# How long does it take you to arrange a song for piano?



## srodrigo (Sep 4, 2022)

Hi 

I'm relatively new to this, but wondering how long it takes (or it should take) to arrange a song for piano. I'm trying the one below, but it's taking me ages.



I got help from Google and got the chords (mostly accurate).
Then I wrote the melody down, which was a bit of a nightmare since it's mostly off-beat.
Started doing the actual arrangement, sometimes adding my own twist, sometimes trying to replicate the piano accompaniment a bit more.
All this by going back and forth from Musescore to the piano, write, try, rinse and repeat.

I haven't counted the hours I've put into it, but I worked on this almost daily for a bit after work, sometimes putting half an hour, sometimes a few hours. I started around two weeks ago unless my memory is betraying me.

Some folks publish a video WEEKLY. I'm talking about the arrangement and performing it as well, with high quality on both aspects. I really don't know how they manage even if they were doing this full-time.

I'm putting the extra effort into the sheetmusic (which is half way done), so I'm aiming for something good with articulations, pedaling, voices arranged in a reasonable way, dynamics, etc., even fingering. But I still feel like it shouldn't take this long.

I feel I'm still half way to get the score to the point I wouldn't feel ashamed to share it and ask for a few bucks on some website. Recording it is a different story, that'll be extra time.

Am I too slow for a beginner?


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## srodrigo (Sep 4, 2022)

> I feel I'm still half way


Maybe I've exaggerated. This is my list of items, so it's probably more than half way done (assuming I'm not underestimating the last few items, but the arrangements are what usually take the longest, so maybe I'm 70-75% done):
[X] Basic chords and melody
[X] Intro arrangement
[X] Verse 1 arrangement
[X] Pre-Chorus 1 arrangement
[X] Chorus 1 arrangement
[X] Interlude 1 arrangement
[X] Verse 2 arrangement
[X] Pre-Chorus 2 arrangement
[X] Chorus 2 arrangement
[X] Interlude 2 arrangement
[X] Bridge arrangement
[ ] Chorus 3 arrangement
[X] Outro arrangement
[ ] Pedalling
[ ] Dynamics
[ ] Articulations
[ ] Fingering
[ ] Final engraving

If I add up the learning the actual piece (which is not a Liszt etude, but still has some density) and recording it, then yeah, probably half way, excluding editing the recording and making it ready to share.


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