Arranging

[Wyllys]

I went to a funeral last Saturday and while singing bass on the hymns during the service realized that a whole lot of what sounds right to me in arranging has been based on having sung in church beginning with the top part as a tot and moving down through alto and tenor to bass as my voice lowered with age.

It also struck me that the harmonization and voice movements are an exceptional text-book of practical harmonization and chording on a PRACTICAL level. For those looking for good examples of written harmonies and/or chord melody, I would highly recommend picking up some old hymnals and doing a little jamming on the parts with friends, either vocally or with instruments.

Just a thought...

[stanron]

I picked up a copy of 'The English School Hymn Book' from a Charity Book Shop. Acknowledged Composers or arrangers include

Gustav Holst
F Mendelssohn
O'Carolan
C V Stanford
R Vaughan Williams

and others of whom I am probably too ignorant to know. In retrospect it's hard to deny that a large part of my musical education took place in church before I was a teenager, and from some of the top names.

[Grinning Boy]

Originally Posted by Wyllys

I went to a funeral last Saturday and while singing bass on the hymns during the service realized that a whole lot of what sounds right to me in arranging has been based on having sung in church beginning with the top part as a tot and moving down through alto and tenor to bass as my voice lowered with age.

It also struck me that the harmonization and voice movements are an exceptional text-book of practical harmonization and chording on a PRACTICAL level. For those looking for good examples of written harmonies and/or chord melody, I would highly recommend picking up some old hymnals and doing a little jamming on the parts with friends, either vocally or with instruments.

Just a thought...

This does make a lot of sense. The various harmony vocal lines would make great guitar arrangements. When writing this it dawned on me is the word chord derived from chorus? Or perhaps vice versa?

[JonPR]

They don't call it "voicing" and "voice-leading" for nothing.

All music (aside from drumming) starts with - and comes back to - the voice.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Grinning Boy

This does make a lot of sense. The various harmony vocal lines would make great guitar arrangements. When writing this it dawned on me is the word chord derived from chorus? Or perhaps vice versa?

Chord is from the Latin (and Greek) for string - in particular a stretched string as on a musical instrument. (But related to the word "cord" too.)
Chorus (also from Latin and Greek) means "a group of singers". The Ancient Greek term also referred to a band or a dance group.
The similarity in spelling seems coincidental - although you can make a sort of link from the gut that strings used to be made of, to the "vocal cords" used in singing. Singing is vibration of cords, after all, just as playing a stringed instrument is (except the vocal cords act more like a reed).

[Wyllys]

Originally Posted by JonPR

All music (aside from drumming) starts with - and comes back to - the voice.

Ba-dum, tssshh!

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by JonPR

Chord is from the Latin (and Greek) for string - in particular a stretched string as on a musical instrument. (But related to the word "cord" too.)
Chorus (also from Latin and Greek) means "a group of singers". The Ancient Greek term also referred to a band or a dance group.
The similarity in spelling seems coincidental - although you can make a sort of link from the gut that strings used to be made of, to the "vocal cords" used in singing. Singing is vibration of cords, after all, just as playing a stringed instrument is (except the vocal cords act more like a reed).

Do you folks remember the movie "Police Academy" (or something along those lines)? As I recall, there was a guy in it who could imitate just about anything with his voice. This post reminded me of that, thinking that it would be fun if a group of folks who could do that, got together and imitated famous bands with every note, every slam, and every vocal part completely intact.

Tony

[mattbn73]

Spent several weeks doing the chord melody thing with "the hymn fake book" from Hal Leonard. Played through almost of them, mostly with basic triads.

Anyway, especially with the older ones, you get so much bang for your buck harmonically. Two or three measures of an old hymn have more harmonic activity than an entire tune in most genres.

[Wyllys]

Originally Posted by mattbn73

Spent several weeks doing the chord melody thing with "the hymn fake book" from Hal Leonard. Played through almost of them, mostly with basic triads.

Anyway, especially with the older ones, you get so much bang for your buck harmonically. Two or three measures of an old hymn have more harmonic activity than an entire tune in most genres.

Amen to that.