Arranging demo: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

My daughter Kelsey informed me on Friday that she had to play in church on Sunday so I had to arrange something for her. Due to the time, it had to be simple but I still wanted to do something off the beaten path. The video below demonstrates what we came up with.

In the video, I talk about the key things going on but here is a brief recap. The important elements are the following:

* Syncopation and a touch of rhythmic complexity.

* A consistent melodic line built with the pentatonic blues scale that is used throughout to tie everything together.

The goal of this is to demonstrate that you don’t have to overthink the arranging process. You can actually do it quickly if you have a concept. And you don’t have to write everything out. You just need an idea and a plan (the form of the song).

If you don’t see the video below, click here.