Arrange it

Learn arranging one small step at a time.

Theory foundations

Notes, scales, intervals and chords. Start here, whatever your instrument; skip ahead with a test-out if you know it.

Notes

The keyboard
Find any white key by its name.
Sharps and flats
Name and find the black keys.
Reading the treble clef
Read and play notes from C4 to G5.
Reading the bass clef
Read low notes, from E2 to middle C.

Scales and keys

Half steps and whole steps
The two building blocks of every scale.
The major scale
Play a major scale from any starting note.
Key signatures
Tell the key from its sharps or flats.

Intervals

Intervals: 2nds to 5ths
Name and build the most common intervals.
All intervals up to an octave
6ths, 7ths, the tritone and the octave.

Triads

Major triads
Root, 3rd, 5th: the chord behind almost every song.
Minor triads
Lower the 3rd by a half step and the mood changes.
Diminished and augmented
The two tense triads.
Inversions
Same notes, different bass: smoother lines.

Harmony in a key

Chords of the key
I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii°: the chords a key gives you.
Seventh chords
Add a 7th: maj7, 7, m7 and m7♭5.

Ear training

Hear what you write. Each skill unlocks once you know the theory behind it.

Melody

Hearing steps
Half step or whole step, by ear alone.
Hearing intervals
Recognise 2nds, 3rds, 4ths, 5ths and octaves.

Harmony

Major or minor?
Hear the quality of a chord.
Four chord colours
Major, minor, diminished and augmented by ear.
Hearing cadences
Full stop, comma or surprise: how phrases end.

Arranging basics

Write real parts: bass lines, horn harmonies and four-part voice leading.

Two voices

Roots in the bass
Ground a melody with a bass line.
Horns in 3rds
The classic horn-section sound.
Lines in 6ths
A wider, warmer harmony line.

Four voices

Fill in the alto
Your first inner voice in four-part writing.
Write the tenor
The voice that fills the gap above the bass.
Holding common tones
One note over two chords.
Avoiding parallel 5ths and octaves
Keep every voice independent.
Write the bass
Roots in four-part writing.
Write the melody
A soprano line that sings.
Voice-leading seventh chords
The 7th falls, the leading tone rises: V7 to I.

Richer harmony

Four parts in minor
The raised leading tone, and the step it must not take.
Inversions in four parts
Slash chords: a bass that steps instead of leaping.
Six-four chords
The 5th in the bass: cadential, passing and pedal.

Choir arranging

Writing for real singers: ranges, breathing, text and textures.

Writing for voices

Comfortable ranges
Keep every section in its sweet spot.
Needs: Write the melody
Harmonize a hymn tune
Given a melody, write alto, tenor and bass.
Unison, divisi and descants
Beyond four block chords.
Needs: Comfortable ranges

Band and horn sections coming soon

Section writing, soli, backgrounds and hits.

Horn sections

Transposing instruments
Why the trumpet part is written a step higher.
Needs: Key signatures, All intervals up to an octave
Four-horn soli
Voicing a melody for four horns.
Needs: Lines in 6ths, Seventh chords
Backgrounds and hits
Pads and punches behind a soloist.
Needs: Four-horn soli

Jazz harmony coming soon

Guide tones, shell voicings and drop-2.

Voicings

Guide tones
The 3rds and 7ths that carry the changes.
Needs: Seventh chords, Voice-leading seventh chords
Shell voicings
Root, 3rd and 7th: the minimal chord.
Needs: Guide tones
Drop-2 voicings
The workhorse of big-band and guitar voicing.
Needs: Shell voicings, Write the tenor

Accompaniment coming soon

From chord symbols to piano and guitar parts.

Comping

Chord symbols at the piano
Smooth left-hand and right-hand voicings.
Needs: Inversions, Seventh chords
Bass patterns
Root–5th, walking and passing tones.
Needs: Roots in the bass
Music notation engraved by Verovio. Audio playback by SpessaSynth (Apache-2.0). Sound: GeneralUser GS by S. Christian Collins.