Arranging

1. Arranging smccarthy@halesowen.ac.uk

2. Criteria • Know arranging techniques through the study of musical arrangements of others • Be able to arrange music for different groups and resources • Be able to manipulate elements of music to produce musical arrangements • Be able to create scores and parts of arrangements for different instruments/voices.

3. Assignments • Commercial Composition Portfolio • Arranging for Instrumental Sections • Studying the Arrangements of others

4. Concept of Arranging • Any given piece of music can be arranged in a variety of ways. • Have any of the songs that you have covered in performance classes sounded exactly like the record? • You could either arrange an existing piece of work or arrange a piece of music based on a brief.

5. Elements of Music Arranging for a brief: Using the elements of music to explore logical approaches • Major /Happy – Minor /Sad • Fast rhythms /Cheetah – Slow rhythms /Snail • Loud dynamics /Thunderstorms – Soft dynamics /Lullaby

6. Short Brief • Using Cubase create a short piece of music (15 seconds long) based on one of the following briefs. • A nursery rhyme • A bird flying • A dog chasing a cat

7. Objectives • All students will be able to identify the elements of music. • All students will begin to develop their ability to critique others arrangements (4).

8. Harmony Melody Musical Elements Timbre Rhythm Dynamics Texture

9. What to include… • Be specific and identify where points of interest happen (verse 1, chorus, 2:34) • Describe the musical part as best you can • P.E.E. • Point – Explain - Evaluate

10. Melody – Ascends/Descends • Harmony – Major/Minor • Rhythm – Fast/Slow • Texture – What/how many instruments • Timbre – How instruments are performed • Dynamics – Loud/Soft does it change?

11. Glossary of terms

14. Exploring Texture/Timbre • Texture (Dynamics and Instrumentation) and Timbre (Instrumentation) are similar • Being able to describe each element effectively will help in the comparison assignment. • We have already explored words that will help describe them.

15. Objectives • All students will be able to define at least 5 musical terms • All students will be able to define different ways to arrange accompaniment • Most students will be able to compose using an appropriate musical accompaniment • Some students will be able to compose using a variety of musical accompaniment techniques

16. Recognising Texture on the Stave Homophony

17. Heterophony Polyphony

18. Task Using your knowledge of scales/harmony to help you • Compose a piece of music based on one of the briefs below • You must use appropriate texture and timbres • Try using a variety of textures if you feel it is appropriate Brief A cat walking at night Lift music Walking down a busy street Save your work in a designated Arranging Folder

19. Objectives • All students will be able to define what a melody is • Most students will be able to identify at least 2 melodic techniques • Some students will be able to practically apply these techniques into their own composition

20. Melody • A melody is a distinctive musical line in a piece of music • Most pop songs use melody with lyrics • A guitar solo is a melodic line • Constructed using melodic phrasing • Some melodies are embellished with ornaments to create interest (Trills and slides)

21. Example: • Phrase 1 - I don’t wanna close my eyes, • Phrase 2 – I don’t wanna fall asleep cuz I miss you baby, • Phrase 3 - And I don’t wanna miss a thing. • Phrase 4 – Cos even when I dream of you • Phrase 5 – The sweetest dream will never do cuz I miss you baby • Phrase 6 – And I don’t wanna miss a thing. Aerosmith - ‘Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing’

22. Phrase the passage below Wouldn’t it be nice if we were older then we wouldn’t have to wait so long and wouldn’t it be nice to live together in the kind of world that we belong you know its gonna make it that much better when we can say goodnight and stay together. Wouldn’t It Be Nice – The Beach Boys

23. Terminology • Conjunct Motion (Ode to Joy) • Disjunct Motion Mixed Motion is when a melody uses both Conjunct and Disjunct Motion

24. Melodic Contours • Melodic Arch • Inverted Melodic Arch

25. Objectives • All students will be able to identify 2 different types of musical terminology on a score. • Most students will be able to locate musical features on a score using bar numbers. • Some students will be able to write up what they find in an analytical way.

26. Why?? • Why do we arrange music in a certain way?

27. Feel • Genre • Male/Female singers • Accessible • Demographic • Ensemble

28. In your assignment you need to discuss why you think the composer uses particular arranging techniques. • This is important especially if you want the higher grades. • It is not enough to simply say: ‘He uses conjunct motion’ • You must explain this in more detail: ‘He uses conjunct motion as he wants the melody to flow and sound pleasant for the listener’

29. Eleanor Rigby Eleanor Rigby is a tragic story written by The Beatles. Use the lead sheet and recording of Eleanor Rigby to help you justify why it was arranged in that way. Try to recognise the musical techniques in the recording and use the lyrics/chords to help justify your points.

30. Here’s a few. • The song is in Em – Sad song about a sad subject • Motifs for different characters – To help tell a story • Only uses string quartet and vocals – Use of timbre adds a sense of sadness. • Staccato stabs – Creates an urgency, perhaps to demonstrate the characters feelings. • Legato passages – To aid the flow of the story between scenes. It also adds contrast from the staccato notes to add interest for the listener.

31. Objectives • All students will create a suitable structure for their piece. • Most students will create a suitable chord sequence. • Some students will devise appropriate accompaniment for their piece.

32. Objectives • All students will start to analyse the differences in the tracks. • Most students will start to write up their findings. Pass=Identify Merit=Describe Distinction=Explain