CASA - the contemporary a cappella society

Medley Me This, Batman

Written by Julie Moffitt

Tuesday, 28 February 2006

Ah, the a capella medley. If done poorly, it can be five minutes of torture, but if done well, it can be an absolute treat for both the performer and the audience. When I was with the SoCal VoCals, we had this medley from Footloose that was simply killer. We used it for ICCA competitions, we choreographed the whole thing, and it never failed to make the audience laugh, cry, sing along, and cheer wildly at the end. We still sing it at every VoCal reunion – heck, we all still remember the choreography.

So what does it take to create a medley masterpiece? When faced with three or four (or more!) barely related songs, perhaps TV show themes from 1984 or songs with the word “train” in the title, the task of merging all the ideas into one coherent and, hopefully, engaging piece can be daunting. Here are a few tricks that I use to make things flow a little more smoothly.

1.) Listen to the songs – over and over and over…

This might seem like an unnecessary reminder, but it can be easy to just jump in and start putting notes down before you really have a concept of how you want the songs to fall together – especially if you’re intimidated by the prospect of the hours of arranging ahead. However, as with any arrangement, the more familiar you are with the original versions, the more creative you’re going to be able to be with your own handiwork. Listen for common themes, bass lines or percussive patterns that are similar. Jot down ideas for syllables that come to mind.

Also, keep in mind that you’re not going to be using the full song (unless of course this is a medley of Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim themes, in which case you can ignore this paragraph). The entire medley will most likely only run 3 or 4 minutes, so you only really need the most recognizable parts of each tune, with a little lead-in. For example, I recently completed a medley of crime show themes, including the CSI theme, “Who Are You?” Clearly, the one part of the song I had to include was the “Who are you? Who, who, who, who?” with which just about anyone could identify. The rest was less necessary.

2.) Song order is key

Now that you know what you’re working with and you’re ready to start laying out the tune, it’s time to think song order. Start off with confidence to get your audience’s attention. Whether it’s a big opening chord, a vocal percussion and bass feature, a spoken introduction, or even a quiet fade-in, choose the song that will allow you to pull the crowd in and make them eager to hear what’s next. Then take it from there to choose the order for the rest of your songs. Listen to the sections of each tune that you’ve decided to include – can you use the bass line from the first song to transition into the second? Is it possible to carry a whole chord across into the entrance of the second tune? Does the subject matter of the songs have an impact on the order of performance?

One trick that I use when arranging a medley is a map. I take a blank sheet of paper, and I quite literally map out the song, from start to finish, with simple slashes to indicate bars between measures and quick notes jotted above and below: “pick-up measure,” “chorus,” “continue alto soli over new beat (seamless),” etc. And to make it even more clear what I’m telling myself to do, I note the exact time on the original version of the song about every 4 measures in my medley map. You may only want to use a song from 1:07 through 2:02, and those notes will save you minutes, or possibly hours, of searching over and over for that one guitar squeal that went a little longer than the other one…

3.) Speaking of key…

You may find yourself stressing out over how to make a shift from one song to another perfect and polished because the keys simply don’t match up. Don’t let it bother you – just change one song to a more manageable key, and let the transition flow a bit more smoothly. Heck, you might even want to put two songs into the same key to take advantage of a common riff, allowing one or two vocal parts to continue straight through while the others make the adjustment.

Keep your group’s abilities in mind, as well. If one of the originals is in an awkward key for the voices you’re working with, choose a more appropriate one. I can almost guarantee you that no one in your audience will even notice. And that one guy with perfect pitch doesn’t count.

4.) Mixing it up

Part of the fun of the a capella medley is that you’re only using parts of songs (hopefully the best or most memorable ones), and you’re building them on top of one another toward a final climax. Take advantage of this! Is there a particularly recognizable line in one song, or a rhythmic pattern from the first song that could also fit into the last one? Sneak pieces of earlier songs into later ones to bring the pieces together as a whole: give your tenors the chorus melody from the first tune, or let the sopranos revisit some cool harmonies. Your singers will enjoy vamping it up, and your audience will feel clever for catching your creativity.

5.) Be flexible

Finally, let yourself be flexible with your medley. Yes, I realize that I went so far as to draw a full-page map of my crime show theme medley, but when I realized that I really needed to switch from the Law & Order theme to CSI eight measures earlier than planned, I simply crossed out those extra measures and carried on. Sing through your transitions, and stop now and then to play through what you have so far. Does it really flow well? Are you satisfied with your song order? Let your medley take you where it wants to go, and when all is said and done, look forward to rowdy alumni renditions of your work at future group reunions.