In the broadest sense composers arrange all the elements of music when creating a work Usually a composer with a blank canvas creates a totally new piece An arranger by contrast is a musician who reworks existing musical material ID: 526392
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Slide1
The Decision-Making Skills of the ArrangerSlide2
-In the broadest sense, composers arrange all the elements of music when creating a work.
-Usually a composer with a blank canvas creates a totally new piece.
-
An arranger, by contrast, is a musician who reworks existing musical material.
-adapt a composition written for one performing medium to another or recomposes a work to suit different circumstances.
-The composer and the arranger manipulate sound in all its dimensions, but their roles are different.Slide3
Arranging Jazz Instrumentals
-In jazz, songs written to be sung with lyrics and are commonly arranged as purely instrumental tunes.
-Often, arrangers may simply drop the lyrics and assign the vocal line to a solo instrument. Slide4
***Activity***
Compare 3 versions of a classic jazz love song, “What’s New?” by Johnny Burke and Bob Haggart (lyrics on the next page)
Benny Goodman version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dVjM3yxSmw
Billie Holiday version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXiSZxIH1Xw
J.J. Johnson version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrQfTmXImyc
Compare the role of the voice in the Benny Goodman version with that in the arrangement sung by Billie Holiday.
Even when there is no singer, as heard in the J.J. Johnson version, can you match the lyrics with the melody?
How did each of the arrangers differ in their approach to the piece? Were they equally effective in expressing the mood?
Which arrangement do you like better? Why?Slide5
What’s New Lyrics
What's newHow is the world treating you
You
haven't changed a bit
Handsome as ever I must admit
What's new
How did that romance come through
We haven't met since then
Gee but it's nice to see you again
What's new
Probably I'm boring you
But seeing you is grand
And you were sweet to offer your hand
I understand
Adieu
Pardon my asking what's new
Of course you couldn't know
I haven't changed
I still love you so
Adieu
Pardon my asking what's new
Of course you couldn't know
I haven't changed
I still love you so
Read more:
Linda Ronstadt - What's New Lyrics |
MetroLyrics
Slide6
Arranging for Marching Band
-Marching bands relish the opportunity to perform football halftime shows for their fans. -In most cases, the music they play is arranged rather than composed specifically for a marching ensemble.
-For an example, if a school decided to play Queen’s “We Are the Champions”, the rendition would probably be an arrangement because the original was composed for a rock band.
Queen’s “We Are the Champions”
https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jmd4OLzhQw0
FSU Marching Band Practice
https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jmd4OLzhQw0
FSU Marching Band Performance
https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaYqbRJvJPoSlide7
Transcribing Music
-The artistic involvement of the arranger can vary greatly. -Sometimes the arranger simply takes the exact notes of the composer and scores them for any combination of instruments or voices.
-a mechanical process, but most often it presets the arranger with many challenging musical decisions.
-usually these arrangements are called transcriptions because they are close to the original.
-Transcriptions – arrangements of music transferred from one medium to another.
-An example is taking a piano solo piece and scoring it with string, wind, and percussion instruments.Slide8
-Transcriptions take many forms. In Europe during the Baroque era (1600-1750), composers borrowed freely from themselves and from one another.
-today, this would violate copyright laws.
***Activity***
Which version of J.S. Bach is the most effective – the original or the transcription?
J.S. Bach’s Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue in C major:
https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Klh9GiWMc9U
John P.
Paynter’s
transcription of J.S. Bach’s
Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue in C
major (actually in B flat):
https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO0UluB6SJA
-How does the arrangement for band differ from the organ original?
-Which do you think is musically more effective? Why?
-Is it likely that you would typically hear both the original and the transcription in the same setting? Why or Why not?