{"id":42729,"date":"2018-02-22T16:00:18","date_gmt":"2018-02-22T16:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/?p=42729\/"},"modified":"2024-05-10T10:29:39","modified_gmt":"2024-05-10T10:29:39","slug":"about-arranging-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/","title":{"rendered":"About Arranging Music"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"postLeadIn\">Arranging music is not nearly as complex as its name may lead you to believe &#8211; if you&#8217;ve ever plunked out the chords to your favourite song on the piano and sang along, you&#8217;ve already done it! In this episode of the Musicality Podcast, we discuss the elements involved in arranging music, and why you (yes, you!) should take a whack at it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Listen to the episode:<\/p>\n<div class='mu_podcast_embed'><iframe style='border: none' src='\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/6279952\/height\/90\/width\/640\/theme\/custom\/autonext\/no\/thumbnail\/yes\/autoplay\/no\/preload\/no\/no_addthis\/no\/direction\/backward\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/59638c\/' height='90' width='640' scrolling='no'  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div class='podcast_subscribe_buttons'><p class='subscribe_cta'>Subscribe For Future Episodes!<\/p>\n    <div class='buttons'><a href='http:\/\/musicalitynow.com\/subscribeitunes' target='_blank' class='label' onclick='logPodSubscribe(\"apple\");'><i class='fa fa-apple' aria-hidden='true'><\/i> Apple Podcasts<\/a><span class='separator'> | <\/span><a href='http:\/\/musicalitynow.com\/subscribeandroid' target='_blank' class='label' onclick='logPodSubscribe(\"android\");'><i class='fa fa-android' aria-hidden='true'><\/i> Android<\/a><span class='separator'> | <\/span><a href='http:\/\/musicalitynow.com\/subscribeyoutube' target='_blank' class='label' onclick='logPodSubscribe(\"youtube\");'><i class='fa fa-youtube' aria-hidden='true'><\/i> YouTube<\/a><span class='separator'> | <\/span><a href='http:\/\/musicalitynow.com\/subscribegplay' target='_blank' class='label' onclick='logPodSubscribe(\"gplay\");'><i class='fa fa-google' aria-hidden='true'><\/i> Google Play<\/a><span class='separator'> | <\/span><a href='http:\/\/musicalitynow.com\/subscribestitcher' target='_blank' class='label' onclick='logPodSubscribe(\"stitcher\");'><img src='https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-content\/themes\/Divi-MU\/img\/Stitcher-icon.png' alt='Stitcher' class='podcast_icon'>Stitcher<\/a><span class='separator'> | <\/span><a href='http:\/\/musicalitynow.com\/subscriberss' target='_blank' class='label' onclick='logPodSubscribe(\"rss\");'><i class='fa fa-rss' aria-hidden='true'><\/i> RSS<\/a><\/div>\n    <p class='review_cta'>Enjoying the show? Please consider <a href='https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/podcast-review\/' target='_blank' onclick='logPodReview();'>rating and reviewing it!<\/a><\/p>\n    <\/div>\n<h2>Links and Resources<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"shownotes_links\">\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/musicalitynow.com\/48\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Interview with Brad Davis<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/arranging-for-songwriters-nashville-guitar-guru\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Arranging for Songwriters<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class='podcast_review_cta'><p class='review_cta'>Enjoying Musicality Now? Please support the show by rating and reviewing it!<\/p>\n    <p class='review_button'><a class='cta_button' href='https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/podcast-review\/' target='_blank' onclick='logPodReview();'>Rate and Review!<\/a><\/p>\n    <\/div><!-- MU Podcast Schema -->\n<div class='mu_podcast_schema' itemscope itemtype='https:\/\/schema.org\/PodcastEpisode'>\n <div style='display:none;'>\n  <a itemprop='url' href='https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/'>\n       <span itemprop='name'>About Arranging Music<\/span>\n  <\/a>\n  <div itemprop='datePublished' datetime= '2018-02-22T16:00:18+00:00'>2018-02-22T16:00:18+00:00<\/div>\n  <div itemprop='description'>Arranging is not a complicated and advanced process reserved for the pros - learn how to create your own unique arrangements for songs you love!