A Cappella Arrangements

MB on Drums!

Instrumental Compositions (written with Chris Long)

Original Songs

Songs from "Full Circle," an original musical by Mark Bernfield and Vince Faso. All music and lyrics by Mark Bernfield.

Full Circle (An Original Musical)

This song is about my dog Larry, who, at his ripe old age of 14, has become a grumpy old man.

LYRICS:
You jump on my lap 
First thing in the morning 
You growl at your sister 
A menacing warning.

You can’t just surrender, 
Content with our love,
And share with your brood?

No, that might preclude the
Feud, rude attitude,
And mood you exude. 

You squeal for your meals
As if we will let you go unfed
And your testy best is expressed as you
Wrest your sisters from every bed.

I’ll bet you forget when you let people pet you every day.
But now not so much, as the most loving touch
You’ll perceive, so aggrieved, 
And scare us all away…

At the top of our walk down the block
You just stop and pull toward home
Denying your pining, whining talk 
I chalked up to desire to roam.

Despite all your push and your shove 
You are loved for who you are
Because before you I did not have a clue 
That a pooch could inhabit my heart,
In your waning years it appears that 
You are slowing down.
But keep being you - so you can live up to 
Your so well-earned reknown.

It's Larry's World

This is an instrumental piece I wrote over a few months with my dear friend and collaborator, Chris Long. 

Yeah, the horns aren't real, but what is these days?

Hindsight

A song was needed to describe the classroom ukulele curriculum I teach, so I wrote this.

G, C, E and A

I arranged this song (from the Foo Fighters' "Concrete and Gold" album) for a cappella SATB a cappella. I didn't sing it though - Peter Nugent (https://noojtracks.com/) did. He's amazing.

Happy Ever After (Dave Grohl)

Performed by the Jolly Gibsons: 
Jennifer Jolly: Keys
Steve Gibson: Guitar
Dave Fischer: Bass
Mark Bernfield: Drums

Happy Jalopy

It Ain't My Fault (Smokey Johnson)

Alex Nahas: Vocals/Chapman Stick
Mark Bernfield: Drums/backing vocals

Underskin

Boom Bands (Laughingstock)

Performed by Jazz Horizons Octet (Stephen Herrick, bandleader)

Black Nile (Wayne Shorter)

Chris Long and I wrote this together. It arose from a challenge to write a song in one night, and 8 months later we finally finished it.

2022

Dream Of The Pangolin

This funky tune, written by Chris Long and me, started with the chorus chord progression and rhythm, which led to the opening bass line, and then everything else fell into place.

Easy Did It

I originally wrote this tune in 2019, and it got a reworking in 2022 with Jon Randall and Mark Rossi playing beautifully and adding a lot of new ideas to it. Thanks, Jon and Mark!

Poop Time For Clemmy

This song was inspired by the TV show "Heartstopper" (musically and otherwise) and real-life events. I hope you enjoy it!

Watching And Waiting

I arranged this Aimee Mann song a few years ago, and here it's being performed by a digital ensemble.

Goose Snow Cone (Aimee Mann)

Hold Me Down (JilBrazil)

The Adventures Of Franz & Bonaventure

Cobalt Bop (MIchael LaMacchia)

Written with Chris Long, this piece was the result of an experiment in taking turns writing sections. Chris wrote the intro, I wrote the A section of the melody, Chris wrote the B section, etc. Once there was enough material, we worked together to develop the piece more fully, orchestrate it, and mix.

Moishe Goes Next

This instrumental piece gradually evolved from the initial idea, the intro piano riff that I reharmonized.

Peixe Fora d'Água

Peixe Fora D'Água

These are the songs I wrote for "Life Finds a Way: A Jurassic Park Musical," a musical theater adaptation of the first Jurassic Park film. It was first performed at Redwood Day School in Oakland, CA in 2023.

8 Life Finds A Way

7 Whitley (Blair's Lament)

6 Don't Mess With The Nedry (The Nedry Tango)

5 Chaos Theory

4 My Name's Tim

3 Mx. DNA

2 Join Me If You Please

1 We Dig

This is an SAATB a cappella arrangement of "Odds Are," a song by the Barenaked Ladies.

Odds Are (Barenaked Ladies)

A cappella arrangement of the Nickel Creek song "Destination" from the album "A Dotted Line."

Destination (Nickel Creek)

This is an original reimagining of a famous song by the band Oasis, with new harmonies and instrumentation inspired by a song by Orla Gartland.

Pretending to Wonder

This is an original reimagining of a Michael Bublé performance of a Pablo Beltrán Ruiz/Luis Demetrio song (lyrics by Norman Gimbel). New harmonies, new instruments, Bublé's vocal. 

Mark Bernfield

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