Love Letters to Myself - Mourning Dove

I'm studying to get my Masters in Music Therapy right now, but my job for the last seven years was teaching music. The bulk of my hours came from teaching elementary school children, general music education. It's an incredibly fulfilling job, particularly because the sound of children singing together is one of my favorite sounds on Earth. I have been moved to tears numerous times from listening to my students sing.

Mourning Dove is a song I wrote for my students. It was the only song that I teach to every single level: Kindergarten to 4th grade. I made cute little gestures that we all did together, and the melody (besides the "a-and sing" variation) has only four different notes, and the rhythm is all only quarter and half notes. So it's very easy for kids to sing and play on various instruments.

This song is a reminder for my students—and myself, of course—to sing and remember how loved they are, especially in times of sadness, or mourning. If there's just one song I want my students to remember me by, it's definitely this one.

The original version of this song—the one I sang with my students—is only about thirty seconds long, and is the part you hear at the very end. A couple years ago I got the idea to make a B-harmonic minor extended version, keeping the same notes but changing the chords underneath. I thought of starting and ending with the original chords and have the dramatic Bm chords only in the middle, but then I decided it would be more impactful if the original one—with vocals too—came through only at the end.

The chord progression is as follows:

D - F#m/C# - Bm7 - D/A - A7

D - F#m/C# - GM9 - A7 - D4-3

Bm - D/A - GM9 - F#7(4-3)

Ooh that F# dominant 7th chord, especially with the suspension and resolution, is just soooo dramatic and satisfying (a word I've been using a lot!)!! The D Major section is one that I've played many, many times, but the rest of it was mostly improvised.

—

Mourning dove, mourning dove

Sing with me, sweet mourning dove

Spread your wings

Fly and sing

Don't forget that you are loved