<\/div>\n    <div itemprop='associatedMedia' itemscope itemtype='https:\/\/schema.org\/MediaObject'>\n      <div itemprop='image' href= 'https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/TMP049-About-Arranging-Music-FI.jpg'>https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/TMP049-About-Arranging-Music-FI.jpg<\/div>\n   <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<h2>Transcript<\/h2><div class='mu_podcast_transcript'>\n        <div id='mu_podcast_transcript-link-42729' aria-expanded='false' class='sh_link sh_hide'><a class='cta_button mu_podcast_transcript_showhide_link' href='#' onclick=\"showhide_toggle('mu_podcast_transcript',42729,'Show Transcript','Hide Transcript');return false;\"><span id='mu_podcast_transcript-toggle-42729'>Show Transcript<\/span><\/a><\/div><div id='mu_podcast_transcript-content-42729' class='sh-content sh-hide' style='display:none;'>\n        <div itemprop='audio' itemscope itemtype='https:\/\/schema.org\/AudioObject'>\n          <div itemprop='transcript'>\n           \n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>In our recent episode with Brad Davis we talked a bit about the terrific \u201cbluegrass tribute\u201d albums he\u2019s put together, where he takes well-known music in various genres and arranges it into a really cool and different bluegrass-style performance.<\/p>\n<p>I wanted to pick up on that idea of \u201carranging\u201d music because I know that for a long time I put it in a specific box that existed in the world of classical composers and advanced orchestral stuff. But over time, as I\u2019ve connected more with my musicality, I\u2019ve realised how much broader arranging music can be, and how it\u2019s actually something that any (and all) of us as musicians can be doing.<\/p>\n<h2>What is Arranging?<\/h2>\n<p>So what is arranging?<\/p>\n<p>Well, as I just referred to, there is a traditional sense of the word in which a serious composer of music creates a full, and sometimes quite complex, score. An orchestral arrangement might have dozens of pages of music notation for each of dozens of instruments!<\/p>\n<p>So it\u2019s no wonder that a lot of people think of arranging music as a really advanced skill, requiring classical music training and deep understanding of music theory.<\/p>\n<p>In my mind the composer \u201cinvented\u201d the music, and then they or someone else would go to the trouble of producing a full arrangement to be played. And I still think that\u2019s a pretty good way of thinking about it.<\/p>\n<h2>Distilling and Expanding<\/h2>\n<p>A lot of what we cover on this podcast is about distilling music down, often by ear, into its most important components. When we did our episodes on solfa, on lead sheets, on the \u201chook\u201d &#8211; we were talking about listening to music and pulling out the notes and chords that really define that music. Not necessarily worrying about identifying each and every note being played, but honing in on the essence of the song or the piece. In a way that\u2019s getting back to what the composer originally thought of, their core idea for the music.<\/p>\n<p>Then all the detail &#8211; all the specifics of which instruments play what notes when &#8211; that\u2019s the arrangement. So if our ear skills let us distil music down to just its essence, you can think of arranging music as the opposite, expanding it back out into a full version of that music that can be played and heard.<\/p>\n<p>So obviously this is where it gets interesting &#8211; because the same core idea, the same melody and chords and rhythmic patterns can be expanded in any number of ways, to produce an endless variety of arrangements. And of course a complex orchestral score in traditional notation is only one of those possibilities!<\/p>\n<h2>The variety of arrangements<\/h2>\n<p>If I asked you to sing your favourite song right now, you\u2019d probably hum or sing the melody. Not the chords, not the full band arrangement, you probably wouldn\u2019t sing me every verse or chorus. But you would be singing me the song, and that means that you have just arranged the song, for a short solo voice demonstration.<\/p>\n<p>If you listen to Elton John or Amanda Palmer perform a song accompanying themselves on piano &#8211; and you figure out the chords by ear then pick up your guitar and give it a try &#8211; you have just arranged that song for guitar.<\/p>\n<p>If you take an 80s pop hit or a classical masterpiece and you perform it in a bluegrass style like Brad Davis &#8211; you have just created a bluegrass arrangement of that music.<\/p>\n<p>If you sample a rock track and add extra loops and transform it into a dance version in Logic, your remix is essentially a dance arrangement of that track.<\/p>\n<p>And if you create a viral YouTube video of yourself performing a Disney love song in four-part a cappella harmony, you have created your own arrangement there too.<\/p>\n<p>So arranging can encompass:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Instrumentation &#8211; deciding which instruments will be used, and which ones will play what notes when.<\/li>\n<li>The musical style, for example modifying rhythms to change a straight rock anthem into a downtempo swung ballad.<\/li>\n<li>The form, meaning which sections of the music are repeated and in what order.<\/li>\n<li>And you can alter some of the core elements themselves, for example when a jazz singer improvises embellishments to the notes of the melody or a musician comes up with a reharmonisation of the melody with different chords.