Example Career: Music Directors and Composers

Career Description

Conduct, direct, plan, and lead instrumental or vocal performances by musical artists or groups, such as orchestras, bands, choirs, and glee clubs; or create original works of music.

What Job Titles Music Directors and Composers Might Have

• Choir Director
• Composer
• Conductor
• Music Director
• Music Minister
• Orchestra Director
• Music Composer
• Music Producer
• Producer
• Songwriter

What Music Directors and Composers Do

• Use gestures to shape the music being played, communicating desired tempo, phrasing, tone, color, pitch, volume, and other performance aspects.
• Direct groups at rehearsals and live or recorded performances to achieve desired effects such as tonal and harmonic balance dynamics, rhythm, and tempo.
• Plan and schedule rehearsals and performances, and arrange details such as locations, accompanists, and instrumentalists.
• Consider such factors as ensemble size and abilities, availability of scores, and the need for musical variety, to select music to be performed.
• Study scores to learn the music in detail, and to develop interpretations.
• Position members within groups to obtain balance among instrumental or vocal sections.
• Confer with clergy to select music for church services.
• Audition and select performers for musical presentations.
• Meet with soloists and concertmasters to discuss and prepare for performances.
• Assign and review staff work in such areas as scoring, arranging, and copying music, and vocal coaching.
• Transpose music from one voice or instrument to another to accommodate particular musicians.
• Write music for commercial mediums, including advertising jingles or film soundtracks.
• Explore and develop musical ideas based on sources such as imagination or sounds in the environment.
• Fill in details of orchestral sketches, such as adding vocal parts to scores.
• Write musical scores for orchestras, bands, choral groups, or individual instrumentalists or vocalists, using knowledge of music theory and of instrumental and vocal capabilities.
• Transcribe ideas for musical compositions into musical notation, using instruments, pen and paper, or computers.
• Experiment with different sounds, and types and pieces of music, using synthesizers and computers as necessary to test and evaluate ideas.
• Determine voices, instruments, harmonic structures, rhythms, tempos, and tone balances required to achieve the effects desired in a musical composition.
• Apply elements of music theory to create musical and tonal structures, including harmonies and melodies.
• Perform administrative tasks such as applying for grants, developing budgets, negotiating contracts, and designing and printing programs and other promotional materials.
• Produce recordings of music.
• Collaborate with other colleagues, such as copyists, to complete final scores.
• Create original musical forms, or write within circumscribed musical forms such as sonatas, symphonies, or operas.
• Transcribe musical compositions and melodic lines to adapt them to a particular group, or to create a particular musical style.
• Study films or scripts to determine how musical scores can be used to create desired effects or moods.

What Music Directors and Composers Should Be Good At

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.

What Music Directors and Composers Need to Learn

• Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.