Stanton Lanier

Scripture inspired piano to refresh your spirit

Solo Piano Dawn

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My 15th album Solo Piano Dawn just released. You can stream on Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Amazon Music, and all music services worldwide. You can also click below to listen to the title track as you read the story behind this new collection.

 

This project fills my heart with joy and worship in gratitude to God for inspiring twelve new solo piano compositions in 2023. I am most grateful for who He is, and what He has done in my life. Jesus being both the Creator of the universe and my personal Savior and Lord is a miracle and mystery, which I have found to be true as I have investigated and experienced His grace, truth, and faithfulness.

Solo Piano Dawn is a Scripture Inspired Worship Collection of these twelve tracks, one hour of instrumental music inviting you and all who listen to receive God’s peace, rest, hope, and beauty. All of the tracks were released as singles in 2023, except for two brand new pieces: the opening track Solo Piano Prelude and the closing title track Solo Piano Dawn, which were composed to complete the album (Solo Piano Dawn features new music combined with the chorus melody from my piece Awaken the Dawn). The ten singles each have their own blog post which you scroll down or search to read the inspiration behind each one.

The twelve track titles are not in the order I composed and released the singles. Instead, they have been curated to create a unique flow and journey expressing the realness and variety of life circumstances, the mountain tops and valleys, the pains and struggles, the hopes and joys, the fear and faith, the uncertainty and the adventure. As you listen through the sequence of Solo Piano Prelude, Solo Piano Wonder, Solo Piano Psalm, Solo Piano Refuge, Solo Piano Blessings, Solo Piano Angels, Solo Piano Grace, Solo Piano Unheard, Solo Piano Beyond, Solo Piano Yearning, Solo Piano Sleep, and Solo Piano Dawn, I hope you will be blessed and encouraged that God sees you, loves you, knows you, and is there for you.

You can reflect on the verses behind the title track below, which speak to worship, and how as humans were all created to worship. The opening track Solo Piano Prelude is gentle preparation for the journey, and also symbolizes the peaceful assurance that God is the First and the Last, the Alpha and Omega, from Genesis to Revelation.

How does the album Solo Piano Dawn speak to you?

Psalm 108:1-2. My heart, O God, is steadfast; I will sing and make music with all my soul. Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. (NIV)

Psalm 34:9. Worship God if you want the best; worship opens doors to all his goodness. (MSG)

Psalm 95:6. So come, let us worship: bow before him, on your knees before God, who made us! (MSG)

Psalm 96:1. Sing God a brand-new song! Earth and everyone in it, sing! Sing to God—worship God! (MSG)

Psalm 96:8-9. Bring gifts and celebrate, Bow before the beauty of God, Then to your knees—everyone worship! (MSG)

Psalm 100:4. Enter with the password: “Thank you!” Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him. (MSG)

Revelation 8:1. Seventh Seal: Prelude to the Seven Trumpets. When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. (NKJV)

Solo Piano Angels

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Solo Piano Angels just released today! You can stream on Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Amazon Music, and all music services worldwide. You can also click below to listen as you read the inspiration behind this new piece.

 

Solo Piano Angels is a my first solo piano recording featuring the chorus melody from the song Bread of Angels, which was composed and released in 2011 on my seventh album A Thousand Years. The original version is a duet with piano and angelic vocals, with different themes for the introduction, verses, and ending. The main theme has always been so beautiful and powerful when the notes sing over my life. I am humbled and amazed when I pause to remember how God inspired the music. It was like the melody had been in heaven all along, and God sent it down through my head, heart, and hands when He was ready. The creative process can take days, weeks, or months to be complete, but when our Creator with the big “C” delivers, it becomes clear I am a little “c” creator just seeking to hear His voice and receive His inspiration by faith.

Solo Piano Angels also features the main theme from another listener favorite Walking on Air, which is used as the musical transition at the end of each angels chorus section. The verse melodies and variations within this new song are delicate and gentle, yet powerful in their symbolism of angels watching over us. Out of the many Bible verses including the word angel or angels I have shared six down below that I used for reflection and inspiration during the composing process. The phrase “heaven’s angels worship You!” from Nehemiah 9:6 is sung a few times by the piano notes, expressing God’s glory, beauty, and provision.

I hope this piece helps you relax and take some deep breaths. As you listen, close your eyes and envision you are breathing in God’s peace and presence, and breathing out life’s worry and distractions. Thank you for listening and reading. God’s blessings to you!

