Academic Majors

USA

People in Music Composers and Arrangers live in

Typical Tasks

• Apply elements of music theory to create musical and tonal structures, including harmonies and melodies.
• Use computers and synthesizers to compose, orchestrate, and arrange music.
• Determine voices, instruments, harmonic structures, rhythms, tempos, and tone balances required to achieve the effects desired in a musical composition.
• Experiment with different sounds, and types and pieces of music, using synthesizers and computers as necessary to test and evaluate ideas.
• Write changes directly into compositions, or use computer software to make changes.
• Transcribe ideas for musical compositions into musical notation, using instruments, pen and paper, or computers.
• Guide musicians during rehearsals, performances, or recording sessions.
• Score compositions so that they are consistent with instrumental and vocal capabilities such as ranges and keys, using knowledge of music theory.
• Write musical scores for orchestras, bands, choral groups, or individual instrumentalists or vocalists, using knowledge of music theory and of instrumental and vocal capabilities.
• Confer with producers and directors to define the nature and placement of film or television music.
• Fill in details of orchestral sketches, such as adding vocal parts to scores.
• Explore and develop musical ideas based on sources such as imagination or sounds in the environment.
• Write music for commercial mediums, including advertising jingles or film soundtracks.
• Transpose music from one voice or instrument to another to accommodate particular musicians.
• Rewrite original musical scores in different musical styles by changing rhythms, harmonies, or tempos.
• Study original pieces of music to become familiar with them prior to making any changes.
• Arrange music composed by others, changing the music to achieve desired effects.
• Accept commissions to create music for special occasions.
• Study films or scripts to determine how musical scores can be used to create desired effects or moods.
• Create original musical forms, or write within circumscribed musical forms such as sonatas, symphonies, or operas.
• Collaborate with other colleagues, such as copyists, to complete final scores.
• Copy parts from scores for individual performers.