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Give yourself permission to try arranging<\/h2>\n<p>I wanted to talk about this topic today not because I had any in-depth teaching to share &#8211; but because I think there\u2019s an important mindset shift here.<\/p>\n<p>A big part of developing your musicality is about taking ownership of the music you play and create. Transforming from a musician who only ever plays the notes they are told to, the notes that somebody else has written &#8211; into a musician who feels free and confident and creative to make their own choices.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes that comes out through playing by ear and knowing that as long as you capture the essence of what you heard, that\u2019s what matters.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes it comes out through improvisation or composing, bringing the music you imagine from scratch in your mind out into the world.<\/p>\n<p>And sometimes, if we relax our notion of what \u201carranging\u201d music means and who is allowed to do it, your musicality can come out through simply taking some music you love and asking yourself: how could I perform this differently? What if we took it in a different direction?<\/p>\n<p>So I want to encourage you today to give yourself permission. Whether or not you\u2019ve yet done the kind of ear training and musicality development we offer at Musical U, I assure you that you do have what it takes to begin arranging, in some way or another.<\/p>\n<p>So this week why not take some music you enjoy playing and instead of playing it exactly as written, see if you can change something about it &#8211; and create your own unique arrangement.<\/p>\n<div class='podcast_subscribe_buttons'><p class='subscribe_cta'>Subscribe For Future Episodes!<\/p>\n    <div class='buttons'><a href='http:\/\/musicalitynow.com\/subscribeitunes' target='_blank' class='label' onclick='logPodSubscribe(\"apple\");'><i class='fa fa-apple' aria-hidden='true'><\/i> Apple Podcasts<\/a><span class='separator'> | <\/span><a href='http:\/\/musicalitynow.com\/subscribeandroid' target='_blank' class='label' onclick='logPodSubscribe(\"android\");'><i class='fa fa-android' aria-hidden='true'><\/i> Android<\/a><span class='separator'> | <\/span><a href='http:\/\/musicalitynow.com\/subscribeyoutube' target='_blank' class='label' onclick='logPodSubscribe(\"youtube\");'><i class='fa fa-youtube' aria-hidden='true'><\/i> YouTube<\/a><span class='separator'> | <\/span><a href='http:\/\/musicalitynow.com\/subscribegplay' target='_blank' class='label' onclick='logPodSubscribe(\"gplay\");'><i class='fa fa-google' aria-hidden='true'><\/i> Google Play<\/a><span class='separator'> | <\/span><a href='http:\/\/musicalitynow.com\/subscribestitcher' target='_blank' class='label' onclick='logPodSubscribe(\"stitcher\");'><img src='https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-content\/themes\/Divi-MU\/img\/Stitcher-icon.png' alt='Stitcher' class='podcast_icon'>Stitcher<\/a><span class='separator'> | <\/span><a href='http:\/\/musicalitynow.com\/subscriberss' target='_blank' class='label' onclick='logPodSubscribe(\"rss\");'><i class='fa fa-rss' aria-hidden='true'><\/i> RSS<\/a><\/div>\n    <p class='review_cta'>Enjoying the show? Please consider <a href='https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/podcast-review\/' target='_blank' onclick='logPodReview();'>rating and reviewing it!<\/a><\/p>\n    <\/div>\n\n          <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n        <\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<!-- \/MU Podcast Schema -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arranging is not a complicated and advanced process reserved for the pros &#8211; learn how to create your own unique arrangements for songs you love!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":42730,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_ml_titleColor":"#000000","_ml_titleFont":"Roboto","_ml_titleFontSize":1.136,"_ml_titleFontWeight":"400","_ml_titleLineHeight":1.3,"_ml_metaColor":"#708090","_ml_metaFont":"Montserrat","_ml_metaFontSize":0.6785,"_ml_metaFontWeight":"400","_ml_metaLineHeight":0.92,"_ml_bodyColor":"#a9a9a9","_ml_bodyFont":"Open Sans","_ml_bodyFontSize":0.85,"_ml_bodyFontWeight":"400","_ml_bodyLineHeight":1.2,"_ml_wooPriceColor":"#666","_ml_wooPriceFont":"Open Sans","_ml_wooPriceFontSize":0.9,"_ml_wooPriceFontWeight":"400","_ml_wooPriceLineHeight":1.27,"_ml_headingColor":"#000","_ml_headingFont":"Merriweather","_ml_headingFontSize":2.02,"_ml_headingFontWeight":"700","_ml_headingLineHeight":1.47,"_mlglobal_userfontcolors":{"headingColorUser":[],"titleColorUser":[],"metaColorUser":[],"bodyColorUser":[],"wooPriceColorUser":[]},"footnotes":""},"categories":[646,274,60,752],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arrange-music","category-genres","category-instruments","category-podcast"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>About Arranging Music - Musical U<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Arranging is not a complicated and advanced process reserved for the pros - learn how to create your own unique arrangements for songs you love!