General Arrangement Help

[TheZeldaPianist275]

So I know how to arrange.  That said, I'm not extremely good.  The quality of my sheets just generally seems lower than that of others.  Also, it takes me FOREVER to turn out a sheet.  Months.  Part of this is just having other things on my schedule, but it still takes a long time.
So I am wondering:  How does one get better at arranging?  Is it just practice?  Or are there exercises I can do to improve my ear and my technique?  If so, what?
Thanks in advance!

[spitllama]

What tools do you use when you arrange? Do you have very good pitch?

[TheZeldaPianist275]

I have my computer reasonably close to my piano and regularly access it whilst arranging.  As for pitch, I can hear notes and identify them somewhat well, but I don't know what to compare myself to with that, so I'm not entirely sure how good I am.

[spitllama]

I say just practice. Since making my first arrangement I've learned a lot just from trying progressively harder things. I'm still learning and I'm no pro yet, but the Help! thread and Ruto's topic full of guides are your friends. Eventually, you'll find certain tweaks to making arrangements that make your life so much easier (hotkeys, etc.), you'll actually be able to guess notes ahead of time without using the piano... stuff like that. You might look into googling some theory lessons online or using a program that can manipulate music tracks and help you arrange.

[JDMEK5]

He's right. With enough time, you'll be able to hear a note and instantly tell what it is.

Knowledge of theory also helps.
As for theory lessons, I can teach/tell you anything you need to know..

What I like to do when starting a new project from scratch is, put the song on my phone or mp3 player, and play along with it.
I'll start with a familiar melody line, and do it over and over again until I know what the notes are.
Sometimes on the first few tries I'll get 3 notes in a 12 second section... But eventually it works. Patience and persistence.

[Bespinben]

I had been in choir far longer than I've been playing piano, so when I started making piano transcriptions, I relied solely on tonal memory. You don't need to have perfect pitch at all to be able to remember the sound of a note. When you're transcribing, just let that note your listening to continue to ring in your head while you adjust the pitch of the note in Finale until it matches the one ringing in your head.

[JDMEK5]

just let that note your listening to continue to ring in your head while you adjust the pitch of the note in Finale until it matches the one ringing in your head.

Takes practice, but yeah. That's how it works.

[TheZeldaPianist275]

Thanks all!  This was helpful! 

[JDMEK5]

Anytime!

[TheZeldaPianist275]

Bump, cuz one more question.

How does one get better at hearing harmony?  How can I hear notes that are buried in other notes?

[Shadoninja]

Bump, cuz one more question.

How does one get better at hearing harmony?  How can I hear notes that are buried in other notes?

I listen with headphones and loop the chord in audacity. I will then try to hum each note I hear.

[TheZeldaPianist275]

Ooh, wearing headphones might be helpful!  That would split the audio, if I'm not mistaken.  Thanks Shado!  But how would Audacity be more helpful than just listening to something on YouTube or Windows Media Player?

[Shadoninja]

Ooh, wearing headphones might be helpful!  That would split the audio, if I'm not mistaken.  Thanks Shado!  But how would Audacity be more helpful than just listening to something on YouTube or Windows Media Player?

Audacity can select and play a portion of the music. If I need to repeat a phrase over and over, I don't need to go back to that section on youtube/media player and potentially go back too far and then I waste time listening to something I don't need.