Jug Jigga Jug Jigga (And Other Instrumental Options)
Written by Julie Moffitt
Saturday, 01 April 2006
There’s this fantastic online cartoon called Homestarrunner.com. Back when I was dating a techie / graphic designer, we would religiously check this website every week for the email section, hosted by Strong Bad. Strong Bad is – well, he’s a character with a great sense of sarcasm and the ability to make himself look like a complete idiot for your viewing pleasure. And he looks like a walking, talking boxing glove. People can email him with random questions, and each week he answers them in typical Strong Bad style. The email that always stuck out to me, that still comes to mind and cracks me up even years later, is simply titled "guitar".
[I’ll wait while you go check that one out – you have to have your sound turned on…]
Pretty funny, eh? Of course, you may recognize those jug jigga jug jiggas and meedley meedley meedley meeees – they’re what can happen when you have a guitar solo to deal with, and you just toss it up in the tenor line and hope they can imitate guitars. Not that it’s impossible – in addition to Strong Bad, I have heard it done well once or twice. And if you’re specifically aiming for a laugh (or even just looking for a couple of suggestions for syllables), then bookmark that page and go back to arranging, for my work here is done.
But if your singers are uncomfortable making themselves look silly, or if you’re working with a song that isn’t supposed to be funny, this might not be the best tactic. So what on earth do you do with that daunting instrumental section? Fear not, for there are options:
1) Change up the texture! If you’ve been coursing along steadily with all voices on similar syllables, or if you’ve been repeating all the non-solo parts with little or no variation between verses, this is the place for you to make a change. Grab your audience’s attention again with a drastic switch from harsh consonants and tight vowels to a bigger, open sound. Take those “jug jiggas” away from your baritones and give them something more “zhm zhm.” Even if the radio edit instrumental sounds just like another verse with no solo over the top, think about what your audience will be hearing – do they really want another iteration of the verse right now?
2) Give a melody line to one, or more, of the background parts. You’ve had a soloist carrying the song up until now, so what about giving your basses a shot? They could grab a line from the chorus, something repeating and fun that fits the style of the song, or something a little more haunting for a slower piece. Or what about something that all the parts can get in on, an intricate weaving of voices using memorable lines from the song? These don’t need to be perfect phrases or complete sentences, but if you choose this option, be careful that your words make sense in the context of the piece.
3) Another option, of course, is to reference an entirely different song – something that the a cappella community is famous for. I can’t even count the number of songs I’ve performed and heard that include some little quote and, for the audience member who catches it, this is such a thrill. For instance, I just completed an arrangement of a Hootie and the Blowfish song and, as we all know, everything on “Cracked Rear View” sounds alike. Consequently, I was able to fill both the instrumental solo and the outro with references to other Hootie songs, with practically no adjustment of rhythm or chord changes.
4) You can, of course, always take the easy way out and just cut the darn thing in half, or axe it altogether. Really, very few people will notice if you cut a 16-bar interlude down to 8 bars, and if the song is already lengthy, you’ll be doing yourself a favor and keeping your audience’s attention.
5) And if you’re really creative, you could simply rewrite the instrumental entirely – take a hard rock song and give it a jazz / funk breakdown, or throw your audience a curveball with a gospel section in the midst of a Top 40 tune. Remember, the arrangement is your creation, your interpretation of a popular song. While you probably want it to sound close to the original version, you also want to make it your own – and the instrumental section allows you the freedom to do just that.
Of course, if you’re still stuck, you can always email Strong Bad and ask his advice. I’m sure he’d love to throw his two cents in. Add as favorites (70) | Quote this article on your site | Views: 3862
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