Month: May 2019

Blue Skies

by Ben Clapton, posted in Arrangements

Blue Skies, arranged for Violin, Viola and Cello. Advanced Intermediate due to double stops in Cello and Violin part, and use of swung rhythm.
Written in 1926 as a last minute addition to the Rodgers and Hart musical, Betsy, the audience on opening night demanded 24 encores of this piece from Belle Baker. It has since been recorded by many artists, including Benny Goodman, Bing Crosby, Count Basie, Willie Nelson, Frank Sinatra, amongst many others.

This arrangement would work wonderfully for a string trio performing at weddings.

String Trio arrangement. List Price: US$12.99. Buy it here.

The Power of Jesus Christ will Reign

by Ben Clapton, posted in Compositions

A fun, boppy, composition suitable for performance in church. The lyrics of the Chorus read:
And we thank you Lord Jesus for the things you’ve done,
We’ve got a new heart from you and a new spirit too,
and we will shout all your praises from the highest of heights
For we are cleansed of our sins by the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is an original composition by Ben Clapton. It was written with a Salvation Army Songsters group in mind, but is suitable for all choral groups.

SATB and Piano (With Chords). List price: US$4.50. Buy it here.

Sunflower (From Spiderman: Into the Spider-verse) – Post Malone & Swae Lee

by Ben Clapton, posted in Arrangements

Sunflower (from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) is an atmospheric, glitchy, soulful track that perfectly captures the movie that it’s from. Walking the line “between hip hop and dream pop” (Patrick Doyle, Rolling Stone), this arrangement for String Quartet attempts to capture that essence in a style that is still enjoyable for the players.

The glitchy, sample driven nature of the track means that the inner parts have a fair bit of repetitive parts, while the melody – influenced by hip hop, is rhythmically complex, yet melodically simple and repetitive.

String Quartet Arrangement. List Price: US$12.99. Buy it here.

You Found Me – The Fray

by Ben Clapton, posted in Videos

I did some busking at the Echuca Farmer’s Market, and recorded parts of my performance. This is The Fray’s You Found Me, which I find to be a real raw and honest conversation that you might have with God if you just came across God on the street one day.

From Wikipedia:


You Found Me” is a song by American rock band The Fray. It was released in November 2008 as the lead single from their eponymous second studio album. Live performances of the song from concerts in Europe surfaced on YouTube in late 2007, when the song was titled “Amistad”.[2] The band began streaming the song on their website on November 21, 2008.[3] The single was digitally released in the U.S., Canadian, UK, Australian and French iTunes Stores and had a physical release later on.
The song became the group’s third single to sell 2 million downloads in the United States, after “How to Save a Life” and “Over My Head (Cable Car)“.[4]
It has sold 3.6 million copies in the US as of February 2015, making it one of the most downloaded rock songs.[5] The single was certified double platinum by the RIAA and the ARIA in 2009.
The song was nominated for a Choice Music: Rock Track award at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards.[6]
The song was ranked No. 13 on the Hot 100 Songs of 2009 list[7] and No. 36 on Billboard‘s Best Adult Pop Songs of the Decade list.[8] It was also ranked No. 42 on Billboard’s Top 100 Digital Tracks of the Decade list[9] and No. 61 on the ARIA’s list of the Top 100 Tracks of the Decade.[10]

From “You Found Me” on Wikipedia

You Found Me – The Fray

by Ben Clapton, posted in Arrangements

“You Found Me” was released by American rock band The Fray in 2008. It was their third single to sell 2 million downloads in the US, and marked The Fray’s first number one hit in Australia.

This is a lead sheet for the song, which has the melody and lyrics, and guitar chords. The song is written in B, and it has capo chords at capo 4 to utilise open chords.

Lead Sheet. List Price: US$2.99. Buy it here.

Watch me perform it here.