Shaping an arrangement

When you first start to write your own arrangements, it can be hard just to come up with a few ideas that when strung together, will be long enough for an offertory.

I remember my first arrangements.  I would come up with an idea for the first verse easily, find a contrasting idea for the second verse (usually soft and slow) and then struggle to work out some kind of big idea to close the song.  Then I would come up with an introduction and call it a day.

It would sound a lot like one of those theme and variations pieces you learn as a child where the ideas are disjointed and unrelated.

Arranging a song should be more than just cobbling ideas together.  Arranging is telling a story, and all arrangers should consider what kind of story they want to tell.

You have probably noticed that many arrangements follow the same basic story line.  They start a medium tempo and volume.  Then there is a slow, soft section.  Last, there is a bombastic, fancy last verse and ending.  Many if not most sonatas loosely follow this same story line too.

It is a good idea to be different and a good idea to find other stories to tell.  The medium-slow-big story is so overused in church music arrangements that it is becoming a cliche.

And of course, some songs do not lend themselves to that story line either.  Either the words or the music may not work.

Choosing the right story is important because the story is very critical to the impact your arrangement will have.  You can loosely group arrangement stories into these three categories:

1) Reflective – All ideas are mellow and reserved even though some might have movement in them.  The song starts and ends quietly. If performed effectively, this story will make the audience quiet, calm and reflective.  However, if no connection is made, the audience gets bored.  This is the hardest story to tell for most musicians.  Because it is difficult to tell the story well and because this story does not involve technical fireworks, most church pianists stay away from this kind of music.

Most of the time, it is clear when songs need this kind of treatment.  There is leeway for poetic license, but playing a song like “I Surrender All” outside of this story line demonstrates questionable taste.

2) Energetic – Virtually the entire piece is upbeat except for perhaps a slow section that is often added for contrast (and to make the song longer).  Often, syncopation and other complex rhythm is used.

When played well, the audience’s mood will be lifted.  Music like this has an amazing power to help people starting seeing the glass half full rather than half empty.  Hymns that would logically use this treatment include “Count Your Blessings”, “Heaven Came Down”, and “Springs of Living Water.”

3) Goosebump – The medium-slow-big story line I mentioned earlier falls into this category.  Songs written this way tend to start mellow and then try to build toward a huge climax.  Normally, there is a lot of contrast with the song either starting slow and soft or having a slow and soft section.

If played well, this kind of arrangement has the best chance of having a huge emotional impact on the audience.  When people mention their favorite songs from my recordings, they usually mention the songs that fall into this category (“His Eye is on the Sparrow”, “It is Well”, “Ivory Palaces” and “To God Be the Glory” are a few of them).

Normally, there is a building that goes on through a few verses/choruses, often with an upward modulation or two.

An orchestra is enormously important (but not essential) to creating the big emotional impact.  I usually do not play songs with this storyline unless I am backed up with other musicians.

If you have not seen this video of “To God Be the Glory” below, take a few minutes to watch it.  I discuss this concept and then you can watch it performed.

(If you don’t see the video below, here is the link.)

On my last CD, I recorded four reflective arrangements, two energetic ones and four goosebump songs.  I would probably do more goosebump songs but they are extremely expensive to record (usually use a full orchestra).

There just is not anything that can compare with a goosebump moment in music.  I was watching Celtic Woman sing “You Raise Me Up” on PBS last night and I was enormously moved.  That is a tremendous goosebump arrangement.

It takes some intuition and trial and error to be able to predict how your music will affect the audience.  But this is an important skill to develop and should on your mind as an arranger.  Being conscious of the story line of your music is a good place to start.