Rogers and Hammerstein; Lennon and McCartney; Nielsen and Heasley? They may not be household names, but BYU students Matt Nielsen and Tyler Heasley hope their passion for writing music and lyrics will produce a reputation like the great musical duos of the past.

Sitting in their apartment, Nielsen and Heasley bounced ideas off each other in the form of piano melodies and poetic phrases. The two men began writing music together in 2007, after knowing each other for only a few months. They became roommates in January 2007 after Heasley returned from his mission to Arizona. It was around this time that Heasley discovered his unconventional love for poetry.

"At the end of my mission I wrote a poem and it really made me upset," Heasley said. "I was determined to never be a poet."

Heasley explained that writing the poem frustrated his resolve to stay away from some poetry's romantic, heavy-hearted style. But after coming to Provo, he said he gained a new determination to "revolutionize the poetry world" with humor and spirituality.

Heasley's talent with words went from poetry to lyrics when his roommate, Nielsen, challenged him to write the words for a hymn.

"I just sat down one Sunday for four hours and punched out something," Heasley said. "It was like an addiction after that."

Nielsen composed the music for Heasley's first lyrics, which were based on Psalm 19 and titled, "How the Heavens Declare."

"We were definitely still learning a lot when we wrote that one," Nielsen said.

Nielsen, who is majoring in sound recording technology, began learning and applying music theory to the composition of classical music at age 17 under the direction of his piano teacher.

"It was really intimidating for me at first," Nielsen said. "The first thing she had me write was just one line, five chords."

Since then, Nielsen has written several songs, one of which was a Thanksgiving hymn he and Heasley submitted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for possible publication in the next hymnal.

Based on past publication dates, Nielsen and Heasley may have to wait another 20 years to see their piece between the covers of a church hymnal. To pass the time, they work on other hymns and choral pieces, which they plan to submit to several publishers in the near future. So far, they have completed four hymns and one choral piece and are working on three other songs.

Although Heasley's first lyrics came from the Bible, he said inspiration comes from everything, especially listening to conversations and reading textbooks.

"If it's my textbook, I'll misread a sentence and be like, 'That's hilarious!' and then realize it wasn't intended to be hilarious," Heasley said. "I'll decide to write a poem anyway."

One of Heasley's humorous haikus developed into a Music 295 project for Nielsen. The words of the poem "Enemies: April and May" was the inspiration behind the music, which is how ideas normally come to Nielsen.

"Usually when I read the text, I actually start hearing a tune in my head," Nielsen said. "I get an idea of the harmonic language and it's just a matter of dictating it."

Nielsen's dictation has been experienced by Christian vom Lehn, an economics major from Victor, N.Y. He knew Heasley and Nielsen when they first began writing songs together, and has had the opportunity to experience their work firsthand.

"He [Heasley] really has a talent for taking phrases and thoughts from the scriptures and putting them into a lyric that is at once impressive in the way it strikes you with the doctrine, but also it is very catchy," vom Lehn said. "It compliments Matt's music very well."

Vom Lehn also said Nielsen has a skill for creating powerful melodies that also compliment Heasley's words.

Although Nielsen and Heasley work well together, they do not share their compositions with each other until after they are complete.

"We really don't observe each other in the process," Nielsen said. He added that this happens because of the spontaneity of their work, but also because they do not want the other looking over his shoulder.

The process usually begins with Heasley writing a poem and then sharing it with Nielsen to create the melody behind it. Although a large amount of uncertainty exists in a two-person creation, Heasley said he trusts Nielsen with his poems and enjoys sitting back to wait for the final product.

"That's one of the joys of creativity," Heasley said. "It's thrilling to see what people do with things you've already created."

Copyright Brigham Young University 23 Jan 2008