A Cappella Arranging (Music Pro Guides)

What can be said. This book is the book I had been looking for throughout my entire time in college a cappella! I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in arranging for a cappella groups or even for people who are just participating in an a cappella group--the knowledge provided in this book is useful for either. Deke Sharon and Dylan Bell did a great job explaining the (sometimes) overwhelming process of arranging and giving their own personal insights into the creative process. Whether you are a beginning arranger or a seasoned composer looking to learn more about a new genre, this book is extremely helpful!The book starts with the 10 basic steps of arranging. This alone blew my mind a few times. Oftentimes, my peers and I would have an idea of a great song that we would want to arrange, but more often than not, we had no idea of where to begin. This lead to many frustrated potential arrangers and some pretty basic transcriptions of songs. The 10 basic steps provide another way of approaching arranging and working through the process, which is truly invaluable to the beginner arranger.They go on to explain the very basics of what arranging is and the different types of arrangements. They provide exercises to give the beginner arranger a way to start developing the skills needed such as simple voice leading, developing an inner ear, and outlining the basic ranges of the different voice types. Now these are not exhaustive lists and examples that one might find in a collegiate music textbook, but they are enough for someone who is just starting out. They are also a well-said, succinct overview for those who may have more musical training under their belt.Deke and Dylan then go on to expand upon the 10 Basic Steps by going into further detail for each step. All of which is broken up into easy-to-understand sections. In each chapter, they give exercises to help develop and implement these steps into the readers own work. They also provide their own personal processes by explaining their use of the 10 steps in their own arrangements. These arrangements are given in their entirety in the appendices of the book. This is truly an invaluable resource to have--being able to get into the mind of the composer/arranger is insanely helpful in understanding the process outlined in these chapters. I found myself flipping back and forth between the appendices and the chapters frequently!The book goes on the discuss various "Advanced Topics" such as arranging for other voice formats (TTBB, SSAA, etc.), Vocal Percussion, writing medleys, and even a "How-To" History of A Cappella, which goes through various styles and is, again, insanely helpful. These chapters can totally be used as a reference for the experienced composer or arranger who wants to get their hands dirty in A Cappella arranging.Though I am no longer in my collegiate a cappella group anymore, this book has informed my current work and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in the subject. I will definitely be buying this for the music directors of my former group as an Enchiridion of sorts to be passed down from music director to music director.Thank you Deke and Dylan for this wonderful resource!

It's a very good book, but such a title calls out for either an enclosed disk of audio and scores, or downloadable content.As it stands, the book's website includes a page of youTube links - and we all know how transient such content can be.My advice is grab yourself a third party tool and download or capture the audio of those performances while they're still available.

I used this book in my Contemporary Voice class for my Senior Year in College. I absolutely love it. It's specific, easy to read and understand. It's a BEAST!! In the best sense. I received it on time by the seller. I recommend this book to all vocalists, especially those who love not only to sing but compose as well! :)

There are a lot of great tips and thought provoking ideas within the covers of this book. However, it is not organized in any kind of pedagogical way so you could actually use it to learn a cappella arranging for the first time. The absence of a CD makes this book a bit pricey for what it is, and the constant name dropping is quite annoying. But as a beginning student arranger I did find the section explaning what seperates musical genre's from each other very well done and useful. If you want to learn choral arranging on your own, and if your music theory knowlede is sound, then I highly recommend Ostrander's "Contemporary Choral Arranging" as your first read and guide. If you're really shaky on your theory, then first get Sten Ingelf's series (both books) "Learn from the Masters -Arranging, and -Classical Harmony"

If you want to dig into a Cappella arranging for groups of various types, sizes and vocal ranges, this is the book you need!

Bought this for my daughter who is in a college a cappella group and she loves it!

Very detailed. This is a good book, even for seasoned arrangers.

To my director at the barber shop choir, My music teacher, my son who is a music student, and any other creature i may meet who has an interest in Music arranging.

The best a cappella arranging book I have found. Step by step through each topic with exercises at the end of each chapter. Extremely helpful.

This is an excellent book, authoritative, well written, comprehensive, refreshingly unpretentious and very accessible.

A very comprehensive book on anyone wanting to dig in more into the world of A Capella singing which in my opinion is very useful especially when there are no accompanying musical instruments. This book is like a complete course in itself. Highly recommended.

It is a amaizing work about Capella Music!A work done to delight the desires of musicians.Deke was perfect and thorough as always.

For any one, of any age, this is a first rate stimulus for being mentally well adjusted and informed so far as arranging for your A Cappella group is concerned. It is helpful for singing technique by individuals or the group. It is encouraging in the face of difficulties, it is improving, inviting of experiementation, directive towards the creation of cororpate sound, and can take you forward into your own unique presentations and performances using the talents available to you. I recomend you invest in this book and enjoy it yourself and with your fellow singers.