MP 3250 - Contemporary Styles: Arrangement + Orchestration

Credits: 3

In this junior-level composition and theory course, students apply techniques of popular arrangement and classical orchestration to adapt and extend the timbral, structural, and formal possibilities of both existing and original compositions. Through the applied study of both traditional notation-based and modern DAW-based practices, students will develop connections and recognize creative possibilities for arranging that extend across technical competencies. The course will enable students to reproduce, hybridize, and creatively extend the distinctive sound qualities of specific styles of music, drawn from, but not limited to, the broader genres of Hip-Hop, R&B, Rock, EDM, Afro-Cuban, and Contemporary Classical music.

Prerequisites: MP 2230 - Music Composition II and MP 2140 - Critical Listening

Course Learning Outcomes:

Evaluate and thoughtfully apply arrangement and orchestration conventions for different styles of music.
Utilize different instrumentation, dynamics, and articulation changes to arrange existing pieces of music.
Justify creative orchestration decisions that juxtapose or hybridize stylistic conventions.