Let’s take a break from the eggnog and turkey, and talk about the fundamentals of our craft.…

What is an arrangement? And how does it apply to our playing on an arranger?

There is much to be learned from listening carefully to instrumental records. The same principles apply when you have a singer, but it is easier to notice when there isn’t! So, what’s the first thing you notice when you listen? Is it the melody? Is it the rhythm? Is it the chord progression?

I think that, when you listen to an arrangement, for me at least it is the change of instrumentation in different segments of the song. It is very rare in a pro arrangement for the same instrument to carry the melody through the whole song. It is also very rare for the same level of backing to plow on through the whole thing as well! It is that contrast between sections that turns a simple melody into an arrangement.

Yet, all too often here I listen to user demos that uses the same sound and backing for the entire piece. Our modern arrangers generally make it all too easy to quickly change sounds that we are playing, and the overall complexity of the backing completely at will. So why do so many of us not think of this? Perhaps it is what I alluded to earlier… We are thinking about the melody, the chords, and the rhythm.

The thing is, that is just the START of the arrangement, not the arrangement itself..! Not until you have added that extra level of interplay between sounds and backing does the whole thing come together. It is that interplay between instrumental voices that allows a 3–4 minute song to not be boring by the end of minute #2!

So maybe, in these final days of such a terrible year, while the turkey and dressing digests, perhaps we could make a New Year’s resolution to think more carefully about this aspect of our music? Try to tell yourself, if you have played 16 bars on one sound, perhaps it is time to change to another! Set up foot switches or easily accessible buttons to completely change your left hand and right hand sounds, and use them like crazy!

If you listen to the great arrangers (the real ones, that is!) like Nelson Riddle, or Quincy Jones, or whoever you like best, try to take note of how often the lead sound and the backing changes. Then pattern your arrangement with this in mind. Let’s make 2021 the year of the arrangement! After all…

We all play ‘arrangers’!

Happy New Year everybody!

🎹🎄🎹❄️🎹🎄🎹