Score Your Melody
The most important thing to start with is the melody. Score it out in your chosen medium, and if using a computer, work in “panorama” mode or similar – this will take away any need to think about your page layout – it’s not important yet. Even if you’re going to switch the melody between different parts, start out with a line that has the complete line in it. As mentioned earlier, you can often copy and paste your melody to save time and energy. Put the words in so that you know where you are up to in the song, as well as any markers (verse, bridge, chorus, etc) you think will help.
Putting in chord name and/or symbols above the staves will help you down the track too.
Add Your Bass Line
Add a bass line to your piece in a separate part. No need to get fancy with it at first – you can start by just putting whole notes, minims or crotchets as needed in the bars, determined by your chord chart. The bass part will often just play the home note or tonic of the chord, and if it differs from that the chord chart will tell you by means of a ‘slash’ (in this chord: Bb/F, the bass plays the F).
Once your notes are in, have a look at the rhythmic qualities that the part may need. Is it straight crotchets? Dotted crotchets with an off-beat feel? Perhaps some more complex 16th beat rhythms? Either way, now is your time to start filling in the bass rhythms. Don’t get too finicky – there’s always time to go back through each part and make it more sing-able later. Just keep your bass(es)’ range(s) in mind when you’re working on it. You can always jump up and down the octave with a bass part, and add leading notes later to make the jumps simpler.
Add Chords
At this point, just grab a spare part, and put in some block chords in whole notes, minims or crotchets as required. It will just be a rough guide, so no need to get too tricky with it. Just lay the notes there so you can come back later and voice your proper backing parts. Voice the chords in whatever clef your majority of backing parts will fall in. You don’t want to end up with five ledger lines, as it will make things pretty messy.
Add Important Backing Parts
Most songs will have a few backing parts that are really memorable. Think Mustang Sally (“ride, Sally ride”) or the little kids in The Living Years (“Say it loud, say it clear”). Add these parts in to the score. No need to worry about where they’ll fit in yet. Just add a new part in addition to what you’ve got. If there are any backing vocals that you can hear in the original (oos, yeahs, ahs, etc), put them in too. You can always take things out later if it’s too busy.
Textures For Backing Parts
Here’s a good time to start thinking about what kinds of textures are needed in the backing parts. Sometimes you can get away with holding an oo, other times you may need to do something more rhythmical. Often the backing parts will sing the same rhythms and sounds together, but not always. Complex rhythms may require some more effort than this.
Now is a good time to start working in staves that represent the voices you’re working with. Remember, you don’t have to get rid of the extra ones just yet – keep them there as a chord reference, and as a quick copy-and-paste tool. Remember, when artists record a song, they can have 100 tracks to play with. You have a limited number of voices, so be prepared to make compromises. Make sure every chord contains everything it needs, and avoid doubling notes. This may mean you have to be flexible with your decisions.
As you are now writing parts for actual singers, take in mind things like breaks for breathing, and consider range and singability of the parts. If there are huge jumps in the parts, is there a way you could simplify it?
Now is also a good time to decide on your bass rhythms and sounds. Most bass parts in pop a cappella consist of sounds like ‘doo’ ‘dm’ ‘ba da’… you don’t have to get too finicky in small groups – a good bass will find their own groove with the notes you give them.
By this stage, the important backing parts should all be integrated, as well as most of the chords – delete the parts you have included along the way so you know where you’re up to. If you can delete a whole stave to tidy things up, go for it. If there are gaps in between “important backing parts” and “chord textures”, leave your chords there for a reference to come back to. Then, if you think the gaps need to be filled, use the chords as a reference.
Add In Duets and Unison Passages
Are there any parts of the song that would lend themselves well to a harmony? Any parts that you could add punch to by putting in a unison section? Add yourself an addition stave or two and score out the parts.
Once you have them laid out, consider which voice would be most suited to the extra part – consider which noted of the chord you will be using, and which other part already has those notes. It will, as always be a process of compromise. Once you’ve found the appropriate part, cut and paste, and make any necessary changes to other parts.
Tidy Up Your Score
You should be at a stage now where you can sing through all your parts and make any last minute changes. Make sure all the parts make sense melodically, and make sure you and your group will be capable of singing them. It’s better to do a simple arrangement well than a tricky arrangement badly. Make sure that it is readable, and that there is no overlapping in the layout. Get rid of un-necessaries (chord symbols, marks, etc) that are cluttering up the score, and print out a copy to test what your singers will be using. Pencil in changes so that you can go back and fix them if necessary.
If you’re a real control freak, here’s your chance to get in and insert all your dynamic markings and instructions! I usually recommend you save this step until you’re thinking about publishing. Let your group get creative about how they’d like to perform it, and go back and insert these finer elements in once you’ve heard how it sounds.
Convert your score to a format that is useful. If you’ve hand-written it, scan it and send it out as a PDF – remember, if it exists online these days, it is always accessible and there won’t be any excuse for not practicing it. If you have the option within your group, set up a Google Docs or FTP account (or something similar) where you can store all your score files.
If you have the option of making a MIDI file or mp3 of the arrangement, send it out to all your singers. The easier it is for them to learn it, the more likely it is that it will feature in your next show.
Note: The examples used in this article are for educational purposes only. The use, distribution, copying and publishing of these examples is strictly prohibited.