Name: ______Day: A B C Period: 1 2 8 9

Arrangements and Covers

It is a common practice for musicians to take popular songs and create their own spinoff versions. Sometimes these spinoff version sound exactly like the original, but sometimes they can be quite different. The new versions of the songs are often referred to as arrangements or covers. Arrangement is the technical term, but for this assignment lets be cool and use the slang term “cover”.

Listen to the original version of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Simon and Garfunkel. Then compare it to the covered versions (including the version we are doing in chorus class). After you have listened to the original and all of its covers, answer the following questions:

1. How did each artist change the original song (instrumentation, rhythm, tempo, style, etc.) to “make it their own”?

Elvis Presley –

Aretha Franklin –

Linda Clifford –

Glee –

Bon Jovi –

Marching Band –

Chorus –

2. Which cover do you feel is the most unique and why?

3. Are there any of the covers that you like better than the original and why?

4. I think that the “Glee” cover of Bridge over Troubled Water is actually a “cover of a cover”. After listening to all of the different versions explain what you think I mean by that statement. Do you agree or disagree with me and why?

5. What elements of our own chorus version of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” are the same as the original and what has the arranger added to make it unique?