Don’t cross melody lines over each other ......................................
This is almost never a good idea, especially when you are writing multiple
voices for the same instrument, such as for two or more singers. This rule
introduces the concept of voice leading. Good voice leading ensures that your
melodies, chord voicings, and harmonic movements maintain a logical rela-
tionship. Introducing unmanageable elements to the tonality of your piece
can completely upset your compositional blend and balance. If you want to
learn more about voice leading, pick up any good book about arranging.Do be deliberate in the use of octaves and unisons .....................
Often when you are writing for multiple voices, you will find that you have
given the same note to two voices quite accidentally in the middle of some
harmony. Momentarily stepping on the same pitch can weaken the harmonic
movement that you were developing before that point. On the other hand,
unisons and octaves have strengths of their own. Be observant and be inten-
tional. This is a common area where young composers make mistakes.Do consider tessitura.........................................................................
Tessiturais a term used to describe the average range of a musical part or
piece. It is also used to describe the range of an instrument. If a part is writ-
ten in a hightessitura for a vocal or a wind instrument, the part will take on a
higher energy level. Writing in a lowertessitura generates a more relaxed atti-
tude, with less dynamic range. When writing for multiple voices, dynamic
ranges will actually vary quite a bit if the instruments’ parts aren’t placed
properly within the instruments’ tessitura.Exercises .......................................................................................................
For the following exercises, and just in general, it might be a good idea to have
a small, easy-to-use, convenient recording device. The quality isn’t so impor-
tant. A cassette recorder or direct-to-CD recorder would be fine. Recording
one melody and playing or singing a second melody along with it as you
listen back can be very helpful. If you have a computer music recording pro-
gram, you can make your melody loop as you try different things out.206 Part IV: Orchestration and Arrangement