Blowing out candles helps build strong lungs.

In this article, we’ll be going through the motions of arranging a song. Instead of looking at a completed arrangement, we’ll walk through every step of the process to show how an a cappella arrangement evolves and is finally completed. Today, the tune is Happy Birthday, that old standby of yore.

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Back in the day we wrote our music for 5 miles, in the snow, uphill, both ways!

If you went back in time with only your computer, it’s saved internet cache, and a love for a cappella, how would you teach an arrangement if music notation hadn’t been invented? Well, if you’re Guido of Arezzo, you’ll just invent notation and that will be that…or you could utilize some non-traditional notation techniques. Fortunately, this article (hence the saved cache…get it?) will help timetravelers or acamembers who don’t read sheet music.

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A composite part is when several parts combine to create one effect. Sometimes it’s used to make bell chords or arpeggios, or perhaps you are creating a sustained tone by fading back and forth between two singers. Maybe it’s a long lick that spans several ranges (a run from a bass’s low notes up to a soprano’s high notes). Whatever it is, you’re using multiple people to create one unified sound or effect.

If you get meta about it, all of a cappella is composite singing. Multiple people lending one voice to create a unified sound…that’s so meta…

Not as easy as A and B

While it’s well and good to know what your group is about, who your target audience is, where you want to take the group, and if your 2nd soprano is single, that doesn’t actually pick your songs. This article is geared towards the practicality of picking songs, and several methods with their pros and cons. Naturally, you can adapt these archetypes to suit the ensemble; you’re the one making the sauce.

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“Doof, tepuh kss”

“Pfft dubba dubba, kcha”

It’s a fallacy that drums noises are reserved to just drums, just as vocal percussion is limited to the vocal percussionist. If you can speak, you can do VP, and if you’re writing arrangements for people who can speak…well, everyone can be a drum sometime or other! All it takes is a little ingenuity and riskiness to write some drum parts for your whole ensemble, as well as some singers who are willing to have some fun.

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Or just watch some…

You're a winner if you like it quick and dirty!

So maybe you don’t want to peruse the multitude of articles right now, and you just want fast and easy directions of how to do an a cappella arrangement. Will do, but here’s the caveat- this is just one way of going about an arrangement. I would recommend reading the other articles on this website when you get the chance, as well as be aware of what works and doesn’t work for you.

So here we go!

Range appreciation.

Boys and girls, high and low, with every voice specialized like a well-run machine…ahh. Hopefully the group you’re arranging for is already balanced in terms of boys and girls, but make sure you know when you’re making a custom arrangement. It would blow if you wrote a SSAATTB part for a group that has no true sopranos. Well, it wouldn’t quite blow, but there goes your Friday night plans so you can re-arrange it before the deadline.

Let’s assume things are fine, and you have a quasi-balanced group. Let’s also assume you’re making a generic arrangement, rather than a custom one (a lot of the same principles will apply, though). How do you balance voice parts, how do you use voice registers to the best of their ability, and how do you keep things fun for the altos?

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Always listening for new things

There was a whole phase in contemporary music when quoting famous pieces was in vogue. The art of “mashup” is when your material is, essentially, other people’s stuff (plug for Girl Talk; I never danced harder at a concert). Brahms is said to have sketched his first symphony on a Beethoven symphony framework…was it number 5, or 9?

Anywho, if you’re looking for a great place to get a plethora of different a cappella tunes, check out A Cappella U. The host, Joey C, has been doing it for several years now, and he gives all sorts of styles and versions that provide juicy material for an arranger. You can download the free podcast here, or you can sign up and pay for 2 bucks an episode to get the full tracks.

Good wholesome music.

If you’re lucky enough to scrabble together a handful of boys and girls to hold productive rehearsals amidst incredible sexual tension, creating unique and engaging arrangements are going to be a piece of cake. Co-ed groups not only have the advantages of a ready pool of datable singers, but the vocal range and palette of effects are astronomical. You get the best of both worlds- girls who can sing crazy high and guys who can sing crazy low. What’s not to love about that?

Before you get carried away on a cloud of dreams, the cost of having so many possibilities is that…you have so many more things to worry about. This guide is here to help elucidate the headaches of co-ed groups (such as range concerns and balancing) as well as the perks (composite parts and really cute choreography). However, if you think about it, just mesh together the assets of an all-male group and an all-female group and add a little soap opera drama.

However, here are some general points to keep in mind when you do your co-ed arrangements.

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Also plays songs that people know, like Sweet Home Alabama.

Song selection is tricky business. It might not make or break your group, and each individual song choice might not matter that much, but a group’s audience and reputation are largely determined by the catalog of music they present. So before you decide on your group’s lineup for the year, or the semester, mull over your priorities.

Who are you singing for?

As a case study, when I was in my second year with the UNC Loreleis, we won a great battle: Major Sponsorship. The UNC General Alumni Association decided to sponsor us, giving us a lump sum of money every year, full access to their printer, free labor of their webmaster, and rehearsal space. In exchange, we would sing at many GAA-held events for “free.” This meant singing for a lot of old people with old memories and deep pockets. It was in our interests to make them smile, so I tried to include a couple songs in the set list that they were feasibly familiar with, as well as a few newer songs that would at least make them smile.

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