Music composition is the process of taking a musical idea and transforming it into a complete piece of music. It involves writing melodies, harmonies and rhythmic parts that are fine-tuned for each individual instrument or voice.
Composition courses also include learning music theory fundamentals like scales, triads and chords. These are the building blocks of your creative tool kit.
Introduction to Music Composition
In music composition courses, you’ll explore the underlying principles of music theory, including rhythm and meter, melody and harmony, and tones of shadow and light. You’ll also learn how to create a musical story by combining all of these elements together in different ways to tell your unique musical story.
You’ll also learn how to apply all of these skills to composing for different types of instruments and musical styles, such as classical, jazz, and music for films or video games. You’ll also have the opportunity to take part in master classes and private lessons with guest composers, who are all highly-respected professional musicians from around the world.
A big component of composing music for visual media is having sharp listening skills. So in music scoring and composition courses, you’ll also take ear training courses to improve your ability to hear the differences between different components of musical pieces.
Music composers are responsible for creating the music that goes with visual media, like movies, TV shows, and mobile apps. They can create everything from orchestral arrangements for a blockbuster movie to background music for a video game. They can also write music for traditional musical instruments, a Broadway musical, or even for meditation or healing. Music producers are responsible for taking the music that composers create and synchronizing it with the visuals, as well as making sure the audio quality is high enough to fit the visuals.
Composition for Instruments
Whether you’re a singer or an instrumentalist, you can expand your creative voice by studying music composition. Composers use an understanding of the fundamental elements of music, such as rhythm, melody, harmony and tone to create unique and original works of art.
Throughout the course, you will develop your ability to express your own musical ideas through practical application of music software. You will also study commercial Western popular musical styles, genres and aesthetics to develop an appreciation of the technical and stylistic aspects of music.
You’ll learn to adapt your music to a variety of different instrumental ensembles through the process of arrangement. You’ll also learn about different musical forms, as well as the role of tempo and dynamics in a composition.
Many students choose to focus on composing for instruments. This requires an understanding of the ranges, abilities, strengths and weaknesses of all the different instruments in a band or orchestra. It’s also important to have a strong foundation in the theory of music, which helps you understand how all these elements work together.
To support your composition studies, we bring professional composers in residence to the campus. These visiting artists conduct workshops and master classes with student ensembles, and provide one-on-one composition lessons. Recent visitors have included modern film composer Jongnic Bontemps, who was hired to compose the soundtrack for the 2023 blockbuster sci-fi movie Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
Composition for Voice
The voice is a fundamental medium for musical expression, conveying emotion and telling stories. Composers use techniques like falsetto and vibrato to create unique harmonies, and record vocal layers to add texture. They also may utilize everyday objects as a musical medium by recording sound effects or rhythms, and combine them into an original composition.
Music composition courses for the voice focus on how to create melodies that tell stories and evoke emotions using an underlying structure of harmony and melody, as well as how to effectively arrange these elements into a full composition. Using the voice as a musical instrument, students explore the sonic organization of music through a progressive series of composition projects.
Courses for the composition for voice also provide a solid foundation of traditional music theory, and include an exploration of tonal structures. This includes understanding the role of expansion and contraction in tonal structure, as well as how this technique relates to modulations of tonal centers.
The Bachelor of Music in Composition is designed for those who want to become professional composers or pursue advanced studies in composition. The degree provides a strong foundation in music theory, while offering the opportunity to learn more about a variety of musical styles and genres through specialized classes. The program also allows students to develop their creativity through a combination of improvisation, electronic music creation and production, and performance.
Composition for Electronic Media
Musicians Institute provides professional training in digital music composition tools including MIDI, DAWs and sound libraries. Students are expected to have experience using these instruments and software prior to entering the program.
Using these skills, you’ll create music for a variety of situations and uses. These include composing for orchestra, band and solo performance, music theatre, corporate events, advertising, schools and computer games. This unit requires well developed aural perception and knowledge of the theory and practice of harmony and counterpoint as well as a high level of proficiency with electronic music equipment and software.
The sonic organization of musical works and performances is investigated through a series of composition assignments, score study, analysis and discussion. Through a progressive series of projects you’ll develop the ability to compose music that is effective, cohesive and expressive.
You’ll also delve into the world of film and other visual media, learning how to use music to complement a scene and how to build tension and drama in your compositions. You’ll learn to utilize a wide range of instruments and timbres to create the right effect and to write for the specific abilities and characteristics of different instruments. You’ll also learn how to compose for different types of vocal performances and to set text to music. You’ll also have the opportunity to work closely with other artists in the creative process.