How to Make Special Music (for Solos and Small Groups)

So, you have some folks who want to do some special music in service soon, but they don’t have any idea what to do. Or maybe you want to do something yourself that’s special, but you need some ideas.

Well, you’ve come to the right place! 

I’ve needed to create and find so many solos and group pieces for voices and instruments, and I have some tips and tricks that you’ll find helpful. This article will show you some of my sources for finding music and the process I go through to make new music when I can’t find exactly what I want.

Hymns

The best and easiest source for special music is… the hymnal! They’re readily available, they have familiar tunes, great texts, and most of them are in the public domain. Using Public Domain material means you can arrange it however you please without worrying about copyright infringement.

Just make sure the hymn you want to use is actually in the public domain first! (you’ll need to check the tune and text separately)

A great online resource for hymns (and information on the publication dates, composers, and tune histories) if you don’t have access to a hymnal is www.Hymnary.org. I think this is an absolutely great place to go for clear .pdf copies of all the best hymns out there.

And it’s FREE!

 

If you aren’t sold on hymns yet, try reading The Importance of Hymns for a discussion that might change your mind.

For Contemporary Christian Music: Song Select

If you’re wanting to do something a little more modern, maybe something you’ve been listening to on your favorite Christian radio station or YouTube channel (shameless plug to check out the EnHymn channel). Try finding the sheet music on SongSelect.

You will need to make an account with them, which can be a bit pricey if you’re doing it on behalf of your large church, but the reward is access to almost any contemporary Christian worship or art song you can think of. And new ones are added regularly.

Through SongSelect, you can choose the way you want to digest the music: audio, lead sheet, melody and piano score, or melody and harmony vocal score. These can be used as the basis of your instrumental arrangement, and the piano score often has instrumental melody lines built in for solo instruments.

The piano score of “O Come to the Altar” from Elevation Worship comes to mind, which has the instrumental solo line built in before the voices enter.

 

Which Piece Should I Pick??

Now you need to pick an actual hymn or worship song. A lot of this comes down to preference, but there are some things you should consider.

What you’re looking for is something where the melody fits your range needs. For instruments, this will vary. If you’re familiar with the instrument, try and keep it in the middle range as much as possible. If you aren’t familiar, ask in the comments below and I’ll help.

 

For singers, octave D’s are generally regarded as “singable range” (an old Lowell Mason-ism), so you would be pretty safe to pick something around that range for most singers.

You’re also looking for something that is appropriate for the season of the Christian Calendar you’re experiencing.

If you’re nearing Christmas, pick a carol. Check out my favorite 10 Christmas Carols for some suggestions.

If you’re in Lent, maybe pick a spiritual or an especially mournful hymn like “O, the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus,” or the modern Getty piece “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us.”

Just be aware of what season you’re in and be sensitive to the general attitude or any hymns that are typically used.

Last thing you’re looking for is something the performer (you or the person you’re helping) will actually enjoy doing! Does the text have emotional content? Does the song have a cool story you can connect with? Is the melody fun to perform?

If the answer is no, maybe consider a going with a different piece.

 

You’ll thank you later.

 

I’ve picked a song, now what?

Now that you’ve picked a hymn, you need to figure out how you’ll be performing it. The key for singers, instrumentalists, soloists and ensembles…

the key for anyone is…

Variety!

Mix things up. Change the melody a little, or a lot! …
Make some verses soft, some loud. …
Change the instrumentation between verse and chorus. …
Change styles for the last verse. …
Add a Tag or a cadenza to the end. …

You can do so many things, just be creative and make it interesting. By simply injecting some basic musical interest into the song, you’ll be able to make a simple hymn seem like an aria!

 

Some considerations for instruments:

You will likely need to transpose the piece into your instruments’ reading key, especially if you’re playing a wind instrument. If you’re doing it on the spot, good luck! Even I still have problems transposing on the spot with my Bb trumpet for service, and I’ve been playing for nearly 14 years!

