1+1 = 11

When you look at a 1 or 2 page lead sheet for a song, what do you see? Do you see 1 or 2 pages of music, or do you see 11 or 12? or more?

When I took piano lessons I was expected to play every note on the page exactly as it was written. I didn’t add any measures, repeats, dynamics...nothing. I played it note for note, measure for measure.

When I was in choir in high school we sang all sorts of choral arrangements, or octavos. We sang them note for note. I even accompanied some of them, playing each measure as written.

This is how I was trained, and this is what was expected. The music was designed to be performed exactly as it was written. There was no need to change or add anything. Every aspect of the arrangement had already been thought out for you.

With contemporary worship music we have to get away from that way of thinking. The music is not usually designed to be played exactly as written. Every aspect of the arrangement has not been thought out for you. In most cases there is a lot of information ‘missing.’ In order to fit music on a music stand with minimal or no page turns, composers and arrangers create lead sheets (or charts) for the instrumentalists and singers. As much as possible, all of the verses are stacked atop one another, all of the harmonies are there from the beginning, there is no indication when the drums should come in, or the bass guitar...all there is is a melody (with or without harmonies), the lyrics, and the chords (or ‘changes.’) It’s up to us to figure out who will play when. That’s where the fun begins! That’s called arranging.

If everybody started together right from the top of the song–drums, bass, guitars, piano, vocal harmonies, etc.– there would be nowhere left to go! Instead, create your own arrangement, or octavo: make simple notes on the page like “bass in on vs.2,” or “drums out until Ref.”  Indicate when it will be a vocal solo, unison voices, or when the harmonies will be added. Change a chord to make it more interesting, or easier to play. That’s basically what arrangers do. Build the song from the ground up. Turn those 1 or 2 pages into a full-blown 15 page octavo!