Arranging is storytelling

Arranging is frustrating.  Even the best arrangers will tell you that arranging can be about 90% frustration and 10% inspiration (and that 10% might be a little optimistic!).  On top of that, many new arrangers do not know where to start and do not have a process to work through.

I want to go through the process I use in seven steps.  Before I do, I want to tell you a few very important things.

* Arranging is storytelling.  Your arrangements must communicate a coherent idea.  There can and should be diversity in the story along with high points and low points, but everything needs to fit together into a unified story.  If you are not telling a story (a theologically rich story if you are playing in church), you are simply filling time while the offering is being taken (and that is a shame).

For this reason, you will notice that many of the steps below focus on the big picture rather than details. For most of us, our story telling occurs at a high level.  We can’t explain intricate theological concepts in an arrangement but we can get across an overall idea.

* You have to document as you go.  You may have the coolest idea in the world today, but you will likely not remember it tomorrow unless you document it.  You can write things out or use a handy recorder, but you must document your ideas.

Now, here are the 7 steps.  The order is not set in stone and you should always feel free to go back and change things you decided in an earlier step.

1) Pick a song.  I like to say that you should pick a song that “wants to be arranged.”  By this, I mean that you will usually have a connection with a song that tells you that you can do something with it.  If you are looking for a song, just start playing through songs and wait until you feel that connection with one of them.

2) Decide on the shape.  The shape refers to the progression of the song in terms of things like dynamics and climaxes.  The storytelling happens more in the shape of a song than anywhere else.  Different shapes have different impacts on the listener.

3) Decide on the form.  By form, I am referring to the length, number of verses and choruses, transitions, intros and endings. 

4) Develop a hook.  The term hook has different meanings.  When I use it, I am referring to a unique idea that can be used through an arrangement to tie everything together.  It can be a little melody line, a chord progression, a rhythmic element or many other things.  Hooks make arrangements sound polished and unified.

5) Chart your arrangement.  Come up with the harmony you plan on using and write it out.  Here is a chart for one of my arrangements.  I will not take the time to explain it here, but I just want you to notice that this chart provides a framework for the arrangement.  It includes all the decisions made to this point about shape, form and harmony.  You don’t have to do charts like this.  If you have printed music for a song, you can simply write in the chords you want to use.

6) Develop technical treatments for each section.  At this point, you know how many sections have to be developed and the harmony for each.  Now, you simply have to figure out what you are going to do technically in each section.  Remember that these technical ideas must be unified and working together to tell the overall story.  Don’t fall into the trap of mixing up a bunch of unrelated ideas.  You do not want an arrangement that sounds like a theme/variations piece.

7) Polish the arrangement.  Work on transitions especially and balancing the sections against each other to make sure they support the shape.  If the sections support the shape, the shape will support the story.

Many of you already arrange and you are thinking that you don’t do it anything like this.  That is fine of course.  This is one approach among many.  Feel free to use it, tweak it, or ignore it.

If you find this interesting, you might consider my 3-hour DVD on arranging.  It goes through all of these steps in great detail.