.

Robert Vaughn

Mount Enterprise, TX

Ask for the old paths, where is the good way

For ask now of the days that are past...

Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land.

From: Matt Bell <invisibl...@gmail.com>
To: fasola-so...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2018 12:49 PM
Subject: Re: [fasola-songwriters: 2738] Arrangement: AWESOME GOD

Nice job! The treble is nice and melodic, and I think CCM would approve of the antiphonic bits. :)

Matt Bell

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Robert Vaughn

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Oct 10, 2018, 11:12:49 PM10/10/18

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Perhaps on hindsight it might have been good to set this in seven-shapes -- though 4-shape is basically my "medium" and I doesn't use 7-shapes unless I am consciously conceiving of something as a "Christian Harmony" tune -- or writing in a SATB format.

Robert Vaughn

Mount Enterprise, TX

Ask for the old paths, where is the good way

For ask now of the days that are past...

Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land.

From: 'Wade Kotter' via Fasola Songwriters <fasola-so...@googlegroups.com>

To: 'Robert Vaughn' via Fasola Songwriters <fasola-so...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2018 12:48 PM

Subject: Re: [fasola-songwriters: 2738] Arrangement: AWESOME GOD

That's basically what I thought, Robert; just wanted confirmation in case you were referring to something else. You are correct about our tradition, but there are a few of the mainstream LDS performing groups that cross over into some aspects of that style outside of worship services. What you have produced is a very interesting juxtaposition between modern lyrics that are pretty forceful and straight forward and a minor tune that reminds me a bit of the Christian Harmony or even Gospel style with the textual offsets in the second section but presented in a minor mode more typical of earlier shape-note style. I'm not sure if this is a song that I would choose to lead but I suspect there are singers out there who will find it interesting and probably fun to sing.

Wade

Wade Kotter

South Ogden, UT

"Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord"

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Robert Vaughn

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Oct 10, 2018, 11:14:24 PM10/10/18

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Thanks, Randy. I'd be glad if you all sing it and report back on it.

In a way I'm glad that I'm not the only one who has this problem with Myriad, though it would be nice to know if there is a fix.

Thanks again.

Robert Vaughn

Mount Enterprise, TX

Ask for the old paths, where is the good way

For ask now of the days that are past...

Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land.

From: R. C. Webber <randy.we...@gmail.com>
To: Fasola Songwriters <fasola-so...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2018 2:13 PM
Subject: Re: [fasola-songwriters: 2740] Arrangement: AWESOME GOD

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Robert Vaughn

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Oct 10, 2018, 11:18:25 PM10/10/18

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Leland, I arranged the first half of the lyrics from "standard" lines & phrases I have heard into something I thought might fit well. Mullins's song most often (at least when I've heard it) just repeats the lyrics (that are in the last half of my arrangement), so I thought a little variety might be liked.

Robert Vaughn

Mount Enterprise, TX

Ask for the old paths, where is the good way

For ask now of the days that are past...

Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land.

From: Leland Ross <rosh...@gmail.com>
To: Fasola Songwriters <fasola-so...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2018 9:56 PM
Subject: [fasola-songwriters: 2743] Re: Arrangement: AWESOME GOD

Google just posted in my name while I was opening it. Sorry about the extra, useless post.

Robert, is the first half of the text your own rewrite, or is it mainly Mullins? I've never run across it. I think it works well here.

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Wade Kotter

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Oct 10, 2018, 11:29:57 PM10/10/18

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Below are the original lyrics, which were written by Vernard Johnson (I got them from the Capital Christian Music Group website ; Rich Mullin's was the composer and performer but not the lyricist. You might also want to check out this Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w2b033DXCw The words in parentheses were sung by a background "choir."