If you do it all the time, you’ll get better, but it’s never a bad idea to go ahead and make some notes on your music that will jog your memory in the moment about fingerings or “played” key area. Whatever is going to make sense to you and help you remember, that’s the kind of note you want to make.

 

If you’ve got some time before the gig, maybe you should consider plugging your part into a sheet music program and having it transpose the whole thing for you. It would only take one click to do what would take you lots of time and brain power in practice. Read through “Advanced Users” below for more details.

 

 

Advanced Users

 

For the more adventurous or more seasoned musicians out there, you may be wanting to do more than just change dynamics and style markings between verses.

 

You want to arrange your piece!

 

Great! Here are some tools for you. What you need to arrange a piece is…

• The tune or song you want to arrange (making sure that it’s in the Public Domain)
• Some blank sheet music OR…
• A sheet music program
• An idea of what the instrumentation needs to be

You’ve picked the song, now you need it in a format that you can use to arrange. If you’re planning on doing all the arranging by hand (heaven forbid), then a .pdf file and some blank sheet music will be all that you need. Print the file, print the sheet music, and start arranging!

 

File Types

 

For computer users, Midi is often the easiest file to use because you can simply import the file and the program will transcribe it for you. This has saved me hours and hours of time in the past. Simply search for the song you want to arrange, attach the term “midi file” to it, and voila! – You found a midi file! Make sure to listen to it and see if it’s close to what you’ll need, then download normally.

 

Also, depending on the program you’re using, you could use the program’s community to find native file types you can import. Maybe someone else has done some of the heavy lifting for you and punched-out all the choir parts that you can use as the basis for a string quartet.

 

Stranger things have happened…

 

Someone has already posted what you need to start in the community, and usually all you’ll need to do is credit them in your music when you’re done. I’ve personally posted several handbell arrangements to the MuseScore community portal. That’s all I ask for from anyone who wants to use them.

 

Sheet Music Programs

 

Next, you need to open your file in a program. There are several options to choose from here.

 

Two paid programs that come to mind are Sibelius and Finale. Both have their merits, maybe I’ll do an in-depth comparison article later. What you need to know now in the simplest terms about these two programs is…

 

Sibelius is intuitive, Finale is precise.

 

Sibelius, for me, is the more user-friendly and novice-friendly program. It automatically does a lot of things that other programs don’t, like amend rhythms when you overwrite something that is already there.

 

For example, say you have a measure with quarter notes, but you want to make it a measure of eighth notes. When you change the first eighth note, you now have a rhythmic conflict that the program must rectify.

 

Other programs, when given a rhythmic conflict like that, will simply add rests and delete the notes you punched in already. So, in the above example, you may have to key in EVERY SINGLE EIGHTH NOTE.

 

Sibelius anticipates what you’re trying to do, and goes ahead and retains the other eighth note on the same pitch as the quarter note, treating the notes more like you would and sub-dividing them rhythmically.

 

Finale, in my opinion, is less intuitive, but you can do whatever you want with ease. This is especially useful for users who are wanting to write music in unconventional ways.

 

I have no money, is there a program for me?

 

The only free option I recommend is MuseScore. I absolutely adore this program, because it works and…

 

MuseScore is COMPLETELY FREE!

 

It does a lot of the same functions that other programs will do, but without the subscription fee. What it doesn’t offer are things like automatically telling you if notes are outside the playable range of instruments. But if you’re writing music for yourself, you know yourself and your limitations, this isn’t a big deal. If you’re writing for instruments you may be unfamiliar with, this may be a huge deal. (If you have questions about ranges and want some help, comment below.)

 

MuseScore will still do all the functions you need, though. And they have a very active community of music writers and arrangers, so feel free to browse the community music portal if you need to find an arrangement.

 

Now, Go Perform!

 

Performing special music for service is such a neat opportunity for amateur and pro musicians alike. Everyone benefits from the time and effort that goes into preparing for an event like that, both congregants and performers. I hope this guide will help you provide a worthy offering.

 

Blessings on you and all your church’s musicians.

 

Go in peace.