Arranging for Women's Voices

5 key pointers to help you create great arrangements for women's a cappella groups

[JulienNeel]

Great tips, really clear and effective. Thanks Mr. Chic!

I think you could have added that in 4-part female arrangements, the Baritone / Alto 1 parts should usually be below the melody line (in comparison with male voicing where Baritone / Bass 1 crosses with the melody line more), so as to give the whole sound more depth and avoid screetchiness. I've found that when ladies sing male arrangements transposed up a 5th / octave, it often sounds too bright.

[rebeccatannermusic]

"Some of the best music you've ever heard in your life was just your mother singing alone to you, a lullaby" That was so unexpected and beautiful, it made me tear up. Such a powerful thought to remember that music doesn't always have to be big to be amazing - just meaningful with human connection. Thank you!

[RockStarOscarStern]

Cool tips. I play many instruments & I played your arrangement of uptown funk on my 5 String Electric Cello.

[liawiese]

Thanks so much for this video, because arranging for only female voices is something I do a lot. I am wondering if you have any tips for writing very simple arrangements that can be learned in a short amount of time by a beginner group, but still making them interesting. Thank you!

[yoshuasiahaan]

can youu add english subtitle for all your videos? you awesome I want to know about acapella

[FortunaMajorACappella]

Ah, this video is great! I've always loved arranging for female voices because of the interesting challenges you're faced with when dealing with a severely contracted range (our Mad World cover was actually arranged for an all-female group at my university, but we recorded it co-ed without any alterations to the arrangement).

What're your thoughts on female groups using octave drops for performances so they can get into the basement? As great as Pitch Perfect was, it always bugged me that the takeaway was "yeah, an all-girl group can totally win ICCA as long as they have a bass and are co-ed".

[RIChalhoub]

"Women's voices are fundamentally beautiful"

Aww shucks :)

[HarmoneaSinn]

A little constructive criticism if you don't mind: I don't come to youtube to watch someone just talk at a camera about how to do it right. The magic of video instruction is being able to insert examples of what to do vs what not to do. As is, this would've been better in a blog post.