Delyth Knight Certified Music Judge LABBS Music Category Director You Want to Start Arranging.pdf · arranging from scratch BABS Harmony College August 2015 3 ... barbershop style

Delyth Knight Certified Music Judge

LABBS Music Category Director

Song selection Finding sheet music Construction and form Adding embellishments Working within the range of the four voice parts

Pitfalls Copyright Let’s have a go (session 2)

August 2015 BABS Harmony College 2

Can’t find the song you want to sing arranged by anyone else

Don't like the arrangement you’ve found ◦ May be able to tweak it in places ◦ May be able to add intro or tag ◦ Maybe add another song to make a medley

Can’t sing the arrangement you’ve found ◦ May be able to transpose it into another key ◦ May be able to switch the tricky lines or substitute for

new

Same principles apply to “tweaking” as to arranging from scratch

August 2015 3 BABS Harmony College

Melody

Lyrics

Harmonic structure - plenty of 7ths

Exciting uptune with opportunities for terrific choreography

Opportunities for comedy

You will already have, or need to develop, an idea of what appeals about the song to give context for your arrangement

Who’s it for? – determines musical choices.


Google

www.musicroom.com

www.sheetmusicdirect.com

Music shops, libraries

Old bookshops, antique stalls

Jumble sales

Amazon

Advantage: identify composer and lyricist (required for copyright approval)


http://www.musicroom.com/

http://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/

Melody has to be singable

What’s the range of the lead singer(s)? Is the song comfortably within it?

If the melody goes too low, can I switch any part of it to the bass? .....

Or to tenor if too high?

Can the lead(s) sing what’s left?


Men

Women


Elements of the song

Most songs have both verse(s) and chorus(es) ◦ Lyrics may be repeated or all different

◦ May need to select best

◦ “Strophic” form – verse, verse, verse – can be tricky

Melody may repeat ◦ Identify where – same as lyrics?

Common song form: AABA (whole song or verse or chorus)


Where is the emotional high point/climax?

Is it indicated by the lyric, or the melody, or (you hope) both?

Are there any intermediate high points along the way?

Your arrangement will need to lead to each high point, and then away from it and on to the next


Does the first verse/chorus set up the song? ◦ Or do you need to write an introduction?

Can you start with the chorus?

Typical ballad construction: ◦ Verse, chorus, reprise of chorus (or part), tag

Typical uptune construction: ◦ Intro, chorus, verse or bridge, chorus, reprise, tag


Lyric should always sit well with the melody – English words have natural stresses that should fit the melodic/rhythmic pattern

Must be funny

If you set them up for a laugh, the audience won’t want to wait too long for the next gag

Punch-lines must be strong

If intended for contest, must still fit the barbershop style (good music in any event)

Keep it simple


Barbershop should be primarily homophonic: i.e. everyone singing the same syllables at the same time ◦ Enables/promotes lock and ring

Ideally have consonant 4-part chords on every melody note

Work out what the primary harmony is (may be on the sheet music) and thus what the basic chords should be


Bass sings mostly roots or fifths ◦ Promotes ringing chords

Tenor harmonises above lead ◦ Hallmark of barbershop harmony ◦ Usually sings 3rd or 7th of chord

Baritone sings the fourth note ◦ But do make their line singable!

Avoid awkward voice leading for everyone

David Wright's rule: ◦ every line of an arrangement should be capable of being

sung by a C level quartet – if not the whole song


Where do you put each part? There is plenty of choice:


Music needs to develop to make a satisfying emotional climax

Arrangement should not merely repeat; don’t copy and paste whole sections

Should be more excitement / intensity /complexity the second time around

Listen to some different versions of the song for ideas (Google again!)

Embellishments can make the difference


Hallmark of barbershop harmony ◦ A swipe is where harmony parts change the chords

while singing one syllable ◦ An echo is where harmony parts repeat the lyrics ◦ A pickup is the start of the next phrase or musical

thought. ◦ A bell chord is not just for showing off ◦ A key lift provides more excitement ◦ Backtime is where some parts are singing fewer

syllables than the original lyric ◦ Patter is where there are more syllables added to the

lyric ◦ An introduction gives you the opportunity to tell your

audience what you are going to sing about... ◦ ... And a tag permits you to tell them again


Embellishments that impede the musical flow

No place to breathe – especially for quartets

Awkward voice leading

Vocal range

Complex sequences

Length – or brevity

Inappropriate harmonisation – work on it

Over- or under-embellishment

Something that just doesn’t fit


If the song is going to be sung in public you must pay the composer’s royalties

Call PRS for Music, tell them what song you have arranged and who the composer was, and they will tell you who owns UK copyright

Call copyright holder/agent and ask for approval for your arrangement

They will check with the copyright owner and tell you how much it will cost. Can take months

You may not get the rights to use or to sell your arrangement



This presentation can be emailed to you:

Message me on [email protected]


mailto:[email protected]

Documents

Delyth Knight Certified Music Judge LABBS Music Category Director You Want to Start Arranging.pdf · arranging from scratch BABS Harmony College August 2015 3 ... barbershop style