Entry 7 – Arranging

This week we looked at arrangement, and this was an area I already felt quite comfortable in. It was a good experience to contribute to the lecture by giving examples of the variety of feels and fills that the drums can contribute. It was also worthwhile that the lesson culminated in a full band jam, as it provided a practical application of the knowledge and theory we’d built up over the past few weeks – while I’ve drummed in groups for a while, the portion of this week’s lecture that covered the keyboard’s role in an arrangement (as well as the lessons on harmony and melody) assisted me in playing piano in a collaborative setting. Since Robyn had just mentioned the piano’s ability to add riffs and counter melodies⁸, that was fresh in my mind and I was able to apply that directly in the group jam. That was a rewarding moment for me personally.

8 Habel, Robyn. “Arranging – Part 1”. Lecture presented at the course Song Writing and Performance 1A, University of Adelaide, May 13, 2019.