The entire concept for Happy Hour #3 was really born out of the idea that “Heart of Life” by John Mayer would make a great arrangement for orchestra. The song came on as I was driving to a gig back in December, and I immediately thought of the Happy Hour series. I called Nick Kendall and pitched the idea of doing it, and he said “Oh my God!”(that’s usually a good sign). After that, I began building a whole concert around Mayer’s tunes paired with classical selections.

I’m a big fan of Mayer’s music, especially after the first album, Room for Squares. One of the very first things to consider when arranging a pop song for orchestra, and in fact this consideration may ultimately indicate whether an arrangement will be effective or not, is what instrument/instruments will carry the melody. This is a critical decision because the audience is going to be so familiar with the vocal line (and of the personality that sings it). One has to be sure that whatever orchestral instrument is substituting for that personality will be set up for success.

In the case of the Coldplay song we did on Happy Hour #1, our principal oboe Roger Roe did a fantastic job of carrying the melody. Time for Three “sung” the melody as a trio in Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek” on Happy Hour #2. With this arrangement of “Heart of Life” I decided to cheat a little bit–and sing the song myself. Not that I think I do the world’s best John Mayer impression, but this is a song I felt like I could do justice to vocally. So that took care of who was handling the melody- then it was on to everything else. The original tune has a wonderful wholesome quality to it that I felt was essential to capture in the orchestration. The “base” sound that I settled on was pizzicato (plucked) strings against lyrical and contrapuntal lines in the woodwinds. This provided a great bed for the solo voice to lie in. Adding harp and glockenspiel (orchestra bells) at times added a more fantastic child-like innocence.  Since the strings are plucking for the majority of the piece I needed an instrument to sustain the bass line and in this case I chose the bassoon–lighter and more appropriate to the style than tuba, bass trombone or electric bass.

One spot that I couldn’t wait to arrange was where the electric bass comes in on the original version (2:24-Pain throws your heart to the ground…) Yikes! I just realized I forgot to put in a cymbal roll there! Better add it…. Anyway, that section was the perfect moment for the strings to begin playing with their bows (arco). It’s like a wonderful breath of fresh air when you hear the string section finally play arco after a long pizzicato section. I also chose the trombone choir to add a luscious pad to that sound. Mayer has some wonderful guitar licks in that section, and I adapted those a bit and gave them to the woodwinds. The original ends with rising sixths in the guitar parts as does our arrangement, except in the bassoons then clarinets.

We finally cadence and segue back in the Grieg excerpt (Piano Concerto in A Minor, 2nd Movement) that began this whole adventure. I chose the Grieg because it matched the key and because it’s simply a gorgeous piece of music. With it’s romanticism and slow lyrical quality it almost functions to set up “Heart of Life” in the same way that “Gravity” does on Continuum.

This concert was a joy to arrange. The production of the original tune is so sparse but yet so charming, and it was a pleasure to try my hand at bringing that quality to the orchestra. We’ll see how it sounds!



On to the next arrangement.

See you in a few weeks!

~Steve Hackman