The Puzzle

This darling little charmer reads like step-by-step instructions for assembling a jigsaw puzzle. Andy’s writing provides the perfect lesson plan to teach part-singing: Part II sings an eight-bar melody, Part I sings their complementary eight bars, the two combine, we add some simple parallel harmony on the refrain, and voilà! Teachers will thoroughly appreciate the easy-to-play piano part and compact vocal ranges (no one sings higher or lower than a D). In a surprise, not-so-hidden message, the lyrics explain that “the pieces are scattered, not broken, and though they have come apart, when they fit back together, we’ll have a wonderful work of art.” It’s a double metaphor about points of view, or voice parts, coming together.