Howdy folks!
Welcome
to this month’s column. This month we'll begin a series on arranging using known songs as
examples to help you understand the benefits of knowing how to arrange a song, even to
allow for an "extended" version, when the Holy Spirit directs you to draw it out a little bit (but not too much!).
I'm a classically trained musician, and I learned how to arrange music early in my musical life. When I was playing out in the 'real world' music scene, touring as a
band member or hired musician, I found many of these situations had a problem: nobody really understood how to take a song and arrange it for the given lineup of that
band. They didn't know how to transpose to other keys so the singer would sound better, they didn't know how to deal with fade outs and create a song ending. They
either didn't care or didn't want to deal with it.
Arranging isn't difficult, but it does take some thought. One aspect is to look to songs that are really well written and complete - with an actual ending and no
fadeout. They can serve as a guide to help you figure out how to bring a song to an end that has no ending on record. While most worship songs do generally have
an ending and rarely fade out - at least in my experience - the endings they do have sometimes are a real mess and should be cleaned up.
One problem you might encounter is in using a live performance recording. But the song doesn't end, it actually transitions into another tune. What do you do? Copy
that idea and do the second song along with the first? Yes, you could do that. But in truth, you should find a copy of the studio track and see how they end it there.
That is the easiest guide. Or you can look to another band who has done the song and see if they have an ending, which is probable, and would also make the task easy.
If no ending can be found, it's not difficult to create an ending. The song itself becomes the guide. We'll discuss how to deal with this issue in a future column.
But, to get back to the main topic of actually arranging songs, most songs have a pretty conventional structure. This is a typical arrangement:
Pretty straight forward stuff. You hear it on the radio all the time in Pop, Rock and Country music; Worship music follows much the same formula - yes, formula.
Much of the music you hear on the radio is "formula" driven. A formula is a method or approach to arranging songs. Just as a cake or medicine is made using a specific
mix of ingredients, so music is created in much the same way. There are a number of successful formulae out there, and almost all the music you listen to follows one.
It is what makes some of the music sound so much alike from song to song. When a formula delivers a successful result, it is repeated... a lot.
Let's break this down a little, for clarity, in case you don't quite understand the structure of a song, the purpose of each section.
An Introduction is simply a way to start the song. You can use a lot of different ways to do that, from simply vamping on the Root chord for four to eight beats, to
playing a truncated version of the verse or chorus section, often with the guitar playing a melody line over the top of it. Some songs begin right away with the verse,
or with the chorus.
The Verse is the narrative, the story. Here is where you tell people what's on your mind, your heart.
You'll notice a Bridge is used in the above example. A bridge section in a song is kind of like a "side bar" in a conversation. What it does is provide additional
information on the subject, information that may not be obvious in the lyric that has been presented so far. It can also be an "in other words" way to restate the
main points being made. It can be very useful.
The Chorus is the summary, the conclusion drawn from what is being offered, stated or wondered about in the verses. It is what you are most likely to hum or sing,
even after only one listening. It is often the "hook", a device that is used to "make" you remember the tune. It is also the section of the song that seeks to
"connect" with you on a deeper level than the main lyrics, to tap into your emotional responses.
Instrumental sections are included and are often a "song within a song", standing as a separate section, but often used as a time to reflect upon, even build upon
what has been said thus far - but without words. This is also another way to tap into your emotions, to connect with you.
For Worship music, there are various formulae, too, all based on the secular models. Below is a typical Worship formula arrangement.
Now understand, all this is pretty fluid, meaning that it could be some variation of this outline. The rule is that you can pretty much do whatever you want,
especially if you wrote the song. But the typical arrangement will clock in at around four minutes or so. Worship songs can go a little longer because that is
the nature of a worship song, not to hurry. You just have to be sensitive to time constraints in church services and not become self-indulgent.
Now that you know what a typical arrangement looks like, start looking at the songs you hear and play and identify the parts; maybe write down the title of the song
and below that write out the "outline", the flow, of the song, how it's put together.
I'm trying not to put too much information into a single column. This is a pretty deep topic, so bear with me. In the next installment, we'll continue this and give
you some ideas you can try out to make your own arrangement a little more personal to you, instead of sounding just like the record.
Until next time, keep making a joyous noise for the Lord.