My Goals As An Arranger

Going through some old files recently, I found a list I made a number of years ago concerning "the type of music I would like to write." Here are some of the things I listed:

1. Music which will work well when sung and played by average (mostly amateur) church vocalists and instrumentalists.

2. Music which will sound good live (as compared to music written for the recording studio).

3. Regarding instruments that accompany vocals: (a) that they wouldn’t overpower the vocals, or (b) distract from the vocals, and (c) that they would enhance the text and message of the song. 4. To create arrangements which are musically interesting within the specified difficulty level.

5. To have quality and depth even while doing #4 above. 6. To make the music generally appealing to the person in the pew, i.e., the person who enjoys music and praising God, but isn't an educated musician.

7. In vocal music, to set the lyric in a way that the words may be heard and understood without having to see the text, and thus really communicate the message of the song.

8. That instrumental arrangements of songs would reflect the text in a logical way.

What do you think? Are there some more things I should add to my list? Write me and let me know your thoughts.