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"About Arranging Music - Musical U\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Arranging is not a complicated and advanced process reserved for the pros - learn how to create your own unique arrangements for songs you love!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Musical U\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MusicalU\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-02-22T16:00:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-10T10:29:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/TMP049-About-Arranging-Music-FI.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Christopher Sutton\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@MusicalU\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MusicalU\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Christopher Sutton\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Christopher Sutton\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/#\/schema\/person\/091906af6ab68cb4ab9fa3c3ec9271c0\"},\"headline\":\"About Arranging Music\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-22T16:00:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-10T10:29:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/\"},\"wordCount\":1109,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/TMP049-About-Arranging-Music-FI.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Arranging\",\"Genres\",\"Instruments\",\"Podcast\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/\",\"name\":\"About Arranging Music - Musical U\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/TMP049-About-Arranging-Music-FI.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-22T16:00:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-10T10:29:39+00:00\",\"description\":\"Arranging is not a complicated and advanced process reserved for the pros - learn how to create your own unique arrangements for songs you love!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/TMP049-About-Arranging-Music-FI.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/TMP049-About-Arranging-Music-FI.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":628},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Musical U\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Podcast\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/podcast\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"About Arranging Music\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/\",\"name\":\"Musical U\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Musical U\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Musical-U-Logo-1024-tightsq.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Musical-U-Logo-1024-tightsq.png\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":1024,\"caption\":\"Musical U\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MusicalU\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/MusicalU\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCMvINJvCeFbz0tMeTHfKObQ\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/musicalitynow\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/#\/schema\/person\/091906af6ab68cb4ab9fa3c3ec9271c0\",\"name\":\"Christopher Sutton\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/DualityWall2-sq-looking-right-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/DualityWall2-sq-looking-right-150x150.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Christopher Sutton\"},\"description\":\"Founder and Director of Musical U, Christopher Sutton is a lifelong passionate musician, dedicated to the mission of helping people to achieve their true, full musical potential. Educated at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (BA) and Queen Mary, University of London (MSc) Christopher founded Musical U (then, Easy Ear Training) in 2009 to pioneer new ways to make musicality training easy, fun and effective. He is the creator of best-selling iOS apps Relative Pitch and SingTrue and the viral sensation ToneDeafTest.com. He has authored hundreds of articles and tutorials on Musical-U.com as well as countless other websites and publications, including Making Music Magazine and Total Guitar Magazine. He is the host of Musicality Now the popular audio\/video podcast focusing exclusively on musicality, where he's had the chance to interview over 100 world-leading experts, as well as sharing his own insights and guidance based on the methodology and frameworks created inside Musical U membership. Learn more about Christopher: \u2022 Meet the Team: Christopher Sutton \u2022 Christopher Sutton on LinkedIn \u2022 Author profile on Making Music Magazine\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/christophersuttonuk\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/author\/christopher-sutton\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"About Arranging Music - Musical U","description":"Arranging is not a complicated and advanced process reserved for the pros - learn how to create your own unique arrangements for songs you love!