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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.
Median Salary: $62,590
  • O*NET Code: 27-2041.00

This page includes information from by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the license.