The story

The composition of the song I would say it was and assignment that had to be done. The story of my music journey always linger around growing up in Lutheran church.

The source of the composition is the hymn "Khonani yanga yone-yone". I have sag the song at church, school, home and also when I am by myself.

The assignment and was from my music teachers. Most music teachers am to inspire their students to create new sounds or improve the existing sound.

The desire to create new sound grew in me and it became a passion I was willing to make sacrifices to achieve. With the right people that God brought in my journey the goal was within reach.

Two of my teachers Alister Andrews and Greg Pinto emphasised inspired me to use the tools that they taught in the theory of music such as modulation the bring freshness in music.

Greg used illustration of living in a house with balcony and never going outside to experience the views through the balcony. He inspired me to explore the balcony using modulation and reharmonisation.

I grew a desire to reharmonise hymns. I started to hear possibilities. I worked on some songs such as "Oh how I love Jesus". I noticed that I was running out of chord vocabulary.

One Sunday morning I led worship with the only other vocalist Hangwelani. During the moments when I was required to play alone during prayers, I used more reharmonisation and it was effective.

The whole service was a worship service meaning that I played piano the whole two hours. At the end of the service I was usually exhausted. I left everything on stage.

On my way to the parking I cam across Anita and Winston Baatjies. Any day in they would always have positive words to say about myself or my music.

Anita said she wants to hear me playing alone more and I understood because that Sunday the unusual happened. I said to Anita, I like I played everything that I knew today and I am finished, I need piano teacher.

Immediately Anita assured me that she will organize a teacher. In few weeks I got a call from Anita's office to inform me that I must go and meet my teacher in Lynnwood, Pretoria.

This is how I met my long time teacher Celeste Williams, a sister and a family. When I arrived in Freddy Arendse's lounge she was not present. Freddy gave me such a warm welcome and encouraged me. He jokingly said piano is not difficult at all it's just black and white keys, no coloured.

Eventually Celeste emerged from the music room to welcome me. Freddy made a ceremony out if it as he said here comes Celeste Williams.

The first question that Celeste asked like most great teachers do what you want to learn. I said that I wanted to bring the new sounds to the hymns.

Celeste asked me to play the song "What an friend we have in Jesus" the best way I could while assessing my level. For two to three lessons, we reharmonised the hymn and I could play comfortably.

I started to believe in the process. Then Celeste said we need to work on piano technique, scales, intervals, building harmonies and overall music vocabulary.

We learned Jazz standards along with improvement of my piano techniques and reading. I would often get excited and bring some gospel and rhythm and blues songs.

Celeste would listen but always reminds me to focus on techniques because that would make me a better pianist. The journey led me to the compositions of songs including "Khonani".

I initially recorded the song demon focusing on changing piano comping which was slightly off the 4/4 time. I added the stride piano in the intro and the reharmonised ending and I thought I have completed the new arrangement.

Neither the intro or the ending made it tonthe final recording. The turning point was during the Christmas period on 2020 when I listened to the arrangement as ir was for a couple of days.

I was I the kitchen making food and listening. I started hearing the irresistible movement of in the song. The song was dropping to a flat 6 chord. I knew that I was entering into the uncharted territory.

I stopped what I was doing and pursued the new direction started with basic chords changes, add the suspended chords and turn around and the song changed.

After arrangement of the whole verse in the new key I added the arrangement in the demo. I then gave the new melody to the new chords progression. That part became the anchor of the song.

While the goal is to give the new sound to the known hymns the journey of each song is unique. The journey of the song Khonani only open possibilities and the depth of the arrangement will need to be revisited in order to extract the musical wealth in it. ❦