How does Solo Piano Angels speak to you?

“Blessed be your glorious name, exalted above all blessing and praise! You’re the one, God, you alone; You made the heavens, the heavens of heavens, and all angels; The earth and everything on it, the seas and everything in them; You keep them all alive; heaven’s angels worship you!” (Nehemiah 9:5-6, MSG)

“What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.” (Psalm 8:4-5, NIV)

“He rained down showers of manna to eat, he gave them the Bread of Heaven. They ate the bread of the mighty angels; he sent them all the food they could eat.” (Psalm 78:25, MSG)

“God! Let the cosmos praise your wonderful ways, the choir of holy angels sing anthems to your faithful ways! Search high and low, scan skies and land, you’ll find nothing and no one quite like God. The holy angels are in awe before him. Your vibrant beauty has gotten inside us— you’ve been so good to us! We’re walking on air!” (Psalm 89:5 and 89:17, MSG)

“Watch that you don’t treat a single one of these childlike believers arrogantly. You realize, don’t you, that their personal angels are constantly in touch with my Father in heaven?” (Matthew 18:10, MSG)

“Isn’t it obvious that all angels are sent to help out with those lined up to receive salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14, MSG)

Solo Piano Psalm

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Today is release day for Solo Piano Psalm. You can stream on Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Amazon Music, and all music services worldwide. You can also click below to listen as you read the inspiration behind this new piece.

 

Solo Piano Psalm is a gentle piano journey, expressing life’s moments of peace, hope and beauty amidst the tension of the world’s noise, despair, and distress. It is a simple decision, but not an easy one, to thank God from a full heart, to embrace Him as my sanctuary, and to sing His love and faithfulness each day. I have provided three Psalms below for reflection, but I encourage you to read other Psalms in the Bible that are special to you, or you can just begin with Psalm 1 or Psalm 23.

I composed the first minute of the song as an introduction to establish a sense of peace, calm, and contentment, knowing God is with me by faith and experience. At the same time, there is a hint of tension as I am also seeking and longing for God’s love, wisdom, and provision in every area of my life. Every Psalm in the book of Psalms is genuine and vulnerable whether giving thanks to God or crying out to Him for help.

The main theme for Solo Piano Psalm begins around the one minute mark, and the notes are “singing” and repeating the words “I’m thanking you God, from a full heart.” There are additional musical variations as the journey continues, including a section of long chords reminding me to pause and reflect, to “be still and know that He is God” (Psalm 46:10). Whatever circumstances you are facing in your life, whether a time of victory or struggle, I hope the melodies and notes sing peace, hope, and beauty to your heart, and help you know how much you are seen, known, and loved by our Heavenly Father.

How does Solo Piano Psalm speak to you today?

“I’m thanking you, God, from a full heart, I’m writing the book on your wonders. I’m whistling, laughing, and jumping for joy! I’m singing your song, High God.” (Psalm 9:1-2, MSG)

“God’s a safe-house for the battered, a sanctuary during bad times. The moment you arrive, you relax; you’re never sorry you knocked.” (Psalm 9:9-10, MSG)

“Your love, God, is my song, and I’ll sing it! I’m forever telling everyone how faithful you are. I’ll never quit telling the story of your love.” (Psalm 89:1, MSG)

Solo Piano Grace

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Solo Piano Grace just released and is streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Amazon Music, and all music services worldwide. You can also click below to listen as you read the story behind this new piece.

 

The new song Solo Piano Grace expresses the peace, hope, and beauty God’s grace brings to my life. The piano melody themes are simple and beautiful yet deep and powerful, much like God’s grace and forgiveness of  my sin, and the wonder of His love and faithfulness. As the years go by I am learning the amount of grace and forgiveness I give to others is a reflection of the grace and forgiveness I have received from Jesus. I want to keep growing in my understanding of God’s grace and my gratitude to Him for saving me from death to life. He has given me grace by the truckload, and He is teaching me to offer this quantity of grace to all people – family, friends, and strangers. The Lord has offered immeasurable grace to me over and over again. I want the times I have given others only a thimble, teaspoon or cup sized amount of grace to remind me to offer people grace by the truckload, which God has given to me. May His grace encourage you today, that you are seen, known and loved by a heavenly Father who is for you, and with you always.

How does Solo Piano Grace speak to you? 

