Many beginning songwriters and arrangers may avoid simplicity in order to avoid sounding simplistic or amateurish. Remember that simplicity and simplistic mean two different things. Simplicity can be elegant and beautiful, while simplistic generally has a negative connotation implying a lack of depth.
Not all art needs to be complicated to be effective. In fact, there are many works that hide their lack of depth or significance in a lot of notes or lavish arrangements. It is much harder and more challenging to write an engaging work using a modicum of materials.
However, let me step back and get to the specific point of this entry, using a repeated single note in songwriting or arranging for effect. One would think that using a single note over and over would become boring, or seem amateurish and dumb. However, in the right context it can not only work, but be emotionally effective.
A nice example of this in terms of arranging is the Three Dog Night recording of “One.” As the song builds, you’ll hear repeated octaves in the electric guitar. Not only does this arrangement technique reflect the title of the song, the repetition of those octaves adds tension as the song builds. Repeated notes can often be used to add tension for two reasons. First, the repetition can be thought of as a loop, and the listener can unconsciously anticipate the end of this loop, creating engagement. Secondly, if the note is repeated over different chords, this note can form a pedal tone, meaning that the note will be harmonious with some of the harmonies, and discordant with others, building tension that can be used to build musical drama. Personally speaking, I often receive repeated notes as being insistent or assertive in nature, kind of a musical embodiment of, “I really mean this, so I’m going to say it again loudly for those of you in the back.” When done in this manner, it is yet another way to create a form of dramatic engagement.
This previous example utilizes repeated notes in the arrangement, but not in the tune itself. Using repeated notes in the tune is a much more dangerous proposition. Here it can result in boredom. However, used judiciously, repeated notes can be used effectively in songwriting.
“Every Little Thing She Does is Magic,” from the fourth Police album (Ghost in the Shell, is a wonderfully upbeat pop tune. However, the bridge of the song changes drastically, expressing how the protagonist wants to call the woman he desires, but cannot muster the courage. The bridge ends on the markedly downbeat query, “must I always be alone?”
After the first two lines of the bridge the tune gets stuck on a single repeated note in the melody. This change comes with the first depressing line of the bridge, “but my silent fears have gripped me, long before I reach the phone.” Thus, the repeated notes reflect the protagonists mood change from ebuillient to despondent. Also, since these repeated notes only exist at the end of the bridge, it only happens once in the song, helping to minimize any resulting boredom. For instance if it happened in the verse or the bridge, it would be a much more dangerous situation.
“Julia” by John Lennon uses repeated notes in the verse of the song. In fact, all but the end of the final phrase of the verse is a single note repeated. Paired with the tempo and the delivery of the song, this colors the song with a somnolent mood that is borderline dream like. While the chorus does have some contour, it does focus fairly heavily on two notes. The only robust melodic contour that appears in the song is in the bridge. However, this heavy reliance on repeated notes in the tune forces the song to lean a bit on the accompaniment, which is fortunately tenderly beautiful in its arpeggiated simplicity.
Using repeated notes in arrangements is a much safer bet than using them in songwriting. However, keeping repeated notes as a technique in your potential bag of tricks is wise. You can use the technique as a tool when you are trying to create a particular mood, or to create a brief section of passage that contrasts highly with the rest of your song. Happy writing / arranging!
Arranging Tips: The Orchestrated Crescendo
Writing an arrangement for a song can be challenging. While multiple verse / chorus songs can encourage familiarity, this can be an asset as well as a detriment. The familiarity is what engrains a song in your memory, and prods you to sing along (especially with the choruses). However, the same familiarity also breeds boredom.
Thus, each successive verse and chorus should be progressively more detailed and layered simply to sustain interest. Some of this can be covered by the song itself. If the story of the song hooks and engages listeners, it should help in this regard a bit. The performance itself may add some of this interest. Performers (vocalists, drummers, bassists, guitarists – the whole ensemble) may, intuitively or otherwise, grow in dynamics and musical detail over the course of the song, adding a level of progressive drama and interest.
However, this progressive adding of aural interest is complicated by the convention that the chorus should be higher energy than its surrounding verses. Again, this can be covered a bit by the song itself. A melody that goes into a higher musical range or a key change to a brighter (higher) key can infuse much of this energy.
Typically, some (if not all) of the interest must be built by the arrangement itself. Thus, many effective pop songs can be classified as what I call orchestrated crescendos. An orchestrated crescendo is an arrangement where at least one layer of audio material is added on each successive verse and / or chorus.
It is helpful to think of arranging and mixing to be allied fields. In fact, in many styles of popular music the roles of arranger, producer, and sound engineer (mixer) may merge into one or two roles. The importance of these roles has caused many artists to self-produce, or act as producers for other artists.
“You Really Got Me” by the Kinks is somewhat different. Rather than being arranged as a crescendo over the course of the entire song, it is arranged to be a crescendo over every verse. In the second stanza of each verse the backing vocals are added, with all the vocals becoming strident around the seventh line, building to the refrain, “You really got me, you really got me, you really got me.”
However, my personal favorite example of on orchestrated crescendo is “The Boxer,” recorded by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. The introduction is a stripped-down arrangement that focuses on an acoustic guitar with an arpeggiated figure. The first verse adds Paul Simon’s lead vocals, while Art Garfunkel’s backing vocals are added in the second verse.
Up to this point the song has sounded bright, clean, and sweet. When the chorus starts, the lyrics “Lie-la-lie” repeat using a simple sing-songy melody. The sweet, lullaby-esque nature of this melody contrasts heavily with a very loud, heavily reverberated snare hit, which sounds comparatively violent (almost like a gunshot).
As each verse progresses, some small element is added: percussion (bongos), bass harmonica, dobro, etc. The solo section features an electric guitar playing a simple arpeggiated melody that sounds like a trumpet. This was done by recording the part on both an electric guitar (picking the note with the sound off, and fading in) and trumpet, and blending the two together at the mixing console. Rather than go for an impressive, complex solo, “The Boxer’s” solo section is used to feature a pleasant melody that reads somewhat like a funereal bugle call, that adds to the work’s overall somber mood.
In the final verse, the song moves from a first-person perspective (“I am just a poor boy”) to a third-person perspective (“In the clearing stands a boxer”). This shift in perspective leads us to question is the song’s protagonist the boxer? Is the boxer a person observed by the protagonist? Is the story of the boxer and protagonist simply connected by our view of the adversity encountered by both?
This final verse also makes use of some addition of gain, which in concept is good, but in its execution comes off a bit clumsy. Starting in about the third or fourth line of the verse, the volume of the lead vocals is gradually increased.
When we reach the end of the song, the chorus is repeated over and over, string sections are added one by one, going from mid register, and moving into higher registers. As we near the end, low brass is added giving and dark heavy tone to the chorus. At the very end all the layers are stripped away, nearly all at once, leaving a solo acoustic guitar. This super-high contrast is very cathartic in terms of releasing the built-up tension of all this layering.
So, if the recording of a song you are working on seems fine, but not terribly engaging, try adding more layers as it goes on. If that means that you need to strip down and simplify the first verse so you have somewhere to build from, give it a try. It may just be the narrative thread that will keep your listener engaged.