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"About Arranging Music - Musical U","og_description":"Arranging is not a complicated and advanced process reserved for the pros - learn how to create your own unique arrangements for songs you love!","og_url":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/","og_site_name":"Musical U","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MusicalU","article_published_time":"2018-02-22T16:00:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-05-10T10:29:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":628,"url":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/TMP049-About-Arranging-Music-FI.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Christopher Sutton","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@MusicalU","twitter_site":"@MusicalU","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Christopher Sutton","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/"},"author":{"name":"Christopher Sutton","@id":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/#\/schema\/person\/091906af6ab68cb4ab9fa3c3ec9271c0"},"headline":"About Arranging Music","datePublished":"2018-02-22T16:00:18+00:00","dateModified":"2024-05-10T10:29:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/"},"wordCount":1109,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/TMP049-About-Arranging-Music-FI.jpg","articleSection":["Arranging","Genres","Instruments","Podcast"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/","url":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/","name":"About Arranging Music - Musical U","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/TMP049-About-Arranging-Music-FI.jpg","datePublished":"2018-02-22T16:00:18+00:00","dateModified":"2024-05-10T10:29:39+00:00","description":"Arranging is not a complicated and advanced process reserved for the pros - learn how to create your own unique arrangements for songs you love!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/TMP049-About-Arranging-Music-FI.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/TMP049-About-Arranging-Music-FI.jpg","width":1200,"height":628},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/about-arranging-music\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Musical U","item":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Podcast","item":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/podcast\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"About Arranging Music"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/","name":"Musical U","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/#organization","name":"Musical U","url":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Musical-U-Logo-1024-tightsq.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Musical-U-Logo-1024-tightsq.png","width":1024,"height":1024,"caption":"Musical U"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MusicalU","https:\/\/x.com\/MusicalU","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCMvINJvCeFbz0tMeTHfKObQ","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/musicalitynow\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/#\/schema\/person\/091906af6ab68cb4ab9fa3c3ec9271c0","name":"Christopher Sutton","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/DualityWall2-sq-looking-right-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/DualityWall2-sq-looking-right-150x150.jpg","caption":"Christopher Sutton"},"description":"Founder and Director of Musical U, Christopher Sutton is a lifelong passionate musician, dedicated to the mission of helping people to achieve their true, full musical potential. Educated at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (BA) and Queen Mary, University of London (MSc) Christopher founded Musical U (then, Easy Ear Training) in 2009 to pioneer new ways to make musicality training easy, fun and effective. He is the creator of best-selling iOS apps Relative Pitch and SingTrue and the viral sensation ToneDeafTest.com. He has authored hundreds of articles and tutorials on Musical-U.com as well as countless other websites and publications, including Making Music Magazine and Total Guitar Magazine. He is the host of Musicality Now the popular audio\/video podcast focusing exclusively on musicality, where he's had the chance to interview over 100 world-leading experts, as well as sharing his own insights and guidance based on the methodology and frameworks created inside Musical U membership. Learn more about Christopher: \u2022 Meet the Team: Christopher Sutton \u2022 Christopher Sutton on LinkedIn \u2022 Author profile on Making Music Magazine","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/christophersuttonuk\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/learn\/author\/christopher-sutton\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musical-u.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}