MUED 271 Song Arrangement Project

For this project, my group and I arranged "Sorry not Sorry" by Demi Lavato (link). This song was picked from the Billboard Hot 100. Below are links to the portfolio posts for each of the group members: 

Joey 
Nikki
Rob 

Here is a link to our recording of the arrangement 

One of the challenges we faced while picking the song for the arrangement was finding something where we could figure out how to blend the voices of our instruments, and find a song that wasn't too melodically and harmonically complex. A majority of the songs on the Billboard Hot 100 were rap songs and focused more on the poetic lyrics and rhythm than melody. Since we were planning to do an instrumental arrangement we picked "Sorry not Sorry" because it was interesting melodically. The song uses a simple I-iv-IV-V progression and the melody is based on the pentatonic scale. It wasn't too difficult technically to come up with the parts because of this. One of the other issues we had as a group was figuring out how to blend our instruments. Nikki and I played violin, Rob was on trombone, and Joey played the tenor saxophone. We decided to have Joey play the melody, Rob play the bass line, Nikki played the melodic embellishments on violin, and I created a simple percussion line by tapping on my violin. 

I liked this experience because, as a classically trained violinist, I don't have many opportunities to improvise, learn, and perform pieces by ear. I learned more about how to play in an ensemble in a less traditional setting than I am used to. I primarily have experience playing in orchestra symphonies and string quartets where I am restricted to performing exactly what is on the sheet music in front of me. If I was to do this project over again, I would have spent more time improvising and experimenting in my individual practice. I hope that I do have more creative opportunities like this in the future because I think it would help to develop my musicianship by exploring my own creative musical ideas.