In music, an arrangement loosely describes rewriting a piece of pre-existing music for a specific set of instruments or voices, often in harmony or with additional original material. Music is conceptual time expressed in the structures of tones and silence. ... Music is conceptual time expressed in the structures of tones and silence. ...

The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents the melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic structure" (ibid). The American Federation of Musicians (AFM) is a labor union of professional musicians in the United States and Canada. ...

Explanation

An arrangement is often an adaptation of a previously arranged piece of music for a musical application other than that for which it was originally intended. This includes arrangements for different instruments, for example an arrangement for piano or flute, or a duet, based on a symphonic piece, or an arrangement of instrumental accompaniment for vocal music). Or, it may be an adaptation for another musical style, for example adaptation of a classical piece for a jazz or rock ensemble, orchestration of a song written by a popular band, or an a cappella setting of a song from a stage musical or an opera. A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... The Flute (Ger. ... Duet may refer to: Duet, musical form Duet, Fox sitcom This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... A symphony is an extended piece of music usually for orchestra and usually comprised of several movements. ... In music accompaniment is the art of playing along with a soloist or ensemble, often known as the lead, in a supporting manner as well as the music thus played. ... Vocal music is music performed by one or more singers, with or without instrumental accompaniment, in which singing provides the main focus of the piece. ... Rock is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars, and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles, however saxophones have been omitted from newer subgenres of rock music since the 90s. ... The word ensemble can refer to a musical ensemble an ensemble cast (drama) a statistical ensemble in mathematical physics, for example a thermodynamic ensemble a quantum ensemble a fluid mechanical ensemble a Climate Ensemble ensemble forecasting (meteorology) ensemble averaging a distribution ensemble (maths) a neural ensemble a DAB ensemble Ensemble... A cappella music is vocal music or singing without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. ... A song is a relatively short musical composition for the human voice (possibly accompanied by other musical instruments), which features words (lyrics). ... Musical theater (or theatre) is a form of theatre combining music, songs, dance, and spoken dialogue. ... Sydney Opera House: one of the worlds most recognizable opera houses and landmarks Opera refers to a dramatic art form, originating in Europe, in which the emotional content or primary entertainment is conveyed to the audience as much through music, both vocal and instrumental, as it is through the...

In jazz or studio settings, "arranging" is most commonly used to describe the process that is also called orchestration, adaptation, setting, instrumentation, or a variety of other terms. Orchestration differs in that it is only adapting music for an orchestra or musical ensemble while arranging "involves adding compositional techniques, such as new thematic material for introductions, transitions, or modulations, and endings...Arranging is the art of giving an existing melody musical variety" (Corozine 2002, p.3). Jazz is an original American musical art form originating around the start of the 20th century in New Orleans, rooted in Western music technique and theory, and is marked by the profound cultural contributions of African Americans. ... A recording studio is a facility for sound recording. ... For the use of the term orchestration in computer science, see orchestration (computers) Orchestration is the study and practice of adapting music for an orchestra or musical ensemble. ... Instrumentation is the study and practice of writing music for a musical instrument. ... The Boston Pops orchestra performing on the Charles River Esplanade in Boston, Massachusetts. ... A musical ensemble is a group of three or more musicians who gather to perform music. ... In music, modulation is most commonly the act or process of changing from one key (tonic, or tonal center) to another. ...

A satisfactory musical arrangement will most likely :

• Provide "contrast between high and low sounds"
• Avoid heavily doubled parts with an emphasis on solo sections
• Be "sufficiently transparent to allow the musical lines to be clearly heard" and
• Not have all the instruments playing throughout.

An arrangement may specify or vary some or all of:

• Harmonies, including parts.
• Instrumentation.
• Style, dynamics and other instructions to the players.
• Sequence, including the order and number of repeats of sections such as verses and choruses, and provision of sections to be improvised by instrumentalists.
• Introduction, coda, modulations and other variations.

Harmony is the use and study of pitch simultaneity and chords, actual or implied, in music. ... Musical genres are categories which contain music which share a certain style or which have certain elements in common. ... Verse is a writing that uses meter as its primary organisational mode, as opposed to prose, which uses grammatical and discoursal units like sentences and paragraphs. ... A refrain (from the Old French refraindre to repeat, likely from Vulgar Latin refringere) is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the chorus of a song. ... Improvisation is the act of making something up as it is performed. ... In music, the introduction is a passage or section which opens a movement or a separate piece. ... Coda sign Coda (Italian for tail; from the Latin cauda), in music, is a passage which brings a movement or a separate piece to a conclusion through prolongation. ... In music, variation is a formal technique where material is altered during repetition; reiteration with changes. ...

Credit for an 'arrangement'

As with composition, the ready availability of sound recording equipment has changed the understanding of what "arrangement" means. At one stage, credit for an arrangement would only be given to a person who had produced a written musical score of some sort. More recently, any original treatment of an existing work that is available for repeated performance by other players may qualify to be loosely called an arrangement. In jazz an unscored collaborative arrangement is called a "head arrangement" (Randel 2002, p.294; it is in the head of the musician(s)). Every time a piece of music is performed it has an arrangement, which may or may not have been done by a professional arranger. Methods and media for sound recording are varied and have undergone significant changes between the first time sound was actually recorded for later playback until now. ...

