Reflection #1 - Testing my draft "Mixed Bag" Arrangement
Week 6's Composition in Music Education Workshop was dedicated to performing draft arrangements of the first assessment task, which required us to arrange a "mixed bag" piece of our own choosing. My song of choice is Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye. I chose this piece as it combines simple melodic, harmonic and rhythmic elements which I felt is appropriate for and would engage a stage 4/5 music class. Additionally, at the end of 2011 the song won the Triple J Hottest 100 poll in Australia. The song also won an ARIA award for song of the year and best music video. Topping of these achievements, Somebody That I Used To Know won two Grammy Awards for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance as well as Record of the year. These awards demonstrate the song's popularity and significant place in popular culture, which aligns to my pluralist approach to Music Education.
So, we performed my arrangement as a class and here are the main points:
1) Range! My flute player friends in the class suggested that the lowest note I write for the flute part (high melody/harmony part) is not lower than an E4.
2) Percussion! I had arranged pitched percussion parts (glockenspiel, alto xylophone and bass xylophone) however didn't have an unpitched percussion part, so I have added a drum part which can be learnt through ORFF:
--> Percussion part 1 is learnt through finger snaps (ORFF) and then applied to the high-hat
--> Percussion part 2 is learnt through clapping (ORFF) and then applied to the snare drum
--> Percussion part 3 is learnt through stomping (ORFF) and then applied to the bass drum
3) Add the chorus! My initial draft included an introduction, verse, instrumental and improvisation section. I have extended my arrangement to now include the chorus for two reasons; firstly, it is the most notable part of the song and two, the chorus has a three chord repeating structure (vi - V - IV - V) which adds interest to the chordal accompaniment parts.
Looking forward to an opportunity for my final arrangement to be performed!
