We have been using the song "Alive Again" by Matt Maher
At Faith UMC we have been doing a good number of songs off of Matt Maher's new album "Alive Again." Here is the pad for the whole song and the drum loop that is used in the second verse. It follows the Matt Maher arrangement exactly. Two bar click and then the acoustic guitar intro.
Enjoy.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Arrangements.
The arrangement. Music is all about the arrangement. Jazz musicians do this intuitively, on the fly. The music builds dynamically, people drop and don't play, or play full on, the head (melody) comes back, and is improvised over. It's beautiful.
Great rock music does this too. Think about U2 arrangements. Think about or With Or Without You. It starts soft with a loop, Larry holds off on the real drums. The melody stays low until the song builds and Bono sings "You give yourself away." Think about other rock bands, like Zepplin, great arrangements.
A great arrangement is what makes people (subconsciously) be welcomed into your music. A great song with a bad arrangement is a bad song. Not mediocre.
After leading worship for ten plus years, this is where I spend the most of my time. On The arrangements. On how the song is going to build, where its going to be soft, what the loudest instrument is, who plays where, and what lyrical parts should the music put more emphasis on.
I give the band I lead the arrangements. Anybody can click on a chords chart. Press print, and bring it to rehearsal, and say we are going to play these. Everybody plays. Or everybody has a different idea on what needs what. It's static. There is no life.
The worship leader is the arranger. That is what you do. You can spend money and go to school and learn this, OR you can listen to albums. It took four years music school for me to realize that I should just analytically listen to music.
Collaboration is beautiful. Having the whole band come up with the arrangement is fun. But have a backup. Have an agenda and a plan, through prayer, of where the songs are going arrangement wise. It will make your rehearsals great.
I have played with some excellent, professional musicians over the years, and the first question from the pros is "what's the vibe?" What's the arrangement is the question behind the question.
Great arrangements:
U2: With Or With Out You
Mumford And Sons: The whole album
Death Can For Cutie: Transatlanticism (The song)
Bill Frisell: Shenandoah
There are tons of others. Because if the music is great, it has a great arrangement.
Go. Do it. Arrange. Don't just copy the new Tomlin record for how to arrange How Great Is Our God. Coping isn't always bad. Steal ideas. But what is your spin? What's your arrangement? What makes you do different? OR should you just hire Chris Tomlin. Ya Dig?
Great rock music does this too. Think about U2 arrangements. Think about or With Or Without You. It starts soft with a loop, Larry holds off on the real drums. The melody stays low until the song builds and Bono sings "You give yourself away." Think about other rock bands, like Zepplin, great arrangements.
A great arrangement is what makes people (subconsciously) be welcomed into your music. A great song with a bad arrangement is a bad song. Not mediocre.
After leading worship for ten plus years, this is where I spend the most of my time. On The arrangements. On how the song is going to build, where its going to be soft, what the loudest instrument is, who plays where, and what lyrical parts should the music put more emphasis on.
I give the band I lead the arrangements. Anybody can click on a chords chart. Press print, and bring it to rehearsal, and say we are going to play these. Everybody plays. Or everybody has a different idea on what needs what. It's static. There is no life.
The worship leader is the arranger. That is what you do. You can spend money and go to school and learn this, OR you can listen to albums. It took four years music school for me to realize that I should just analytically listen to music.
Collaboration is beautiful. Having the whole band come up with the arrangement is fun. But have a backup. Have an agenda and a plan, through prayer, of where the songs are going arrangement wise. It will make your rehearsals great.
I have played with some excellent, professional musicians over the years, and the first question from the pros is "what's the vibe?" What's the arrangement is the question behind the question.
Great arrangements:
U2: With Or With Out You
Mumford And Sons: The whole album
Death Can For Cutie: Transatlanticism (The song)
Bill Frisell: Shenandoah
There are tons of others. Because if the music is great, it has a great arrangement.
Go. Do it. Arrange. Don't just copy the new Tomlin record for how to arrange How Great Is Our God. Coping isn't always bad. Steal ideas. But what is your spin? What's your arrangement? What makes you do different? OR should you just hire Chris Tomlin. Ya Dig?
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