GALILEO
by Antonio C. Antonio
September 5, 2014
“In music, an arrangement is a musical re-conceptualization
of a previously composed work. It may
differ from the original work by means of re-harmonization, melodic
paraphrasing, orchestration, or development of the formal structure. Arranging differs from orchestration in that
the latter process is limited to the assignment of notes to instruments for
performance by an orchestra, concert band, or other musical ensemble. Arranging involves the adding compositional
techniques, such as new thematic material for introductions, transitions, or
modulations, and ending… Arranging is the art of giving an existing melody
musical variety.” (Wikipedia)
Musical arrangements are often made for the following purposes
and applications: (1) to adjust the pitch of a song to conform to the singer/s
voice range; (2) to come up with a new instrumentation sound; or, (3) to come
up with a totally different genre and tempo.
Musical arrangers, however, are very careful not to tamper with the
original song’s melody in respect for the composer of the song.
So how is arranging song done? Let’s take the song “Galileo” for
example. “Galileo” was composed by the
Sailers sisters (Amy Ray and Emily of Atlanta, Georgia, USA); more popularly
known around the world as “The Indigo Girls”.
The song became one of their greatest hits in the 1990s. I will use two videos of the same song to
highlight the changes or arrangement done on the song… again, not tampering too
much on the original melody.
In these unplugged videos, only guitars were used --- two
guitars by the Indigo Girls and one guitar by our guest arranger which makes
them perfect for comparison purposes. In
the studio version, however, the Indigo Girls used a full band in recording the
song. Another difference in the two
versions is that the Indigo Girls are female vocalists while our guest arranger
is a man. Please click on this link to
view the Indigo Girls’ version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdr7tkuwlAc
then click on this link to listen to a different arrangement of the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhpO9CUy_BU Please focus on the instrumentation… how
guitars could sound different because of musical arrangement.
I’m posting the lyrics of the song “Galileo” for those who
would like to sing along.
GALILEO (Indigo Girls)
Galileo’s head was on the block
The crime was lookin’ up the truth
And as the bombshells of my daily fears explode
I try to trace them to my youth
And then you had to bring up reincarnation
Over a couple of beers the other night
And now I’m serving time for mistakes
Made by another in another life time
How long ‘til my soul gets it right
Can any human being ever reach that kind of light
I call on the resting soul of Galileo
King of night vision, king of insight
And then I think about my dear of motion
Which I never could explain
Some other fool across the ocean years ago
Must have crashed his little airplane
How long ‘til my soul gets it right
Can any human being ever reach that kind of light
I call on the resting soul of Galileo
King of night vision, king of insight
I’m not making a joke
You know me I take everything so seriously
If we wait for the time ‘til all souls get it right
Then at least I know there’ll be no nuclear annihilation
In my lifetime, I’m still not right
I offer thanks to those before me
That’s all I’ve got to say
“Cause maybe you squandered big bucks in your lifetime
Now I have to pay
But then again it feels like some sort of inspiration
To let the next life off the hook
She’ll say, look what I had to overcome from my last life
I think I’ll write a book
How long ‘til my soul gets it right
Can any human being ever reach that kind of light
I call on the resting soul of Galileo
King of night vision, king of insight
How long ‘til my soul get it right
How long ‘til we reach the highest light
How long…
Incidentally, our guest arranger, does guitar arrangements
for professional guitarists as a hobby.
This is his simple arrangement just to demonstrate how to arrange the
Indigo Girls’ song “Galileo”.
Just my little thoughts…
(Please visit, like and share Pro EARTH Crusaders and
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