The_Complete_Idiot%27s_Guide_To_Music_Theory

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Part 6: Arranging
Warning
Your rehearsal time
will inevitably be limited—
and less than what you’d
ideally like to have. Plan
out your rehearsal routine
in advance to take best
advantage of the time you
have. Don’t spend so
much time on the beginning
of the piece that you
never get a chance to
rehearse the end!
Most commercial music comes with all the individual parts you need for your
group. However, if you’re playing an original piece, it’s your responsibility to
create the individual parts for each instrument or voice, and to pass them out to
the musicians. Ideally this happens well in advance of the first rehearsal, so
they’ll have the opportunity to practice their parts on their own.
Remember to transpose the parts to the proper keys, to make the music as readable
as possible, and to include proper signposts and road mapping throughout.
(That means numbering the measures, lettering individual sections, and including
cues of some sort when you’re coming off an extended section of rests.)
Rehearsal Routines
You’ve arranged the music, and arranged for the musicians. The big hand of the
clock is almost in the full-up position, and it’s time for your first rehearsal.
What do you do?
When you’re rehearsing a chorus, band, or orchestra, you need to warm up the
group before they start playing (or singing) full blast. Then you have to effectively
and efficiently rehearse the piece at hand—you have to get the musicians
up to speed as quickly as possible. (Time is money!)
Here’s a suggested routine you can use when you’re working with a large
ensemble of any type:
1. Setup If you’re dealing with professionals, they’ll know to be set up and
ready to play at the appointed time. If you’re dealing with younger or
amateur players, you need to allow them time to get settled in and ready
to play.
2. Tuneup You need to take a few minutes to get an instrumental group in
tune with itself.
3. Warmup It’s especially important for nonprofessional players—both
vocalists and instrumentalists—to “limber up,” musically before they
tackle the hard stuff. Have them play or sing some scales, or run through a
simple and familiar piece of music, to help them stretch their musical
muscles, so to speak.
4. Play-through Once everyone is set up, tuned up, warmed up, and ready
to go, you can start rehearsing your music. You might want to start by
playing the piece all the way through, to give everyone a feel for the piece.
Then you can go back and rehearse specific sections, focusing on those
parts of the music that are particularly tricky, or that seemed to give the
musicians problems on the first play-through. Remember to end the
rehearsal with a final play-through of the entire piece.
How to Conduct Yourself
If you’ve composed or arranged a piece of music, you’ll probably be expected to
lead the band or orchestra or choir when it’s time for that music to be played.