Popular music

In popular music an arrangement is a setting of a piece of music, which may have been composed by the arranger or by someone else. Most commonly, this is a matter of providing instrumentation for the songwriter or composer's basic melody and harmony. It may add details omitted by the composer, or it may replace those originally given and be merely based on the original work. Popular music is music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and mostly distributed commercially. ... Musical composition is: an original piece of music the structure of a musical piece the process of creating a new piece of music // A musical composition A piece of music exists in the form of a written composition in musical notation or as a single acoustic event (a live performance... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Instrumentation engineering. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Look up melody in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Harmony is the use and study of pitch simultaneity and chords, actual or implied, in music. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ...

Classical music

In European classical music an arrangement is a setting of any composition for a medium other than the one in which it was created: for example, a piano piece may be arranged for full orchestra, or an orchestral composition may be arranged for solo piano. Often arrangement involves considerable reworking of the original material, in conformance with the resources of the final medium. Classical music is a broad, somewhat imprecise term, referring to music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of, European art, ecclesiastical and concert music, encompassing a broad period from roughly 1000 to the present day. ... A baby grand piano, with the lid up. ... The Boston Pops orchestra performing on the Charles River Esplanade in Boston, Massachusetts. ...

Jazz music

In jazz music, an arrangement is a specific setting of a pre-existing composition, although in jazz, the arranger has a larger role: it is common for jazz arrangers to contribute additional original material of their own, to significantly alter the forms and structures of the pre-existing material, or to combine the pre-existing material with snippets or quotes from other pre-existing material.

Big bands such as those of Duke Ellington, Bennie Moten, and Count Basie performed head arrangements (ibid).

Arrangers

Commercial and jazz arrangers include:

• Billy Byers
• Don Costa
• Duke Ellington
• Gil Evans
• Robert Farnon
• Bob Florence
• Jimmy Giuffre
• Neil Hefti
• Fletcher Henderson
• Bill Holman
• Thad Jones
• Quincy Jones
• Gordon Jenkins
• Billy May
• Henry Mancini
• Gerry Mulligan
• Peter Matz
• Sammy Nestico
• Nelson Riddle
• Eddie Sauter
• Don Sebesky
• Claude Thornhill
• John Williams

(Corozine 2002, p.5)

For a more complete list, see: Don Costa (July 10, 1925 – January 19, 1983) was a United States pop music arranger and record producer. ... Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy Duke Ellington (April 29, 1899–May 24, 1974), also known simply as Duke (see Jazz royalty), was an American jazz composer, pianist, and bandleader. ... Gil Evans (born 13 May 1912, Toronto, Canada;– died 20 March 1988, Cuernavaca, Mexico). ... Robert Farnon album Robert Joseph Farnon (July 24, 1917 – April 22, 2005) was a Canadian-born composer, conductor, musical arranger and trumpet player. ... Bob Florence is a jazz arranger and pianist born in Los Angeles on May 20, 1932. ... James Peter Giuffre (born in Dallas, Texas, 1921) is an American jazz saxophone and clarinet player. ... Fletcher Hamilton Henderson, Jr. ... Thad Jones Thaddeus Joseph Jones (March 28, 1923 - August 21, 1986) was an American jazz trumpeter. ... Quincy Jones on the cover of Back on the Block (1989). ... Gordon Jenkins Gordon Hill Jenkins (12 May 1910-1 May 1984) was an American arranger who was an influential figure in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s, renowned for his lush string arrangements. ... William E. May, better known as Billy May (10 November 1916 - 22 January 2004) was a United States composer, arranger and musician. ... Henry Mancini (April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994), was a noted American composer and arranger. ... Gerry Muligan Gerald Joseph Gerry Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996) was an American jazz musician, composer and arranger best known for his baritone saxophone playing, but also played the piano and the clarinet. ... Sammy Nestico (February 6, 1924) is a prolific composer and arranger of jazz music. ... Nelson Riddle and Frank Sinatra, 1956 Nelson Smock Riddle (June 1, 1921 - October 6, 1985) was a well-known American bandleader, arranger and orchestrator whose career spanned from the late 1940s until the early 1980s. ... Claude Thornhill (August 10, 1909 - July 1, 1965) was an American pianist, arranger, and bandleader. ... John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932) is one of the most widely recognized composers of film scores. ...

• List of arrangers

Well-known arrangers include: Robert Farnon Claus Ogerman Jorge Calandrelli Johnny Mandel Jeremy Lubbock Patrick Williams Torrie Zito Don Sebesky Alan Broadbent Clare Fisher Vince Mendoza Bill Ross John Clayton Percy Faith Ralph Burns Billy Byers Marion Evans Gene Puerling [[ Michel Legrand Brad Dechter Byron Olsen Rob Mounsey Jurre Haanstra...

Further reading

• The Billboard Book of Rock Arranging by Mark Michaels, ISBN 0823075370.
• The Professional Arranger Composer by Russ Garcia
• Composing for the Jazz Orchestra by Bill Russo

Sources

• Corozine, Vince (2002). Arranging Music for the Real World: Classical and Commercial Aspects. ISBN 0786649615.
• Randel, Don Michael (2002). The Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians. ISBN 0674009789.