Arrangement "For U"

For U

Arranged by Sreelakshmi Kutty

Music has been a lifelong friend, and playing violin is and was equivalent to drinking water--necessary for optimal functionality. As senior year of highschool came running to a close, it only made sense that I put together an arrangement that described my class's journey. I chose songs that embodied the bittersweet emotions of saying goodbye to our class of 24 and sailing off to new adventures.. songs that were often sung in the hallways simply to be chaotic.

Pieces Chosen

“Secrets” - by OneRepublic

“I’ll be there for you” - The Remembrandts

“The Time of my Life” - Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes

“Gone, Gone, Gone” - Philip Philips

The Process and Challenges

It was certainly a challenge to write sheet music from pop songs that are often not in a particular time signature. For example “The Time of my Life” and “I’ll be there for you” (two songs featured in film and television, respectivel) proved to be especially difficult to write due to their irregular timing and pop sway (in terms of classical music). Me being a classically trained musician, this part felt like putting circular pegs into square holes–it just didnt’t make sense. Eventually music was able to fit with some minor changes to rhythm combinations. A second challenge was having to consider each member’s caliber of playing. There were six seniors, including me. And not everyone was at the same skill level. Because of this, some parts had to be simplified and, and to make up for the loss of this portion, some parts were made to be more complex. But at the end of the day, the the arrangment turned out better than I had hoped.

The Songwriting Software

I used a program called Musescore to develop the sheet music for the six parts. There were many hours of trial and error with other platforms, and this one turned out to be the best tool at the time. This particular software was more maleable than other programs I had tried and far more user friendly. Considering it is a free program that allows for the creation of

A sample of the sheet music can be found here