About arranging: My Mom and Grandma were both well trained professional musicians and they taught me.

Although it's been eons since I have had to do it, my mom used to hand me a lead sheet and then tell me to make it a jazz, rock, Motown, broadway arrangement. The next lead sheet may have had to be a classical orchestra or a blues and string quartet arrangement all off of the same lead sheet.

I never did do arranging as a job but it really came in handy when I'd do a session and the producer asked for a style of playing. It taught me the differences between styles such as progression, interval, accent and dynamic differences between each style.