String Quartets For Weddings

It's wedding season again. A while ago I blogged about choices of music that brides made for their ceremony. Today I am thinking about what you get when you pay a group of musicians to set the right mood for your special day. Recently a bride asked me if we could give her a discount since she was "way over budget" for her wedding. (She is not a friend or even an acquaintance - I have actually never met this woman.) After I picked my jaw up off of the floor, I realized that people probably have no idea what it entails to perform in a wedding. It goes well beyond the 30 minutes before the wedding plus the ceremonial music.

You pay for:

• Spending time with the bride selecting the music for the ceremony
• Finding the sheet music (or arranging it which will require an extra fee - this takes a great deal of time)
• Rehearsing (probably an hour - we've played together before, but we might need to discuss and practice where we might end, depending upon how long it takes for certain things to happen)
• Transportation to and from the wedding. Even if the wedding is within 15 minutes, we like to carpool and we arrive early to set up and to make sure we don't get caught in traffic.
• And, of course, performing. Remember, it also took us many years to play at this level, so you are paying for our expertise.

Multiply this by 3 or 4, and we are into at least 10-12 hours. If a professional musician's time is worth $50-$100 and more per hour, then you get the idea why the price seems to be so much.

Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Celtic

Lynn and I have been playing Celtic music for violin and cello for about 4 1/2 years now. We love listening to and trying to emulate Natalie Haas and Alasdair Fraser. After the Bluegrass concert last week, Lynn and I are thinking about expanding our repertoire to include Bluegrass and Old-Time music and perhaps see if we can add some vocals, too.

This has got me working on an arrangement for us of The Storms Are On the Ocean, an old Carter Family tune, performed in this youtube video with Raymond McLain.

Sorting through Old Files

This summer during Strings Camp, we played a simplified version of Leroy Anderson's The Syncopated Clock. The kids liked it, and it was fun. We took turns playing the tictoc as percussion accompaniment.

I gave out my last 2nd violin part which I had written to supplement the score I had (which only had one violin part which was too advanced for my kids who have just played for one year). I had originally written that out years ago when I worked with the Finale software.

The year I took composition lessons in Chicago, my teacher, James Falzone, suggested that I switch over to Sibelius, and I did, leaving a number of pieces I had arranged, typed out, or composed for students on my computer in Finale form.

Now, four years later and a new computer OS, my Finale Print Music no longer works, and it was also having trouble on my laptop (still running Leopard). A call to support at Finale did not help, but I figured out to download Finale's Notepad - the simplest version of Finale. And free. I think I get it free because I had purchased Finale Print Music, but I think anyone can get it for a free trial, and I think that it's pretty darn cheap to purchase.

If you open up a Finale file, you can export it to an .xml file which Sibelius will open, so I have been been a busy bee the past two days converting files over. This has been tedious, but it has also been very good. I have thrown out music that I know I will never use again, but I have also found hidden gems. Some I will be able to use with our prep orchestra this fall - music that has been too easy for our 3rd and 4th year players, but perfect for those second year kids. Also, I have found a few pieces that I started composing that I never finished, as well as some pieces that would be fun to resurrect.

I usually go through my physical file cabinets to look for music for the coming concerts, but I often forgot to see what is on my hard drive, and this has given me a great reason to revisit that music.

Ballad of Serenity

I now have an arrangement for violin and cello for The Ballad of Serenity, the theme from Joss Whedon's awesome series Firefly.  I ran across someone's transcription for the violin part on the internet some time ago, but it doesn't really hold up without the melody, so I knew that Lynn would like playing it...and now I have it so we can play it for fun!

Goal-Setting

So last New Year's Eve, I blogged about music to work on (compose, arrange). Today when I reread the list, I was not shocked that I have not done much on that list.

I have arranged Sheebeg and Sheemore in a jazzy fashion.
Somehow other things have occupied my Sibelius-time - Celtic arrangements for recorders and violin, music for beginning strings to play at our May concert, a song for women's choir and subsequent string quartet based on that song.

With the end of the school year drawing to a close, it's time to go back to my list and either chip away at it, or revise and add new ideas.

Arranging My Own Composition

Today I started working on a string quartet arrangement of Psalm 137 that I wrote for SA Women's Choir.  I have to say that since I spend most of my musical time with my violin or viola, I think I write better in this medium.  Last week I had the choir try out my singing version, but it was a little too difficult to sight read, especially since we had only a few in attendance that day.  I hope to give the choir version another go or two to see what I can learn about composing for voices.

Arranging....

Here's an update on what I've been working on since the new year in the arranging department:

• Finished the first draft of the jazzed-up version of Sheebeg and Sheemore I am calling Sheebeg Some More
• A recorder version of the Scottish tune Kelvingrove for SAT
• An SA version of In a Land Where We'll Never Grow Old for a new Women's Choir at church

Sheebeg Some More

So, here's how I'm coming along on my goal to do more arranging/composing.  As of this morning, I now have about 1 1/2 minutes of a jazzy rendition of O'Carolan's Sheebeg and Shemore.  My inspiration has been Dave Brubeck's Kathy's Waltz (which starts out in 4/4) as performed by the Quartet San Francisco.  The texture has to be much thinner in my version since it is only for violin and cello, though I may want to make a trio or quartet version of it, too, someday.

Tomorrow we play through what I have written down so far to see what works and what doesn't, and then....expand!

New Year's Planning

Sometimes I get so many different ideas in my head of what I want to compose and arrange that I don't do any of them.  I'm not sure where to start and what to leave on the back burner.  So I am making a list of things to do and am going to try to tackle them one at a time.

Here are some ideas swirling around in my head.

