Renee D Henderson: Key Of E
The Story behind the Key Of E
This song was written up at the Enzian Inn in Leavenworth, WA. I used to play up there when I was 17, once or twice a week as a way of practicing and performing my music, as well as pre-selling my CD to help earn the money needed to produce my first CD. Most nights I would play for approximately an hour and a half.
This night, I had played straight through the evening. People had come and gone and it was nearing the end of my night. There was one gentleman who had been there from the beginning and had never left. He quietly sat behind me just listening to the music. He was tall and slender and seemed quite genteel with one striking feature I'll never forget; he had a full head of the whitest hair I'd ever seen.
I knew I was almost done, but wasn't sure exactly what time it was. I turned and ask him to give me the time. He said with a smile, "You've got 5 minutes left, so I expect to hear one more." I turned back to the white and black keys in front of me and tried to think what I could possibly play for him. Having only fifteen songs at the time, and an hour and a half to fill, I had played all of the songs at LEAST twice. I had even already spent some time doing improv. He had been there the whole time so what could I possibly play that he hadn't heard?
I turned back to him and said with a grin, "Ok then...give me a key." Without missing a beat he said, "How about the key of E?" I looked back at the keys and began with a simple arpeggio through the key of E from one end of the piano to the other.
What happened next had never happened before, and has never happened since.
I began with a simple melody that seemed to just come out of nowhere. It was so simple and unassuming, and I almost felt like I was sitting there listening and watching as my fingers took over and played without my input. As the song progressed, I even reached a point in the music where I went through nearly every key on the piano in sequence. I had never played something like that before and was rather astonished at the natural transitions that I was finding. After reaching the most amazing climax of any song I’d ever written, it just flowed right back into the same melody I had started with. Ending with such confidence and completeness, I honestly sat there amazed at how finished it was.
I have played improv before, and can sometimes come up with cute melodies that I’ll find a way to repeat later…but never in my life have I sat down and played a complete piece, from start to finish, with all of the components and musical thoughts in place on the first try. Most of my songs take months to put together…a thought here, a transition there, a second theme that’s tied in later, etc. But not with this song…it all just came to me at once.
When I finished, I sat there for a second in awe and then immediately jumped up and ran to the counter to get a piece of paper and a pen. “Sir…please allow me to get your name and contact information so I can send you a CD! I just got the last song I needed to complete my CD and I want to dedicate it to you! Where are you from?”
“Up north”, He said.
“Canada? “ (I could have sworn he nodded to that.) I continued, “Well I’m so glad you were here tonight! I am sorry but I have to leave quick because I have a half hour drive home and want to make sure I don’t forget anything I just wrote! Can you write down your information on this piece of paper?”
“Sure.”
After he was finished, I carefully tucked the piece of paper in my wallet and headed home. I’m not even sure I remember looking at it to read the details. I was just too excited to get home and play it again to make sure I remembered everything.
When I arrived home, even my Mom remembers me coming in and saying, “Sorry Mom, can’t talk! I gotta get to the piano right away and try to remember something I played tonight!”
I do also remember carefully tucking away the piece of paper with this information on it in the binder that I kept all the CD preorders. I specifically remember doing that…and yet when the time came to go through that and send everyone their CDs, I COULD NOT FIND HIS INFO! I searched for weeks in all my things to find that piece of paper. I even went back up to the Enzian hotel and looked through their books, but they had no record of anyone from Canada for months. I couldn’t explain it, but I was so disappointed because I wanted desperately to send him a CD. In the end, I finally just dedicated the song to the man from the Enzian. I didn’t even remember his name! I hope someday I will get a chance to meet him again and tell him how much that song has affected my life and those who have listened to it.
I went through a period of time when I was working with some critiquing companies, and although I got generally decent (above average) markings on most of my music, the Key Of E was rated 9 out of 10 stars, with a comment that it was one of the best pieces the guy had ever had come across his desk.
To this day, that piece has captured many people when they hear it…even when they don’t know of the story behind it. There’s just something about it… just like there was just something about that man who came that night.
There are many times that I wonder…was he a man at all?