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV)

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14, NIV)

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (2 Corinthians 12:9, NIV)

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14, NIV)

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Colossians 4:6, NIV)

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen. (Revelation 22:21, NIV)

Circle of Quiet (Solo Piano)

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The new single Circle of Quiet (Solo Piano) just released April 13th and can be enjoyed across all music streaming services including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Pandora. The PDF Sheet Music is also available.

This solo piano piece has a simple message. I definitely need a “circle of quiet” in the midst of a busy, hurried, and noisy world, and I am thinking that having a few quiet moments in your life would be a blessing to you as well. Here are a few thoughts I was having as I composed the notes.

The song has four sections with varying lengths, all of which were created to help bring the listener some moments of peace and quiet. Section 1 (0:00 to 0:54) is the opening minute with a gentle introduction and opening verse melody that helps to still our minds and invite us into a “circle of quiet.” Section 2 (0:55 to 1:47) reveals the chorus, which desires to sing a gentle song and rhythm over our lives, helping us to slow down. A higher transition melody answers the chorus to bring us back to the verse melody. Section 3 (1:48 to 2:46) plays the intro verse melodies again, but in a different way, with two lower left hand chords arpeggiating and alternating, then repeating and leading us to anticipate the return of the main theme. Section 4 (2:37 to 4:40) features this chorus, followed by the transition melody being played even higher. Then the chorus repeats once more, taking us, as C.S. Lewis would say, “further up and further in” toward heaven, our true home, the ultimate “circle of quiet” (and source of peace, hope, joy, wonder, etc.). The high transition melody guides us toward a soft ending, which references elements of the notes we have heard along the way. Each section is divided by long rests of 2-3 seconds to help us experience the blessing and refreshment of a “circle of quiet,” which is God’s gift to us when we put our trust and hope in Him.

Psalm 94:12-13 — “How blessed the man you train, God, the woman you instruct in your Word, Providing a circle of quiet within the clamor of evil…”

How does “Circle of Quiet (Solo Piano)” speak to you?

All Around and Deep Within

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The new single All Around and Deep Within released March 23rd and has already been enjoyed in fifty countries, with some of the top listener cities being in Brazil, Australia, Taiwan, Finland, and Spain. You can stream from your favorite music service including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Pandora.

The ethereal piano, harp, and symphony orchestra are rich with emotion, expressing the breadth and depth of God’s great love toward us (1 John 4:14-16). This is the overall idea, and down below are more insights into the meaning behind the music. 

There are two themes. At first I thought the opening Theme A was the verse, and Theme B was the chorus. However, during the creative process each section became a chorus of its own. Theme A is the “all around” and Theme B is the “deep within” of God’s love for us.

Theme A symbolizes the time period from eternity past all the way through the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. It begins all the way back in the dark void of the universe, before Creation. Musically God begins to paint His creative “brush strokes” across the universe. He ultimately breathes life into Adam and Eve, who live in the midst of His pure love and presence before they disobeyed and sinned against Him. The big, low bass strings are constant like the “all around” of God’s great love, which has existed all the way from eternity past. The melody on the harp and ethereal piano represent the simplicity and purity of God’s love, and the innocence of Adam and Eve receiving it. Theme A is expressing the “all around” breadth of God’s love surrounding Adam and Eve before the Fall, when their original sin separated them from God.

Theme B’s “deep within” takes us on a journey from the Fall to the end of the Old Testament. The melody is more complex to represent the complications Adam and Eve brought to their relationship with God and His simple love after they first sinned against Him. Their original sin was passed down to us as the Scripture says in Romans 3:23-24, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” There is beauty in Theme B, yet there is tension and complexity. God’s perfect holiness encounters our imperfect brokenness. This tension and complexity is a result of my sin and inconsistency in fully trusting God’s unchanging love, grace, and patience toward me. Ecclesiastes 7:29 says, “God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.”

There are three significant musical rests in the piece, with the first one happening after the opening Theme A and Theme B. This long pause symbolizes the four hundred years of God’s silence from the end of the Old Testament (book of Malachi) to the beginning of the New Testament (book of Matthew). Theme A returns with a bigger and more wonderful version of God’s pure love, adding instruments and melodies for the birth of Christ and His gift of salvation through the New Testament up until the book of Revelation. Theme B follows with its grander version, as we receive more of God’s saving and transforming grace during our lives. This carries us from the New Testament until today, with the “all around and deep within” of God’s love through the centuries.