Lyrics

When He rolls up His sleeves
He ain't just putting on the ritz
(Our God is an awesome God)

There's thunder in His footsteps
And lightning in His fists
(Our God is an awesome God)

And the Lord wasn't joking
When He kicked 'em out of Eden
It wasn't for no reason
That He shed His blood
His return is very close
And so you better be believing that
Our God is an awesome God

Our God is an awesome God
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power, and love
Our God is an awesome God

And when the sky was starless
In the void of the night
(Our God is an awesome God)

He spoke into the darkness
And created the light
(Our God is an awesome God)

Judgment and wrath He poured out on the Sodom
Mercy and grace He gave us at the cross
I hope that you have not
Too quickly forgotten that
Our God is an awesome God

Our God is an awesome God
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power, and love
Our God is an awesome God

Our God is an awesome God (Our God is an awesome God)
He reigns from heaven above (He reigns from heaven above)
With wisdom, power, and love (With wisdom, power, and love)
Our God is an awesome God

Our God is an awesome God
Our God is an awesome God

Songwriters: Vernard Johnson

Wade Kotter

South Ogden, UT

"Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord"

Ros’ Haruo

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Oct 11, 2018, 4:16:28 PM10/11/18

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Wow! Thanks, Wade That's "a whole different song" from what I've ever sung in church or seen in hymnals. And it would need more of a tune, I think.

For now, though, I'm happy with what Robert did. May take it to this Sunday's singing.

Leland Bryant Ross aka Ros' Haruo (呂須•春男)
Delegito en Seattle, Universala Esperanto-Asocio
My Hymn Blog | Mia Himna Blogo — The Seattle Esperanto Society
Sankta Harmonio (formnotacia libro plurlingva) — Biblioteko Culbert

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Robert Vaughn

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Oct 11, 2018, 4:20:08 PM10/11/18

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Thanks, Wade, for digging that up. I'll change the attribution to the words. I've never seen all that, or heard it sung. What I've heard might basically be called a chorus.

His glories sing,

Robert Vaughn

Mount Enterprise, TX

Ask for the old paths, where is the good way

For ask now of the days that are past...

Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land.

From: 'Wade Kotter' via Fasola Songwriters <fasola-so...@googlegroups.com>
To: "fasola-so...@googlegroups.com" <fasola-so...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2018 10:29 PM
Subject: Re: [fasola-songwriters: 2747] Re: Arrangement: AWESOME GOD

Ros’ Haruo

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Oct 11, 2018, 6:20:39 PM10/11/18

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Wade, can you cite your source for the attribution to Johnson? I'm drawing a blank on that.

In the lyrics, the "the" before "Sodom" is an intrusion.

Leland Bryant Ross aka Ros' Haruo (呂須•春男)
Delegito en Seattle, Universala Esperanto-Asocio
My Hymn Blog | Mia Himna Blogo — The Seattle Esperanto Society
Sankta Harmonio (formnotacia libro plurlingva) — Biblioteko Culbert

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Wade Kotter

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Oct 11, 2018, 9:25:41 PM10/11/18

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It's at the bottom of the lyrics that I gave you which, as I said, I found on the copyright owner's website. However, looking into this further other sources attribute both the words and music to Mullins. I'm thinking now that the "songwriters" that I found may be given create for arranging/altering the words. Sorry for misleading you on this, Robert. Apparently, Mullins' song has been covered by a number of artists in a variety of styles; in some cases, only the chorus is sung, such as in worship services, which I suspect explains why you've only heard the chorus.

Wade

Wade Kotter

South Ogden, UT

"Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord"

R. C. Webber

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Oct 15, 2018, 8:46:14 AM10/15/18

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The Lexington folks enjoyed it yesterday. It is amenable to singing at the written pitch, which helped me immensely the first time through. (I am a bit slow when I try to sight sing and transpose simultaneously.)

Randy

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Robert Vaughn

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Oct 15, 2018, 4:36:13 PM10/15/18

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Randy, thanks for letting me know. Glad you all enjoyed it.

Robert Vaughn

Mount Enterprise, TX

Ask for the old paths, where is the good way

For ask now of the days that are past...