Revise my Yosemite string quartet and get a group to work on it with/for me.
Write a piece for elementary orchestra with a Hawai'ian feel (inspired by my recent week on the Big Island).
Arrange more Beatles music for string trio to play at weddings.
Arrange/Compose a jazz inspired Celtic piece for Cello/Violin Duo
Arrange/Compose pieces for Children's Recorders and Bell Choir
Compose a piece for Viola and Cello

Today I worked on an Elementary String Orchestra arrangement of Sakura.  I have the more challenging parts for my 2nd and 3rd year students with some easy accompaniment for my beginning strings.

Less tv-watching, more composing!

Jingle Bell Waltz

Tonight the Village Pipers performed my arrangement of Jingle Bells which I made into a waltz.  You can see the performance here on youtube.

A Word For Brides

It seems to be wedding season, and the trio/quartet that I play in has been asked by brides to play certain popular tunes for their weddings.  We have a number of Classical/Baroque pieces in our repertoire which we use not only for the wedding ceremony, but also for the background music to set the atmosphere as the guests arrive.

But sometimes a bride gets an idea in her head that a song she just loves would be perfect for the ceremony.  Here are some things to keep in mind about special requests.

- Most popular music is not arranged for string quartet (or string trio).  One can buy piano/guitar/vocal music, but it can take an arranger several hours or more to put it into the correct scoring for the chamber group at hand.

- The ensemble must put in some extra practice time to work out a new piece.

- Some popular music does not translate well to string ensembles. (Some does.)

- Some music is not appropriate for specific parts of the ceremony.  Many brides love a slow piece and think that they would like to process with that piece.  It is my personal thought that the entrance of the bride should be a joyous, triumphant moment, and the accompanying music should reflect that.

- Pachelbel's Canon is overrated and overused.  (Okay, if you love Pachelbel, we are happy to play it for your wedding, and we won't make any disparaging remarks about it!)

So, if your heart is set on that certain song, don't hesitate to pay extra money for it since it will take extra time to prepare.

(Someone told me that when asked why it costs so much for a string quartet to play, they say, "Just call up four plumbers and ask them how much they would charge per hour on a Saturday afternoon." A string quartet will look reasonable in that comparison.)

Next Gospel Arrangement

Today I finished Ain't Got Time to Die for string quartet. I'm not sure what I'm going to work on next - a string quartet with recorders, something for elementary string orchestra, an arrangement, something original?

Time for Arranging

With the slow summer schedule, I've had time to arrange more music.  Our string quartet is playing for church in August, and that gives me a good excuse to continue working on my gospel songs.  This week I finished Angel Band and have started on Ain't Got Time To Die.  Soon I will have a critical mass of such arrangements, and perhaps it will be time for me to see if they can be published - as quartets as well as trios.

Steal Away

Yesterday I took advantage of a totally free afternoon and evening to arrange, for string quartet, the spiritual, Steal Away to Jesus.  I made it through an entire 3 minute plus arrangement in about two sittings which is rare for me.  Today I will probably go through and add dynamics and other helpful markings which always takes longer than I think it should.

Current String Quartet

I am starting a string quartet arrangement of What Wondrous Love is This - a lovely hymn from the Southern Harmony hymnbook in the dorian mode. What's interesting to me about this hymn is that it doesn't use the 3rd of the scale, which sets the major/minor feel in the listener's ear, although it has a definite minor cast to it. We plan to play this in church during Lent.

I really like this acapella version on youtube by Blue Highway.

Pop Music for String Trios

Occasionally I play with a string trio for weddings. I enjoy the chance to play chamber music at such a happy occasion. It's always interesting what people want played at their wedding. Our cellist is always happy not to play the boring Pachelbel Canon (which I don't mind), and I'm always happy not to play the wedding march by Wagner (ugh). The last wedding I played I arranged One Hand, One Heart by Bernstein from West Side Story to be played while the couple mingled water together. That was lovely.

For an upcoming wedding (soon), I just found out that the bride wants three pop tunes. I've looked all over the internet to find string trios of Beatles, etc., but probably because of copyright issues, none are sold. I've seen some string quartets advertise a list of pieces they play, some Beatles, but they must do their own arrangements.

So, I have my job cut out for me. I will start to arrange various songs for string trio. Then perhaps I need a page on my website listing all the songs our trio will do. In my copious spare time.....

Arrangement of the Week

This week I'm working on a string arrangement based on an a capella arrangement of Annie Lennox's song, Why. I heard the a capella version by the Carleton Knightingales, an all-female group started at Carleton during my senior year there by friends of mine. This group is still going strong. The song I'm arranging? Amazing Grace.

String Trios and Quartets

How many variations of a string trio can there be? Every time I get together to play with friends, it seems that I am constantly rearranging for a slightly different instrumentation.

• Violin, Viola, Cello
• Violin, Violin, Cello
• Violin, Violin, Viola

I've also done a three cello arrangement of one song, but I can also imagine three violins or three violas.

Gospel Tunes arrangements

Yesterday in church, Katy & Lynn joined me in playing some of my arrangements of gospel tunes for two violins and cello. I particularly enjoy trying out different styles of music to bring a fresh perspective to some of my favorite songs. The four songs we played were Down to the River to Pray, Be Thou My Vision, Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, and Precious Lord, Take My Hand. Now I'm thinking about what songs to work on next.

Gospel Trios

I have been arranging music for string trio (2 violins, cello) to play in church in July. For inspiration, I have been listening to acapella versions of gospel tunes on youtube. The question, for me, becomes "How do I use vocal techniques to create interesting string textures, and once I do, HOW do I notate such techniques?"

I am especially pleased with my recent version of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" which has the accompaniment trying to imitate the "schoooom" of low voices. It certainly helps to explain it in person at rehearsal, rather than in print.