The second rest represents the waiting time between Jesus ascending to heaven (Acts 1:9) and His second coming to take all who have believed and do believe with Him to heaven to be with Him forever (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). In the final, shorter section, Theme A and Theme B interweave and overlap musically to signify our sanctification and unity with God through what Jesus has done for us. The third and final shorter rest happens just before the ending chord of the piece. This symbolizes our waiting for the new heaven and new earth to be fulfilled, and the final chord signifies all who are saved being in fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for eternity.

“And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them” (1 John 4:14-16).

How does “All Around and Deep Within” speak to you?

SO LOVED Track #2 – So Loved

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Click above to listen to the title track So Loved as you read. You can also enjoy the CD, MP3 Album, Piano Book and Sheet Music on the So Loved Album Page. And you can stream the music on Spotify, iTunes-Apple Music, Amazon MP3, Pandora, and more.

What does “so loved” bring to mind for you with family, friends, and faith?

As we celebrate Mother’s Day in the U.S. this coming Sunday, I am dedicating this song and this week’s post to my Mom. She has been loving and encouraging me in my life and music since before I started playing piano at age six. In case you haven’t heard the story before…when I was twelve years old and wanted to give up piano lessons to focus on basketball, she wouldn’t let me quit. Mom and Dad both had a bigger, long-term perspective. They said I needed to finish the school year first before we would decide if I should stop piano lessons. By the time my 8th grade school year arrived, playing the piano had become a retreat, a sanctuary where I could relax and unwind. Then the next summer I wrote my first song…

This title track for my just released album is also based on a love story. Since God revealed the idea for So Loved to be an album of life soundtracks inspired by Bible stories, He has been deeply moving me to know how much He loves me. Just as for each of these characters, God sees our lives as priceless works of art, and our stories as epic adventure films. He is forever singing a beautiful song over our life as He does the extraordinary through broken, ordinary people, for His glory. His love never quits, and He transforms our lives when we trust in His bigger, long-term perspective.

Musically So Loved is all original, but as the music emerged I was reminded of my favorite composer J.S. Bach. His timeless melodies from the early to mid 1700s have a simplicity as they sing to our hearts and ears (this does not mean Bach is easy to play, however!). He signed all his compositions “Soli Deo Gloria” — to the Glory of God Alone, and his music is filled with refreshing beauty. The life of the disciple John and the John 3:16 verse quoted at the bottom are the inspiration behind the song and album So Loved.

In the opening and closing sections, if you listen closely, the piano notes are repeating the words “For God so loved, the world, that He gave His only Son.” The boy choir, Gregorian choir, harp, and vibes (vibraphone) join the piano to offer angelic, heavenly harmonies. These parts were not intentionally inspired by Bach, but they could be considered reminiscent of his church music composing and chorales.

How does SO LOVED and its inspiration speak into your life today?

SO LOVED | JOHN
John 3. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” We are so loved.

Progress Over Perfection – What's Love Got To Do With It?

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Click above to listen to First Love from my third album Draw Near as you read. If you enjoy, consider purchasing the song, album download, or CD from Amazon, iTunes, or stantonlanier.com (where sheet music is also available).

Is your mindset thankful for progress, or frustrated by a lack of perfection?

The tension in this question is real in my day-to-day life. If you are like me, maybe you have a “performance mentality” that wants to rear its ugly head. When this happens, I am tempted to start striving too hard, and my body language feels more like clinched fists and gritted teeth. I risk my mindset looking like something like this — strive to please others and do my best to perform for God, then maybe others will like me better and God will love me more. Going down this slippery slope leads to frustration that once again, perfection is out of reach.

This is why I wanted you to listen to First Love as you are reading this…

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Several years ago a good friend spoke words into my life that began to stick. He said, “Focus on progress, not perfection.” As a “recovering perfectionist” this was huge for me. It was a mindset shift. Focusing on progress rather than perfection helps me be thankful instead of frustrated. Surrendering results and outcomes to God also increases my peace and rest.

About half of my Scripture inspired piano compositions are lyrical, meaning the piano is “singing” some words. First Love is one of these. Here is what the notes are singing: “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” (1 John 4:16 is the verse melody) and “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19 is the chorus melody). 1 John 4:10 offers a great summary: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

What a gift this is, to be able to receive grace and forgiveness rather than having to strive, please and perform. This is the foundation for my “Progress Over Perfection” mindset. By God’s grace, He loves me even though I am not perfect. As I make progress in surrendering to Him, seeking to listen to Him, to follow Him, He shows the way and I can trust Him with results and outcomes.

How can being thankful for progress inspire your journey today?