Course Syllabus
Course: MUSC 4150
Division: Fine Arts, Comm, and New MediaDepartment: Music
Title: Commercial Composition
Semester Approved: Fall 2019
Five-Year Review Semester: Summer 2025
End Semester: Summer 2025
Catalog Description: This course focuses on the practical application of composition skills learned in Theory I-V to the area of commercial music. Additional topics will include the writing of music for TV/film and other visual media. Activities will include writing charts for class members and the performances of these works in class.
Semesters Offered: Spring
Credit/Time Requirement: Credit: 2; Lecture: 2; Lab: 0
Prerequisites: MUSC 3120 (Music Theory IV)
Justification: Composition and music arranging courses are typically required of music composition majors throughout the state of Utah and are a standard part of music major degrees at most colleges and universities accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. Courses in commercial composition and arranging are also typically found in commercial music programs throughout the United States.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Students will be able to write idiomatic and appropriate compositions and musical arrangements for a variety of instrumental and vocal combinations, especially those commonly encountered in commercial music. Arrangements will be created using Digital Audio Workstations, or live instruments, and will be performed in class.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of contemporary instrumental and vocal styles as well as all musical terms associated with these styles. Students will be required to do short assignments & presentations on commercial repertoire, explaining the musical elements of each piece, such as dynamics, articulation, range, timbre, texture, rhythm, etc. This outcome will also be assessed through the final exam
Using a variety of compositional techniques, students will compose jingles and other short works for various media including, but not limited to television, film and radio. These works will be performed in class by the students in the class. This outcome will also be assessed through the final exam.
Students will develop and learn skills in various Digital Audio Workstations and notation software. Each assignment will be turned in and/or performed using a Digital Audio Workstation and transferring the assignment to an MP3, or using notation software to have live musicians perform it.
Content:
Topics of study will include advertising agency structure, analyzing commercials, underscoring, arranging and orchestration concepts, jingle writing, composing music for radio commercials, corporate videos and infomercials, theatrical trailer music, video game music, internet and website music, and the business of commercials.
Key Performance Indicators:
Students in this course will be evaluated using the following methods:
Attendance 20 to 25%
Presentations: Students will compose short orchestrations for orchestra and band that are technically correct, playable by other students in the course, and written in a proper range for each instrument in the ensemble. 25 to 30%
Exams: Through written exams students will define specific musical terms, transpositions and techniques associated with string, woodwind, brass, keyboard, and percussion instruments. 25 to 30%
Final Project 20 to 25%
Representative Text and/or Supplies:
Writing Music for Television and Radio Commercials (and more) by Michael Zager. Scarecrow Press. Current Edition
"Arranged by Nelson Riddle" by Nelson Riddle.
"Music for Film and Television" by Lalo Schifrin
Pedagogy Statement:
The teaching method for this course is a mix of lecture, discussion and Lab. The students and teacher discuss many different pieces of commercial repertoire as a group, and analyze commercials, films, scores, recordings throughout history, as well as current musical styles. Assignments are turned in using a Digital Audio Workstation primarily; however, notation software is used frequently, especially when performing works live. The final exam is turned in in the form of a final project using a Digital Audio Workstation. This course has a stronger emphasis on the compositional side of commercial writing, or creating original works, as opposed to the Commercial Arranging (4130) class, which focuses more on taking others' original works and arranging it into a new entity.
Instructional Mediums:
Lecture
Maximum Class Size: 18
Optimum Class Size: 12